The New Orleans Saints are in big, big trouble.

It’s bad enough that with the Saints' overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, they are now 0-3 on the 2012 season. What’s worse is that the "Who Dat" defense is getting worse by the minute.

The Chiefs pasted 510 yards of total offense on the Saints defense Sunday; 237 yards came on the ground from Jamaal Charles, who carried the ball a whopping 33 times for 233 yards.

Why wouldn’t Charles carry the ball 33 times? He’s the third running back this season that’s benefited from his coaching staff figuring out that New Orleans cannot stop the run.

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What's the first thing you want to see when an NFL franchise is trying to pick itself up and rebuild after a 4-12 season rocked the team to its foundation?

It's important to win a few football games, but it's really important to see the players accept the change and begin the long process of learning how to succeed again.

That's why it's great to see how the entire roster has embraced new head coach Greg Schiano's new philosophies and teaching methods. It's even starting to pay dividends off the field, according to JoeBucsFan.com, who reported that Josh Freeman spoke about how the players use their day off each week.

Freeman mentioned that he's noticed a huge increase in players voluntarily showing up at One Buc Place to watch game film on Tuesday (usually the players' day off) in preparation for Sunday's game.

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Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton likes to think of himself as the Man of Steel, as he playfully opens the invisible shirt over his jersey on each scoring play to reveal the Superman "S" on his chest.

With five interceptions so far in this young 2012 season, maybe we should change the spelling of his nickname to the Man of Steal.

The Panthers lost their Thursday Night Football tilt with the New York Giants, 36-7, and Newton tossed three interceptions and not one touchdown. He did cross the goal line on his feet as he rushed six times for six yards, but with his interception total growing to five on the season, it looks as if his propensity to throw to the opposite team hasn't changed with a year of growth and a full offseason of work under his belt.

Newton threw his fifth interception last season in Week 4, meaning the rookie who broke 14 NFL first-year quarterback records in 2011 might set a new personal mark for picks. Newton threw 17 last year.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense has given up 813 passing yards through two games.

There’s a cry for help there. Everyone can hear it.

Cam Newton attacked the Buccaneers secondary and came away with 303 yards passing in Week 1. Eli Manning bombarded the Tampa Bay defensive backfield for 510 yards.

No other defense in the NFL has even given up 700 yards through the air.

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Nakia Hogan of the Times-Picayune thinks nothing is wrong with the New Orleans passing game, at least not on paper.

The Saints rank third in the NFL in passing after a 339- and a 325-yard passing performance in the first two weeks of the season.

But paper doesn't give the entire picture, said Hogan.

While the offense has racked up yards through the air, the unit has suffered from mental lapses, dropped passes and inopportune interceptions.

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No one's sure which 1-1 team will show up on either sideline Thursday night as both the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers have had moments of grand excitement and utter failure.

The Giants are a very ugly 1-1 on the young 2012 season. They lost the opening game of the NFL season to the Dallas Cowboys and then had to put up 604 yards of total offense to come from behind and beat Tampa Bay.

Carolina tied a franchise-low 10 yards rushing in Week 1 in its loss to Tampa Bay and then thumped a reeling New Orleans teams.

One of these teams will be above .500 come Friday, but it's anyone's guess if that team will have taken a step forward in anything other than the record book.

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Cam Newton ran the ball five times for four yards in Carolina's Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay. When the Panthers beat the Saints in Week 2, Newton had 71 yards on 14 carries.

Is Carolina's success tied to Newton carrying the ball frequently and productively?

Offensive lineman Jordan Gross told the Charlotte Observer that might not be too far from the truth.

“When he runs, it causes problems for defenses. That 40-yard run he had shows you it’s not like he’s just a slow quarterback running,” Gross said. “He’s a threat on the ground. He threw the ball well, too. I think he plays better when he’s doing all that stuff. He kind of gets more in the groove of things and he throws the ball better and just has a better day usually.”

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Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was supposed to find the weakness in the Atlanta Falcons secondary Monday night and pick it apart.

Instead, defensive coordinator Mike Nolan installed a witty game plan, and safeties Thomas DeCoud and William Moore confused, tricked and even outsmarted Manning into tossing away three interceptions on Denver’s first three drives, eventually tossing away the game.

In Week 1, Brent Grimes—one-third of Atlanta’s new three-man cornerback crew that included Asante Samuel and Dunta Robinson—went down with an Achilles injury and was lost for the season.

With a huge drop-off in talent from Grimes to Christopher Owens and Dominique Franks, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to imagine how Manning, well known as one of the more intelligent quarterbacks in NFL history, would attack the secondary.

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