When the Saints go marching in

Bills latest victims of New Orleans ground assault

The sudden dominance of the New Orleans Saints remains one of the more compelling storylines in the NFL.

Winners of seven straight, the 7-2 Saints on Sunday more than just pushed around a proud Buffalo Bills team that previously had played tough teams tough. The Saints proved physically overbearing, both on defence and with its running game.

The latter was thanks in large part to running backs Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara, as dynamic a duo as there is in the NFL right now. Both rushed for more than 100 yards against the Bills. New Orleans now has the NFL’s third best rushing offence, averaging 142 yards per game, behind Jacksonville (163) and Dallas (144).

Even better, Ingram and Kamara are like interchangeable parts, quarterback Drew Brees said Sunday. Both are powerful, elusive, fast (especially Kamara), have great vision and hit holes hard.

“They’re so versatile,” Brees said. “There’s not an element of this offence that you would say one is better suited than the other. They both can do it all, really.

“But what’s fun is to watch one guy have success, then the next guy comes in and has success, and they’re both feeding off each other and competing, and yet at the end of the day, they’re such a tight-knit (duo). They both understand they’re going to get their opportunities.”

Of course, if you have two backs and each gains a hundred plus more yards, and if at one point in the second half you run it on 24 consecutive plays, and if you have a 94-yard, 10-play TD drive all on the ground, your offensive line plays more than a small role.

“We’re a confident group, and when we get on a roll I don’t think there’s any stopping us,” tackle Ryan Ramczyk said. “We kept grinding, we kept playing and we didn’t let up. We take a lot of pride in that.”

New Orleans head coach Sean Payton was asked what info he’d gathered from watching on the sideline to gauge how his O-line played.

“Well, my guess is they did pretty well,” Payton said. “Three-hundred yards rushing, that was the information I gathered.”

Both Ingram and Kamara profusely thanked their blockers. Are steak dinners in order for the fivesome of Terron Armstead, Andrus Peat, Max Unger, Larry Warford and Ramczyk? It wouldn’t be the first time.

“We definitely will take care of them,” Kamara said. “They don’t really get a lot of the hurrahs and the glory like the people with the ball, but we appreciate them more than anybody.”

Adrian Clayborn, defensive end, Falcons. He sacked Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott six times in Atlanta’s home-field win, one short of the NFL single-game record. Granted, the fact that Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith didn’t play aided Clayborn and other Falcons pass rushers, who set a Dallas opponent’s record with eight sacks.

Coach Hue Jackson and quarterback DeShone Kizer, Browns. Cleveland is Cleveland because of plays like this. Trailing 17-10 at Detroit with 15 seconds left in the first half, the Browns — with no timeouts left — faced secondand-goal on the Detroit 2-yard line. Kizer shockingly tried to sneak up the middle and was stacked up, then sorta piled on, for no gain. Lions defenders took their time untangling. Once freed, Kizer hurriedly tried to rush his team back to the line to spike the ball. Too late. Time ran out. Half over. Who called the sneak: Jackson from the sideline, or did Kizer audible into it? It was the latter, according to numerous reports quoting Browns players. How can a rookie quarterback in that situation be empowered to do that? Well, that’s on Jackson. If he’s going to let the rookie audible into a sneak, he must be sure Kizer knows never to do so in such a circumstance. Because when in your life have you seen a quarterback sneak it in from two yards out against a stacked line?!

Robert Woods, wide receiver, Rams. A second-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2013, he looked like a receiver with a ton of promise. Instead he was underutilized by a Bills franchise used to talent-wasting. Woods signed with the Rams as a free agent in the off-season, and has 39 catches for 622 yards and four TDs — after his eight-catch, 171-yard, two-TD day against Houston.