Mickles: Saints not too excited with victory

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Sep 9, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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So far, so good.

That’s what you can say for the New Orleans Saints after one week of the 2008 season. Nothing more, nothing less because, as coach Sean Payton reminded everyone Sunday afternoon, there are 15 more to come.

It didn’t take Payton long to issue the subtle warning after his Saints opened the season with a satisfying 24-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Superdome.

“It is the first week of the season and we are 1-and-0,” Payton said after the big win over their NFC South rivals. “It is a division opponent, so it is important. But that is what it is.”

But it did give the Saints a little peace of mind knowing they weren’t going to stumble out of the gate like in 2007.

Last year at this time, the Saints were wondering what hit them after a 41-10 season-opening loss to the Indianapolis Colts. That setback led to three more losses and an 0-4 start.

So avoiding that kind of start after a 7-9 finish was one of the Saints’ goals through a long, agonizing offseason.

“One of our goals was to play better early,” Payton said. “I thought we played with a lot of energy. It wasn’t perfect. There were some things we have to work on, but I think we played hard. We were able to get that first home win. One of the things we wanted to do is play better at home.”

With that in mind, it was impossible for Payton to downplay the win which came six days after the state of Louisiana was ravaged by Hurricane Gustav and just days after New Orleanians returned to the city.

“Certainly, it is important for the city, and it’s the first step in getting back to everyday life,” Payton said. “People right now are in the midst of doing that after the last evacuation, so it gives them a chance to disappear a little bit and watch us play. And we take that seriously.

“We are 1-0 and we have a couple tough road games ahead of us,” he added, “but starting with a home win is a lot better than starting off with a road loss. I was proud of the way they played.”

It was fitting perhaps that the Saints defense played a big role in the win, holding the Bucs offense to 13 points and stopping them twice after the Saints took the lead midway through the fourth quarter.

That unit was targeted by opposing offenses a year ago and vilified after giving up big play after big play in the opening loss to the Colts and beyond.