It seems like every week I am writing “The Saints win in their biggest contest of the season”. This is how great the Saints have been this season. Each and every week they are faced with a new challenge, normally of large proportions, of which could affect their undefeated streak and their lead atop the NFC South division.

This past Monday was no different, as the undefeated New Orleans Saints were challenged by their division rival Atlanta Falcons on their home turf at the Louisiana Superdome.

The Falcons looked to make up ground on the NFC leading Saints with a victory, showing how serious they took the game throughout.

The Falcons were consistently in the face of Drew Brees.

The Falcons, not normally a blitz heavy squad, were using the delayed blitz effectively to confuse the Saints offensive line allowing an opening to sack Brees or force Brees to do something poor with the ball.

A perfect example of this would be a huge hit on Brees by the Falcons defense in the first quarter with the Saints backed up to within five yards of their own end. The big hit would force Brees to fumble allowing Kroy Biermann to run the fumble into the end zone for a score.

The Falcons seemed on the top of their games throughout the first quarter, both offensively and defensively as they took a 14-7 lead into the second.

No one knew it at the time, but the second quarter would be a deciding factor in the game as the Saints offense came alive and lit up the Falcons for fourteen points, while the defense contributed points yet again as Jabari Greer picked off Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan for an interception, which turned into a return touchdown.

Jabari Greer had a big interception for the Saints.

The pick by Greer would be one of three interceptions thrown by Ryan on the day.

Tracy Porter and Darren Sharper would add interceptions of their own, as Sharper added to his National Football League lead with his seventh interception of the season.

The two touchdowns by the offense were via one passing play to Brees’ favorite target Marques Colston on an 18 yard passing play and via a one yard rushing play in the hands of the speedy Reggie Bush.

The ground game throughout all the possessions was lead by Pierre Thomas with 91 yards gained on 14 attempts. Thomas also added two touchdowns on the day, one via a 22 yard rush in the first quarter, the other via a one yard catch from Brees in the fourth quarter.

Mike Bell also did an admirable job handling the ball gaining 49 yards on 17 attempts, as the hard nosed rusher gained small but meaningful yards as well as tiring out the Falcons defensive line with his “bull like approach”.

New Orleans tattooed tight end Jeremy Shockey had one of his biggest days of the year, catching five balls for 72 yards on the day, as the emotional Shockey really amped up the crowd at the Superdome with his play.

The Saints would use the 21 second quarter points to push their lead to 28-14 going into halftime and would have to rely heavily on their defense to keep the Falcons from coming back for a victory.

The Saints defense did not look very sharp in the second half allowing the Falcons to score three separate times, but the defense was good enough to make sure the Falcons only scored field goals on two of those scoring attempts.

The second quarter along with the defense coming up in the right situations in the second half were enough for the Saints to hold onto a 35-27 lead for the victory, making them the only undefeated team in the NFC, joining the Indianapolis Colts as the only undefeated teams in the NFL.

Brees would end his day with 308 passing yards completing 25 passes on 33 attempts, throwing two touchdowns and one interception as well as losing one fumble.

On defense Roman Harper lead the team with seven tackles on the day to go along with the three interceptions by Jabari Greer, Tracy Porter & Darren Sharper. Will Smith had another big day on the defensive line adding two more sacks to his season total.

The play calling ability of Sean Payton and Pete Carmichael Jr on offense combined with the reliable defense put in place by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has allowed for the Saints to score in bunches on offense and make game changing plays in the right situations on defense.

This is why the Saints remain undefeated among the elite teams in the NFL.

The Saints will remain at home in week nine to go toe to toe with an underachieving Carolina Panthers squad.

The 3-4 Panthers have been picking up some momentum as of late winning 3 of their last 5 games, but the Saints offense may be too much for the Panthers.

There is still no need for the Saints to take the Panthers lightly, as they do not want a reoccurrence of the Miami Dolphins game from week seven.

The Saint were good enough to come from behind to win that game but it took a huge effort and may not be replicated if it occurs again.

The game between the Saints and Panthers is scheduled for Sunday afternoon with a 4:05pm start time.