Saints could get defined in next game

Now that all the hoopla is over about the Saints returning to the Super Dome, we're left to wonder if these Saints are for real. You had to believe they'd win Monday's game, even if Aaron Brooks had still been quarterbacking the team and Jim Haslett had been making the same dumb decisions. There was just too much emotion running on the New Orleans sideline and it lasted throughout the game.

Consipiracy theorists would say that the Saints were pre-ordained to win the game.

Monday's game was a defining one for the organization. Make no mistake about that. But the true measure of the team's progress is how they respond this week against a team that should beat them (Carolina) and next week against a team that they should beat (Tampa Bay).

The emotion of Monday's win could take its toll and leave the Saints without the energy to take another giant step forward. Go 2-0 and you're solid; go 1-1 and you're respectable; go 0-2 and you're rapidly returning to the same'o, same'o.