The New Orleans Saints are the best team in the NFL. Not just the NFC, but in the entire league. And if you disagree, then make sure you watch the highlights of the Saints’ beat down of the Giants on Sunday.

In what was supposed to be a battle of the two best teams in the NFC, the Saints absolutely guerrilla-smacked the Giants 48-27 at the Superdome. Soon-to-be MVP winner Drew Brees was brilliant, completing 23 of his 30 passing attempts for 369 yards and four touchdowns. He finished with a QB rating of 156.8.

The Giants turned the ball over twice and had nine penalties that totaled 110 yards, but this wasn’t a matter of New York shooting itself in the foot. New Orleans was just flat out better in all facets of the game. The stepped on the Giants’ throats and kept it there for four quarters.

For years, the one thing that had been missing for this Saints team was a stellar defense to go along with their explosive offense. Now now they have one under new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and we’re finally seeing what this team is capable of. New Orleans limited the Giants to only 84 rushing yards, 241 passing and as previously noted, they also caused two turnovers and sacked Eli Manning twice.

Speaking of sacks, the Giants’ explosive pass-rush was limited to just one today. ONE. The Saints have one of the more underrated offensive lines in the league, which is something that is often overlooked when pundits gush about Brees and Sean Payton’s offense. One of the keys for the Giants today was being able to generate pressure on Brees and they couldn’t. New Orleans’ offensive line was that good and it doesn’t even have Pro Bowl left tackle Jammal Brown, who was placed on injured reserve in late September after he had to have sports hernia surgery.

As for the Giants, they saw today just how behind they are to the best team in the league. They certainly don’t have to go back to the drawing board, but they tried to match wits with another elite team and got their asses handed to them. They better get healthy defensively and figure out how to wake up Brandon Jacobs or else they won’t last in the postseason. Today was certainly a wake up call for the G-Men.

I don’t think any NFC team can beat the Saints in the Superdome. If they earn the top seed in the NFC, they will be on the fast track to the Super Bowl.

The numbers for Anderson were impressive – 18 for 29, 310 yards, 2 TDs – but what doesn’t show up in the stat sheet is how well Cleveland’s offensive line played. They picked up every blitz the Giants’ defense attempted and consistently opened holes for Jamal Lewis and the Browns’ running game. (Lewis, by the way, had his best game of the year. He ran hard all night.)

What Cleveland did was turn the Giants’ game against them. The Browns were more physical, aggressive on both sides of the ball and constantly pressured Eli Manning. And besides committing 45 penalties (including 40 on one drive in the forth quarter), the Brownies played close to perfect. Without a doubt, this was a complete performance.

That said, the Giants also played like absolute crap. Eli had that same dumfounded look on his face tonight as he did when he first came into the league. He made a couple of nice throws, but his three interceptions were brutal and ones that rookie quarterbacks make. Cleveland did a great job of getting in his face all night and he didn’t handle well. Again, the Browns took what New York does best and used it against them.

I know Brown fans love the win, but some of them must feel a little queasy knowing Romeo Crennel will still patrol the sidelines with each victory.

For the record, this isn’t about bashing gamblers because, to be brutally honest, I am one. In fact, anyone that shells out a little coin in office pools or even fantasy football is a gambler to some degree. So as it stands, I’m referring to myself when I write this.

This article is about shining even more light on how unpredictable the NFL is, and how quickly a football game can turn on its head. It has to be easier to predict winning lotto numbers than it is to predict which teams will cover the spread on a consistent basis.

Below are just three examples from Week 6 of how snake-bitten you can be as a gambler of the NFL. And remember, I’m using just three examples from one week of the season. Think about how many times a gambler could get screwed over the course of an entire NFL season and it’s enough to lose your lunch.

Example #1: Bears –3 at Falcons

So you’re ready to make your first wager of the day and you set your sights on the Bears-Falcons matchup. Rookie quarterback against vaunted Bears defense? Chicago is 5-0 in their last five meetings with Atlanta? Kyle Orton vs. a suspect Falcons secondary that was just lit up by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers? Put me down for $50 on the Bears and I don’t mind laying the three points, you say. And you know what? I like the fact that the Falcons have scored 72 points at home this year and that the Bears’ offense is clicking. Put me down for another $50 on the over 43 while we’re at it.

The game starts off rough for both the Bears and the over, but you start to relax when Chicago cuts Atlanta’s slim lead to 12-10 thanks to a Matt Forte 3-yard touchdown run. When the Falcons push their lead to 19-10 early in the fourth, you again feel that your Bears bet is in danger.

But quickly things start to look up when the Bears drive inside Atlanta’s 10-yard line with nine and a half minutes to play. A touchdown here and not only are Da Bears back in business, but the over is, too.

After an incomplete pass, Forte puts Chicago down to the 1-yard line before the Falcons stiffen up on third and goal from the one and stop the Bears cold. You yell, “Take the points Bears! There’s plenty of time!” But your screams fall on deaf ears as Lovie Smith sends his offense back onto the field. Atlanta then stuffs Forte on fourth and one to turn the ball over.

“Hope that doesn’t bite me in the ass later,” you say.

The Bears eventually get a field goal to cut the Falcons’ lead to 19-13 and after a Jerious Norwood 84-yard kickoff return, you realize your bet on the Bears is bunk, but there’s still plenty of promise for the over. If the Falcons kick a field goal, there’s still enough time for two more scores and you don’t care where they come from.

Jason Elam, who hasn’t missed a field goal all season, blows a 33-yard chip shot.

Awesome.

Your hopes are dashed and you’re feeling the sting of a double loss. The Bears march down the field on an incredible 11-play, 77-yard drive led by Orton to punch it in for six, but you don’t care. The Falcons then one-up Chicago with a 48-yard game-winning field goal by that good-for-nothing Jason Elam. “Go to hell, Jason Elam,” you say to yourself on the couch.

Final score: Falcons 22, Bears 20. You check your sheet to see if maybe you made a mistake on the over/under. Nope – you still have 43 written down. A goal line stand and a missed field goal? The over should have covered by a long shot.

Down $100 on the day. No big deal you say, because…

Example #2: Lions at Vikings –13 and Rams at Redskins –14

…you still had the Vikings and Redskins going at the same time! A cover by both of those teams nets me my $100 back easily. Not only were they playing inferior opponents, but they were also playing inferior opponents that hadn’t covered the spread all year. Sure the point spreads were a bit high, but the Rams were in complete turmoil after firing Scott Linehan and the Lions are…well…the Lions. They’ve been an utter mess all season and Dan Orlovsky was making his first career start.

When you check the final scores you had to do a double take: Vikings 12, Lions 10 – Rams 19, Redskins 17.

What the Jim Haslett is going on here? The Redskins have been one of the best teams in the NFC the past four weeks and they were playing the Rams…at home. And while the Vikings don’t have the best offense in the world, Detroit’s defense had been absolutely brutal all season.

“Just awful,” you say. I’m now down $200, but…

Example #3: Cowboys at Cardinals

…you had one more saving grace. It wasn’t going to be a winning day, but a $50 win salvages a little dough with the Cowboys-Cardinals late game. You knew better than to take a Dallas team that almost blew a 17-point lead against the Bengals last week and to bet against Arizona, who has played well at home this year.

So you look at the over/under and see…53 points? I know both of these teams have good offenses and suspect defenses, but 53 points? Easy money – take the under 53.

Game starts and immediately you want to take a bath with an electric toaster because Arizona returns the opening kick for a touchdown. But you hold that thought after the refs take back a Cardinals’ touchdown because of the tuck rule, which at this moment, is the greatest rule in the history of sports. And with the score 7-7 at halftime, you feel incredibly good about your 39 point cushion.

It’s now deep in the second half and you start to feel a little concerned with the number of big plays that are occurring. But with the score 14-14 heading into the forth, you’re still in great shape. The teams would have to score three touchdowns and two field goals in the fourth quarter for the total to go over.

And just your luck, that’s exactly what happens. Well, sort of. What actually happens is that Marion Barber goes 70-yards on a freaking swing pass to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 24-21 with only 2:00 minutes remaining and then Nick Folk kicks an improbable 52-yard field goal in an improbable situation. I say improbable because somehow Dallas marches into field goal range in under a minute and are awarded five extra yards because Arizona is penalized for having an injured player (who can’t get off the field under his own power) line up offsides.

No problem. The game is heading into overtime 24-24, and the only way you lose is if one team scores a touchdown, which rarely happens in a NFL overtime. One team will get into field goal range, kick a game-winner and you can salvage a rough betting day with a nice win…

That is until the Cardinals block a punt on the opening series and return it for a touchdown…first time that’s happened in an NFL game…ever. Only four minutes of game clock ticked away and both teams combined for 20 points. You lose the under bet by one point and you look around at what other kitchen appliances you can fit into a bathtub.

Just like that you’re down a total of $250 on the day. Then you remember that your bookie takes a little extra because of the juice, so your $250 in losings is actually $275.

“Go to hell Jason Elam,” you shout one more time.

And that, my friends, is why you shouldn’t gamble on the NFL. Hey, maybe you went the other way with these plays and won on all of these games. But I guarantee you thousands of people lost because of these exact scenarios. And it’s absolutely crazy to think about how a game can be decided on just a couple of plays. One missed or made field goal or one goal line stand can be the difference in you winning or losing a bet. But that’s gambling, isn’t it?

Much debate will center around Lovie Smith’s decision to squib-kick rather than ask Robbie Gould to boot it deep to Norwood. That’s convenient second-guessing rooted in frustration more than fact. Remember, Norwood had just burned the Bears for an 85-yard return on the previous kickoff, and the same injury problems that plagued the secondary had decimated special teams.

It made more sense for Smith to rely on his defense to make one stop outside field-goal range than trust a kickoff-coverage team littered with rookies…

“The call didn’t work, and that’s my fault,” Babich said.

He raises a valid point.

The Falcons had the ball at their own 44-yard line. Why Babich couldn’t come up with a three-deep scheme to monitor the sideline routes better could be a question Chicago will still be asking in January if the Bears miss the playoffs by one game.

But Hamilton’s execution of Babich’s Cover-2 call hurt the Bears worse than the decision to use it.

In that zone defense, Hamilton typically has the responsibility of the routes in front of him but needs to drop deep enough at first to take away the corner route Jenkins ran. That buys the safety precious seconds.

Understand that with six seconds left in the game and the Bears protecting a one-point lead, no pass caught in front of Hamilton matters. A 10-yard gain would not have been enough to put Elam in field-goal range. A 15-yard gain probably wouldn’t have either. If Hamilton had dropped a few yards deeper, Matt Ryan never would have thrown that ball.

Yet for reasons that could nag the Bears all winter, Hamilton broke forward to take away a potential completion to Jerious Norwood in the right flat that would have ended the game happily for the Bears.

Haugh is right – the defensive call by Babich to stay in Cover 2 was worse than the squib kick. As Haugh points out, Norwood had just busted off an 80-plus yard return and while hindsight is always 20/20, at least not kicking it deep made a little sense.

But to leave the sideline rout open when all the Falcons could run was a sideline rout in hopes of getting into field goal range is inexcusiable. I realize Hamilton failed to get in the correct position that allowed Jenkins to get open, but coaching plays into that, too. If you’re Babich and you know you have a slew of young corners on the field, why not call for more blanket coverage to take away the sideline rout? Bad decision.

This was a team that went 16-0 last year and outside of a few close calls, it steamrolled opponents on a weekly basis. Had they beaten the Giants in the Super Bowl, an argument could have been made that the 2007 New England Patriots were the greatest team in NFL history.

But as evidence by San Diego’s 30-10 rout on Sunday night, the Patriots are falling incredibly fast from their high perch. Even at 3-2, they’re not true postseason contenders. Not with Matt Cassel under center. And that’s not a knock on Cassel per se – it’s just reality. He’s an inexperienced player trying to lead an experienced team that is so used to having their quarterback know where he’s going to throw on every play and relying on him to make plays when things go haywire.

Without Brady, teams don’t fear the Patriots like they did last year. They don’t respect they’re swagger anymore and with each loss, you know Randy Moss is itching closer and closer to tanking it. It appears that not even Bill Belichick can save this team and it’s hard to hold that against him considering he doesn’t have his quarterback.

New England’s players and coaches have done a nice job trying to convince everybody that they’re fine without Brady – that they can win just as they did last year. But with Denver, Indianapolis, Buffalo and the Jets coming up over the next month and a half, the Patriots have a tough road to stay in the playoff hunt. Save for a Matt Cassel breakout performance, this team is in major trouble. And it’s amazing how fast a team can fall from grace after losing just one player. Even if that player is Tom Brady.

Irrelevant side note that means nothing: It was funny to hear Al Michaels essentially make a reference to gambling at the end of the game. The Patriots called a timeout so that they could run one more play in the red zone with two seconds remaining and while the game was already in the books with the Chargers up 30-10, Michaels noted that, “there are a few people very interested in this play here.”

Michaels said that because the over/under on the game was 45. Had the Patriots scored a touchdown, the total would have gone over. The only reason why his comments were interesting because the media is usually so hush-hush about the world of gambling. Maybe Al had some T.J. Duckett’s riding on the under? Al…you dog you.

The Cowboys’ 30-24 overtime loss to Arizona on Sunday might be an indication that Dallas is a bit overrated at this point. They’ve been the media’s darlings since preseason, but despite all of their offensive playmakers, the Cowboys are currently 4-2 and almost choked away a 17-0 lead against the Bengals last week. Worse yet, as Pacman Jones showed earlier this week and T.O. demonstrated by yelling at teammate Andre Gurode on the sidelines in Arizona, the team has shown signs of being dysfunctional.

Of course if the ‘Boys want to point fingers, they’ll have to direct at least some of the attention at the defense, which couldn’t stop Kurt Warner and the Cards’ offense from making big plays in the second half. And they did so without one of their top receivers in Anquan Boldin, who missed his second straight game while recovering from nasal surgery. Dallas even allowed Steve Breaston, Boldin’s replacement, to haul in eight catches for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Somehow the Cowboys finished with more total yards, fewer turnovers and held on to the ball longer, but still found a way to lose. Talent isn’t the issue with Dallas because they’re loaded. Having that talent come together to consistently win seems to be the issue.

And give the Cardinals credit – they’ve been unbeatable at home this year and they came up with big plays on Sunday (see their kickoff return for a TD to start the game and their blocked punt for a TD to win the game). If they can figure out a way to win the road (or at the very least look respectable), then they’re going to the playoffs. Because they’re clearly the best team in the NFC West this season.

Ryan (22 of 30, 301 yards, 1 TD) was absolutely unbelievable in the Falcons’ exciting 22-20 win over the Bears in Week 6. Chicago was definitely at a disadvantage playing without their two starting corners (Peanut Tillman left the game early with an injury), but most of Ryan’s throws were on the money and well-timed, including his perfect 26-yard toss to Michael Jenkins with 11 seconds remaining in the game to set up Jason Elam’s 48-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.

Give the Falcons credit. They knew they had something special in Ryan and even though the success rate for rookie quarterbacks in this league has been low, they believed in him and made him a starter anyway. He’s a young man playing on a young team, but his maturity so far has been incredibly impressive. And how about the play of the Falcons? This is a team that goof ball Dr. Z of SI.com predicted to win one game this year and they’re 4-2. They’ve got the makings of a nice team.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t say anything about Kyle Orton, who was outstanding himself on Sunday. He drove Chicago 77 yards on 11 plays to set up a 17-yard TD to Rashied Davis, which temporarily gave the Bears a 20-19 lead. Orton has really distinguished himself as a quality quarterback in Chicago, which is something the Bears have been craving for a long time.