Saints leading South but not looking down

Defense, run game surge, but 5 games vs. division remain.

METAIRIE, LA. — Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins couldn’t resist the temptation to remind some of the Saints’ biggest critics how shortsighted they look now.

Rankins concedes his team — and particularly the defense on which he starts — struggled mightily during two lopsided losses to open this season. But he also isn’t shy about expressing how much he has enjoyed seeing the Saints turn the corner during a four-game winning streak that has lifted them from worst to first in the NFC South.

“After the first two games, everybody and their mamas were calling for our coordinator’s head and completely trying to say we need to abandon everything we’ve done,” Rankins said Monday. “We have confidence in what our coordinator and our coaches lay out for us to do . ... We just weren’t able to execute in those first couple games, but we found a rhythm.

“Guys are playing with confidence. Guys are having fun. Guys are flying around.”

The Saints have played only one division game — a 34-13 win at Carolina — and must meet the Falcons (3-3) twice and the Panthers (4-3) once in the season’s final five weeks. So coach Sean Payton dismissed the 4-2 start by saying: “I don’t think anyone’s paying attention to the horse at the quarter pole.”

Rankins, now in his second NFL season, hasn’t had to endure the entire stretch of three consecutive 7-9 seasons that were defined primarily by lousy defense and an inability to climb above .500 even once. Still, he senses a considerably different feeling in the locker room now compared with last year.

That’s understandable after the Saints’ 26-17 win Sunday at Green Bay — the closest game during a streak that includes three wins by two or more touchdowns.

Even in Green Bay, New Orleans was good enough to pull comfortably ahead despite a sloppy first quarter in which the Saints gave up a long scoring run and turned the ball over twice on Drew Brees’ interceptions.

Rankins said he and running back Mark Ingram discussed the Saints’ poise during the flight home.

“We had some tough times as far as turnovers on offense, allowing them to run the ball the way we did, but nobody started pointing fingers. Nobody panicked,” Rankins said. “We were able to execute more than they were at the end, and I think that’s a big difference from last year.”

As this Sunday’s home game against Chicago approaches, there seems to be little doubt the 2017 Saints are substantially improved, particularly in the run game and on defense.

After allowing no fewer than 470 yards in its first two games, New Orleans’ defense has allowed no more than 347 yards in its past four, and fewer than 300 yards three times. The Saints have rushed for 149 or more yards in three of their victories, led by Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara.