Saints' season starting to resemble past 3 playoff pushes

Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins is seeing a pattern — and an encouraging one at that.

In each of previous three seasons, Saints overcame some early season adversity and swept all of ir October games en route to an NFC South crown.

For a fourth straight season, Saints have won all of ir October games again — three this year because ir bye fell in Week 6.

winning streak has New Orleans (4-2), which stumbled to a 1-2 start, just a half-game back of Tampa Bay for top spot in division with 10 games to go.

“We don’t ever plan for early season stumbles or anything like that, but ... adversity to start a season is thing new to us. We’ve faced it before. We kw what it takes to get on a roll and start winning some games,” Rankins said. "We’ve always found a way to wear storm. And we’ll continue to get better and continue to fix things that need to be fixed. And we’ll get on a roll here.”

His reasons for optimism start with his own health, which has steadily improved, along with his effectiveness, as he's come back from surgery aimed at shoring up his Achilles tendon. n re's health of defensive front as a whole, which two games ago got 2018 first-round draft choice Marcus Davenport back at defensive end.

n re's offense, which, despite getting less healthy at receiver — Michael Thomas (hamstring) and Emmanuel Sanders (COVID-19) were both out last weekend — still was so methodically dominant that Saints possessed ball nearly 35 minutes and did t punt in a 27-24 triumph over Carolina on Sunday.

Quarterback Drew Brees, w 41 and in his 20th season, has looked younger as season has gone on. He completed 80.6 percent of his passes against Panrs for 287 yards and two TDs. He also dove over a pile of linemen on goal line for ar 1-yard score.

And running game has been flourishing, led by tandem of dynamic Alvin Kamara and bruising Latavius Murray.

“We are being able to run ball efficiently,” Kamara said. “We’re getting looks in passing game we want. We’re getting ball down field. Everybody’s stepping up. Everybody is doing ir job.”

WHAT'S WORKING

Saints' run defense. After allowing just 37 yards rushing against Carolina, Saints entered Monday ranked fourth in NFL against run, allowing 89.7 yards per game.

WHAT NEEDS HELP

Saints' red zone defense continues to be a sore spot. New Orleans has allowed touchdowns on 86.4 percent of opponents' possessions inside 20, which ranks last in league.

Coach Sean Payton also is concerned about secondary's propensity for cover busts. Saints have allowed receptions longer than 30 yards in every game, including more than a handful in range of 49 to 74 yards.

“We have to eliminate explosives,” Payton said. “We have to get it figured out. ... Coming off of training camp, I wouldn’t have thought that would be such an issue, but it is right w and we’re addressing it.”

STOCK UP

— Davenport had an injury-plagued start to season before finally seeing action in Week 5. He came through with what was a key sack on Carolina's final possession, prompting Panrs to attempt a 65-yard field goal that fell just short.

— Undrafted rookie receiver Marquez Callaway, who was inactive for New Orleans' first three games, apparently has gained trust of Brees, who threw to him a team-high 10 times against Carolina. Callaway caught eight of those passes for 75 yards. He saw his first consistent action one game earlier and made four catches for 34 yards.

“He opened eyes,” Payton said of Callaway. "We received a chance to see him explosively on some plays and it’s great to see someone’s progress, especially a first-year player in this season. It’s encouraging and we’ll continue to build on that.”

STOCK DOWN

Safety Marcus Williams appeared to be in wrong position when Carolina receiver DJ Moore ran free down middle of field for a 74-yard touchdown catch. Williams also could t shed a block by running back Mike Davis as he attempted to pursue Moore near right sideline on ar play in which Moore turned corner for his second touchdown as Davis sent Williams tumbling out of bounds.

INJURED

Left tackle Terron Armstead left Sunday's game with an arm injury after starting game with a wrap on his hand. While he did t return to game, he remained in uniform on bench and severity of his injury remains unclear. Callaway limped off field, favoring his left leg, after making his eighth catch. He said after game that he was OK, but it remains to be seen how his body responds during recovery this week.

KEY NUMBERS

15: number of consecutive October games won by New Orleans, going back to Oct. 30, 2016.

824: Alvin Kamara's yards from scrimm in just six games, an aver of 137.3 yards per game.

NEXT STEPS

Saints travel to Chicago on Sunday.

(Im Credit: AP)