New Orleans Saints Report Card: Does 4-0 Record Equal 4.0 GPA?

As the New Orleans Saints make the quarter turn and head into the bye week, there are a lot of positives.

No time to rest on the laurels, though. No one makes the playoffs for winning four games.

I guess it's the teacher/coach in me that says to want to always get better no matter how well things are going.

Coaching

Comments: The buzz word surrounding Sean Payton and his offense throughout the offseason was balance. I said I'd believe it when I see it.

How's this, doubting Thomas: 134 runs, 133 passes.

Last year the Saints had a run-pass ratio of 63:37.

Payton is committed to the running game and is using it to shorten the game after the Saints have a big lead.

And who's going to deny the Gregg Williams effect?

Don't look now but the Saints are a top ten defense that leads the league with 13 takeaways and 10 interceptions.

The opening game woes on the coverage units seem to have been fixed even though Malcolm Jenkins was inactive against the Jets.

Grade: A

Passing Offense

Comments: Drew Brees started off on fire and has since cooled down. He still has nine touchdowns and just two interceptions.

Brees has hit on 67 percent of his passes for over 1,000 yards.

Eight players have at least one catch per game and five of those players have caught at least one touchdown pass.

The passing game will get better as the health of Lance Moore improves. Moore has been battling shoulder and hamstring injuries.

Moore is the best Saints receiver at getting open in the short and intermediate routes that Brees thrives on.

The Saints offensive line has allowed just four sacks so far and none came against the Jets.

Keep this in mind if you are worrying about Brees' dip in production:

Never has the season's passing yardage leader won the Super Bowl.

Grade: A-

Rushing Offense

Comments: The Saints are out-rushing their opponents 2:1.

After recovering from a knee injury and missing the first two games (okay, so he played one snap against the Eagles), Pierre Thomas is taking over from where he left off in 2008.

He has scored three touchdowns and is averaging a whopping 6.4 yards per carry.

When the Jets closed to 17-10, the Saints turned to Thomas on three straight plays and he responded with 43 yards.

Mike Bell is still the team's leading rusher, but that won't last beyond another week with Thomas in the fold.

Even Reggie Bush is averaging 4.1 yards per carry!

The offensive line has taken over the game at times, particularly against the Bills and Jets.

The short yardage game could still use some improvement.

Anyone still want Edgerrin James?

Grade: A

Passing Defense

Comments: The Saints rank 14th in the league in passing yardage allowed.

Even while factoring in Kevin Kolb's 391 yards, the defense is still only allowing 248 yards per game through the air.

Opposing quarterbacks are completing just 54 percent of their passes while throwing 10 picks and getting sacked 10 times.

Teams have thrown an average of 38 times per game against the Saints because they are constantly trying to reduce huge deficits.

The Saints have not trailed for any of the 240 minutes this season and have won each game by at least two scores.

Don't get too caught up in the hype just yet, though.

The most experienced quarterback they have faced was Trent Edwards. They have gone against two rookies (Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez) and two quarterbacks making their first NFL start (Stafford and Kolb).

Three of the four quarterbacks the Saints will face in the second quarter, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, and Jake Delhomme, have far more experience.

If the Saints can harass the next four quarterbacks the way they did the first four, I will grade them higher.

Grade: B

Rushing Defense

Comments: Kevin Smith, Brian Westbrook

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?