Unless you’re a Colts or Vikings fan, when you watch the Saints play, it makes you realize how bad your team actually is.

The Saints carved up the Patriots on Monday night like a Ginsu knife slicing through warm butter. They racked up 480 yards of total offense, 367 passing yards and scored five touchdowns in route to a 38-17 blow out victory. The soon-to-be MVP award winner Drew Brees completed 18 of his 23 passing attempts for 371 yards and five touchdowns.

What’s ironic about Monday night’s game is that the Patriots must have thought they were looking in the mirror watching the Saints stroll up and down the field on them for four quarters. It was just three years ago that New England was humiliating opponents with the greatest of ease and compiling a perfect 16-0 regular season record.

In 2007, nobody thought the Patriots would lose and now I have a hard time believing anyone will knock off this Saints team. Sean Payton’s playcalling is impeccable, Brees is playing like a man possessed and the defense is incredibly opportunistic. New England was supposed to serve as the biggest test of the year for New Orleans and the game wasn’t even close outside of a 7-3 score in the first quarter (that was the first and only time the Patriots led).

The Saints wrap up the season with road trips Washington, Atlanta and Carolina, as well as home games against Dallas and Tampa Bay. With Chris Redman now under center for the Falcons, the only real threat to the Saints’ march to perfection is the Cowboys and New Orleans will play them in the Superdome, where they’re practically unbeatable.

Considering Minnesota is breathing down their necks for the top spot in the NFC, the Saints still have plenty to play for, which means we could be seeing the second 16-0 team in only three years.

- Vince Young (387 yards, TD) continues to play well. He threw the game-winning TD in the fourth quarter to Kenny Britt.

- Josh Freeman (250 yards, 2 TD) has played well since taking over as the starter. He’s still a rookie, so he’s going to struggle against the better teams, but when he has a nice matchup he’s borderline startable.

- Matt Ryan (15 yards) left the game with a toe injury and was unable to return. Chris Redman (243 yards, 2 TD) played pretty well in his place.

- Ryan Fitzpatrick (246 yards, TD, INT, rush TD) is playing well and showed some wheels on a 31-yard TD scamper in the second quarter.

- Jason Campbell (231 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, rush TD) had a big fantasy day against the Eagles.

- Matt Hasselbeck (102 yards) had a surprisingly quiet game against a pretty bad Rams secondary.

- Alex Smith (232 yards, 2 TD) had yet another solid fantasy outing. He has had at least two pass TD in four of his six starts this season.

- Brett Favre (392 yards, 3 TD) torched a bad Chicago secondary.

- Kurt Warner was a surprise scratch, and Matt Leinart (220 yards) was rather pedestrian in his place.

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- Michael Turner (12 carries, 33 yards) probably should have sat out another week. He was largely ineffective and reinjured the ankle that kept him out last week.

- Fred Jackson (20 touches, 116 yards, 2 TD) dominated the touches in the BUF backfield. Marshawn Lynch (4 touches, 15 yards) was ineffective.

- Rock Cartwright (18 touches, 64 yards) got most of the work, but didn’t do much.

- LeSean McCoy (21 touches, 101 yards) got the lion’s share of the carries for the Eagles, but it was Eldra Buckley who got the goal line work.

- Julius Jones didn’t dress, and Justin Forsett (22 carries, 130 yards, 2 TD) took full advantage. He didn’t catch a pass, however.

- Steven Jackson (28 touches, 116 yards, TD) didn’t practice this week, but that didn’t stop him from having a nice fantasy day.

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- Antonio Bryant (3-91-1) is starting to play like his old self. Josh Freeman looks pretty good, so feel free to use Bryant when he has a good matchup.

- Michael Jenkins (7-80) has posted 13-156 over the past two weeks and merits consideration in PPR leagues.

- Terrell Owens (5-96-1) seems to like Ryan Fitzpatrick more than Trent Edwards. Fitzpatrick says he is more willing to throw the ball downfield and let his wideouts make a play.

- Jason Avant (5-94) has posted 17-276-1 over the last three weeks and has filled the void left by Brian Westbrook in the passing game. DeSean Jackson (2-40-1) left the game with a head/neck injury.

- Donnie Avery (4-48-1) had a TD early, but was quiet for much of the day until the Rams went into catch up mode.

- Steve Smith (1-5) had a TD catch that was called back due to lack of control over the ball. He’s never going to be consistent with Jake Delhomme as his QB.

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- There weren’t a lot of yards or catches to go around in the Seattle passing game, which is why John Carlson (2-14) posted such an anemic line.

- Dante Rosario (4-62) has 8-102 over the last two weeks. Owners who need a TE (in a PPR league) should give him a look.

- Dallas Clark (9-63-1) had another monster day and has been great all season.

- With Owen Daniels sidelined, neither James Casey (2-17) nor Joel Dreessen (1-14) did enough to warrant a pickup.

- Antonio Gates (7-118-2) had just his second monster day of the season. The first came in Week 4 against the Steelers (9-124-2). He has four TD in two games, and zero in the others.

- Visanthe Shiancoe followed up his 8-78-1 performance in Week 11 with a 5-51-1 outing against the Bears. He is a solid start in most formats.

- Bo Scaife (5-68) put up a decent PPR line, as usual.

Check back in a bit for the WR, RB and QB positions.

For all intents and purposes, Dennis Dixon only made one mistake on Sunday night but unfortunately for him and the Steelers, that one mistake cost them a potential victory.

Dixon’s interception in overtime set the table for the Ravens to kick a game-winning field goal in a 20-17 victory. The win helped Baltimore improve to 6-5 on the season and kept its playoff hopes alive, while Pittsburgh fell to 6-5 and has now lost three in a row.

Dixon, a third stringer making his first career start, gave the Steelers a chance to win in the second half when he broke off a 24-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. He also threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes in the second quarter and had a 31-yard run called back due to a holding call.

But on the possession following his fourth quarter touchdown run, the Ravens converted on a 4th and 5 from their own 46-yard line when Joe Flacco hit Ray Rice on a 44-yard completion. The drive ended in a field goal, which potentially forced overtime with the score tied 7-7.

Take away Dixon’s interception and the Steelers’ offense played pretty good – ultra conservative, but good. It was Pittsburgh’s defense that yielded several big plays, including Rice’s fourth down reception and a 54-yard reception by Mark Clayton late in the second half that set up a 10-yard Derrick Mason touchdown. If the Steelers had limited the big plays, Dixon’s effort would have been enough.

Pittsburgh needs a healthy Troy Polamalu back in the lineup if it has any chance of making another run at a Super Bowl, nevertheless the playoffs. Without him, Pittsburgh’s defense is good but certainly not great, which has been evident the past couple weeks.

Seven weeks ago, the Titans resembled a rotting carcass on the side of the road. At that time, they had just been run over (might as well stick with the road kill them) by the Patriots in a 59-0 rout and fans wanted Jeff Fisher’s head on a stake.

Then Fisher made the decision to bench the highly ineffective Kerry Collins and replace him with Vince Young, who had gone from franchise quarterback to draft blunder in a matter of a season. What happened next was shocking, as Young led the Titans beat the Jaguars after the team’s bye week, then the 49ers, then the Bills, and then the Texans on Monday night.

On Sunday, Young orchestrated an 18 play, 99-yard scoring drive with just under three minutes remaining to lift Tennessee to a 20-17 win over the Matt Leinart-led Cardinals. The drive was capped off by a 4th and 10 play in which Young hit rookie Kenny Britt in the back of the end zone for the game-winning score. Both the game-winning catch and the game-winning drive were remarkable, just like the Titans’ latest five-game winning streak.

At 5-6, the Titans are very much still on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason. They’re currently behind the Steelers, Ravens (depending on the outcome of tonight’s game), Jaguars and Broncos in the Wild Card hunt, and are tied with the Dolphins, Jets and Texans.

But what if they ran the table? Outside of games against the undefeated Colts and the surging Chargers, they have winnable games against the Rams, Dolphins and Seahawks in the final month of the season. Wins over Indy and San Diego seem unlikely for the Titans, but so did their five-game winning streak after their disastrous start. Young has the hot hand, Chris Johnson (who finished with 154 rushing yards and also had an 84 yard TD scamper) is a touchdown waiting to happen on every play and they’re defense is playing better than it did earlier in the year – what’s stopping them from making a run?

If they lose to the Colts next week, then the Titans’ slim playoff hopes will likely vanish. But winning is contagious and if they can beat Indy next week, there’s no reason to write Tennessee off.

If Brett Favre is wearing down, then he has everybody fooled because the guy is playing like a freaking maniac.

Favre completed 32-of-48 passes for 392 yards with three touchdowns and no inceptions in the Vikings’ 36-10 win over the Bears in Week 12. Minnesota attacked Chicago repeatedly through the air, throwing the ball 31 times to just 12 rushes in the first half. When the dust settled, the Vikings had a 24-7 halftime lead and the game was never in doubt from that point forward.

Minnesota is now 10-1 and will be rooting hard for New England to beat New Orleans on Monday night. The Vikes have the inside track on a first round bye, but they’ll have their eye on earning the top seed in the playoffs entering the final month of the season.

As for the Bears, their disastrous season continues. All of their defensive problems were on full display today as Favre and the Vikings went up and down the field with the greatest of ease. Chicago was out gained in first downs (31 to eight) and total yardage (537 to 169).

It was the same story today as it has been all season: They were outplayed in the trenches, they couldn’t run the ball and Jay Cutler turned the ball over multiple times. Nothing has changed about this team in over a month.

The Eagles kept their playoff aspirations very much alive with a 27-24 win over the Redskins in Week 12, but they were also fortunate that Juqua Parker wasn’t flagged for a 15-yard personal foul in the game’s waning moments.

Trailing 27-24 with less than two minutes remaining, the Redskins faced a 4th and 1 at their own 25-yard line. On the play, Jason Campbell threw an incomplete pass but was slammed to the ground by Parker, who could have easily been flagged (defenders have certainly be flagged for less this season). Instead of having a chance to continue their drive and possibly get into field goal range to tie the game, the Redskins lost the ball on a change of possession and the Eagles held on for the win.

Granted, there’s no guarantee that the Redskins would have gotten into field goal range even if a flag were thrown. Plus, if Washington didn’t get so conservative early in the fourth quarter when they had a 21-16 lead, then the Skins would have never been in that position to have to come back in the first place.

But I digress.

For the Eagles, this win allows them to stay in playoff contention in the NFC. Donovan McNabb completed 21-of-35 passes for 260 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also threw a two-point conversion on a shovel pass to LeSean McCoy and overcame multiple drops by tight end Brent Celek.

On the injury front for Philadelphia, receiver DeSean Jackson suffered a concussion after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit by London Fletcher. The injury doesn’t appear to be too serious, but the Eagles will certainly take plenty of precaution with Jackson given Brian Westbrook’s history of concussions.