The New Orleans Saints won a too-close-for-comfort matchup with the Detroit Lions in Week 4, and it was enough to give them a boost in the latest NFL power rankings from Doug Farrar over at Touchdown Wire.
Farrar saw enough to like in the Saints’ performance to justify a further leap in the weeks ahead, having overcome some serious adversity early on (and even before kickoff). We’ll let him explain how the Saints climbed from No. 15 up to No. 13:
Things did not start well for the Saints this weekend. They had already flown to Detroit to face the Lions when fullback Michael Burton had what turned out to be a false positive COVID test. After that story unraveled and the game went on, New Orleans found itself down 14-0 after Matthew Stafford threw touchdown passes to running back D’Andre Swift and receiver Kenny Golladay. But then, Drew Brees caught fire with his best deep-ball performance of the young season, the Saints scored touchdowns on five straight drives, Detroit’s rare ability to blow double-digit leads kicked in, and Sean Payton’s team escaped with a 35-29 win that upped their record to .500. The Saints will hope for less drama this week as they prepare to take on the Chargers on Monday night.
However, that’s only good enough for second place in the NFC South. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are cooking after beating the Los Angeles Chargers (the Saints’ next opponent) in a shootout, putting Brady’s Bucs all the way up at No. 9. Tampa Bay is one of several NFC teams to crack the top 10, along with the Los Angeles Rams (at No. ), the Seattle Seahawks (at No. ), and the Green Bay Packers (at No. 3).
As we expected before the season, it’s shaping up for a two-horse race in the NFC South. The Saints and Buccaneers are out in front, with the feisty Carolina Panthers (No. 14) making their case before a tough stretch in their schedule, and the Atlanta Falcons (No. 29) forgotten in the basement.
.jpg?w=600)
