Left-for-dead Saints still breathing in playoff race

"We've had more pressure this year than all of last season because of the way we started," Karney said. "I think we've responded well."

The offense has started to look like the offense of 2006 the past two weeks. Quarterback Drew Brees sizzled against the Cardinals. He completed 26 of 30 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns. His passer rating was an impressive 132.6.

The biggest of his throws came late in the game with the Saints clinging to a 7-point lead and backed up in their own end. On first down from his own 4 with 5:54 left, Brees hit tight end Billy Miller for 11 yards and a first down. The Cardinals never got the ball back.

So was Miller the first read?

"Third," Brees said.

Vintage, Brees. It also says tons about the trust coach Sean Payton has in his quarterback that he would let him throw on first down there.

Brees started the season with one touchdown pass and nine interceptions as the Saints opened 0-4. In the 10 games since, he has thrown 24 touchdown passes and three interceptions. He now also has 3,819 yards passing, which means barring an injury he will have back-to-back 4,000-yard passing seasons.

It's helping that the Saints running game, which has struggled all season long, has come alive the past two weeks. And it's doing so with a player who thought the team might be ready to dump him, based on what they did on draft day when they picked a runner in the fourth round.

At 32, Aaron Stecker came into the season with 10 career starts in seven seasons. He was mainly a special-teams player. But when Bush and McAllister went down, Stecker was put in as the starter. That rookie fourth-round pick, Antonio Pittman, didn't make the roster and is now with the St. Louis Rams.

"The best thing they could ever do was draft Antonio Pittman," Stecker said. "I went home and trained harder than I had trained in years. If they wanted to get rid of me, I was going to make it hard on them."

In the past two games, Stecker has rushed for 100 yards against Atlanta and 95 tough yards against the Cardinals. Those yards helped overcome a lost fumble to open the game.

"The best way to describe this guy is that he is a football player," Brees said of Stecker. "You can put him anywhere on the football field, tell him what to do, and he will get the job done. He's smart, he's tough and we all love him for that."

Stecker and Brees have the Saints still alive in the NFC. They are one game behind Minnesota in the race for the final playoff spot. The Vikings play the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

"We'll be rooting for the Bears," Karney said. "Count on it."

By next Sunday, the Saints could take the field against the Eagles with their destiny back in their own hands.

"This is the time to come together," Brees said. "You see it every year when teams make it into the playoffs as a five or six seed but had to rattle a couple off in a row to get there. It gives you an edge. It makes you battle-tested. You walk into the playoffs basically already having played four playoff games."

Even if they get in, the Saints will likely have to outscore their opponents. The defense simply isn't good enough. But with Brees and Stecker, and with Payton calling plays, they would make it interesting.

So hold off on that Saints funeral. There is still life. Put the minister on hold. Put the coffin up on the shelf.

The New Orleans Saints aren't ready to be put in any box -- ceremonial or real.