Streaking Saints seem built for long-term success

NEW ORLEANS — The Saints have won six consecutive games to reach the mid-point of the season with a 6-2 record.

They remain all alone in first place in the NFC South after improving to 2-0 against division opponents with a 30-10 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

They are one of the hottest teams in the NFL even though at times Sunday they made mistakes that belied their lofty standing.

They turned the ball over twice, missed a 43-yard field goal, had an extra point blocked and botched a trick play on a kickoff return.

If they continue to have those kinds of breakdowns, their winning streak won’t last much longer, perhaps not even past next week’s game at Buffalo. But maintaining command of a game in which you have that many shortcomings is a sign of a team built for long-term success.

Teams have a better chance of overcoming breakdowns in any of the three phases when they are capable of outperforming their opponent in all three phases. They did just that Sunday.

“They beat us in every aspect of the game,” Bucs defensive tackle Chris Baker said.

The Saints overcame the turnovers by taking the ball away once themselves and gaining 407 yards, which came in a balanced manner — 151 rushing and 256 passing.

They overcame the special-teams breakdowns in part because of Justin Hardee blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown.

And they led wire to wire in part because of a defense that allowed just 200 yards, made four sacks and didn’t allow a drive of more than 42 yards.

“A lot of good things are happening,” quarterback Drew Brees said after having his most efficient game of the season.

New Orleans has proven capable of running and passing the ball effectively, containing the run and pressuring the passer, as well as making big plays on special teams. And remember, this is a team that lost its first two games of the season, trailing both Minnesota and New England by at least 10 points for every moment of the second halves.

But since then, Brees and Coach Sean Payton have repeatedly said one of the most important factors in the win streak has been playing “complementary football.”

The Saints have been one of the elite passing teams in the NFL since Payton and Brees arrived in 2006. Even when they have failed to make the playoffs (six times) and even when they have had a losing record (five times), they always had a puncher’s chance.

But when they have gone to the playoffs (five times), and especially when they won the Super Bowl (the 2009 season), they did so because they could also run the ball and play defense and compete on special teams.

On Sunday they out-gained the Buccaneers in the running game (151-87) and in the passing game (256-113).

This game was the third consecutive one in which they allowed 17 or fewer points and the fifth such game during the win streak.

“We are trying to assert our identity,” end Cameron Jordan said of the defense. He continued to assert himself as an All-Pro candidate by making 1.5 sacks.

When a team knows it has the ability for any phase to overcome the shortcomings of another phase in the course of any game, it tends to play with more confidence, to be able to withstand its mistakes and ultimately win without playing its best.

“By no means was it perfect out there,” Brees said. “We’re still striving to play our best game and I don’t think we’ve achieved that yet. We are continuing to make strides in that direction, but there are still a lot of things we can do better.”

There are still eight games to be played in the regular season. No one knows exactly what lies beyond that, but history suggests there will be more football beyond the rematch with the Bucs in the regular-season finale on New Year’s Eve in Tampa.

This is the fourth time that New Orleans has had a six-game win streak during Payton’s tenure.

In 2009 the Saints won their first 13 games to set the stage for their Super Bowl run.

In 2010 they won six straight on their way to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth before losing in a wild-card playoff game.

In 2011, they won the last six games of the regular season on their way to a 13-3 record and an NFC South title. That team won a wild-card playoff game before losing in the divisional round.

Now there’s nothing magical about the number six and the current win streak doesn’t guarantee anything.

But it does show that this team is clearly capable of having comparable success to that of its predecessors that have made similar runs.