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Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

We’re going to start off a series of team-by-team mailbags with the New Orleans Saints. My apologies for not doing team-by-team mailbags last week, but I was busy and traveling and wasn’t able to work it into the schedule. But mailbags are firmly on the schedule today because I don’t have to travel this weekend and I’m planning to not leave the house today as I recover from the cold I caught in Atlanta last week.

On to some Saints questions:

Richard in Ann Arbor writes: I don't get why everybody was so down on the Saints in their first four weeks. John Clayton even went so far as to predict a 1 - 3 start for them. Even if Charles Grant and Will Smith went down, no one would have missed Charles Grant, and the Saints have a serviceable back-up for Will Smith in Bobby McCray. And, suspensions or no, the secondary is better, and Drew Brees is still Drew Brees. The offense doesn't break just because two defensive starters get suspended.Saints fans I associate with, myself included, were expecting a 3 - 1 start, with a loss to the Eagles, and would have been disappointed with anything less. Detroit's bad, T.O. alone won't fix the Bills, and the Jets have a rookie QB. Those should all be wins on paper for this team, suspensions or no.

Pat Yasinskas: I think many in the media, myself certainly included, were working on the assumption that Grant and Smith would be suspended for the first four games and that might cause a slow start. Obviously, Grant and Smith haven’t been suspended and it doesn’t look like they will be this year. The Saints have gotten off to a fantastic start by winning their first two and everything seems to be clicking for them. I’m excited about going to New Orleans to cover what should be a huge game between the Saints and Jets next week. Who would have thought that would be a big game a month ago? It just goes to show how little preseason predictions sometimes mean.

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Brandon in Seattle writes: Do you think Pierre Thomas resumes a prominent role in the New Orleans backfield? Or is Mike Bell's start going to throw him into the new feature role?

Pat Yasinskas: The Saints are saying Bell won’t play Sunday because of a sprained knee. I think that means Pierre Thomas and Lynell Hamilton will split time with Reggie Bush in the backfield. Bell was off to a great start before he got banged up. It sounds like his injury is the type that could keep him out for a couple of weeks, but he used the first two weeks to show how effective he can be. We’ll see how Thomas and Hamilton fare in the coming weeks and I suspect they both will do well because the Saints have a great offense around them. When Bell gets healthy, the Saints will be loaded with quality running backs, which is a nice problem to have.

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Adam in Pace, FL writes: How is it the Saints still aren't in the top 5 in the power rankIngs? They're #2 in passing O, 8 in rushing O, and I believe the only reason they're ranked so low in the passing D is the fact that they put up so many points that the opposing offense does nothing but pass the ball. They're top 3 in the league! What do you think?

Pat Yasinskas: Adam, I don’t have a vote in the power rankings this year. If I did, the Saints certainly would be in my top five. But the guys who do vote don’t have them there quite yet. A win on Sunday at Buffalo should be enough to push the Saints into the top five.

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Brandt in Baton Rouge writes: Pat, one thing I see consistently at the national level when talking about the Saints, is the omission to mention Sean Payton and the rest of the team is also what makes the Saints' offense great. Yes, I agree Drew Brees is irreplaceable on our offense, but Brees is just one piece of the puzzle. Brees can not complete a pass w/o having good receivers, right? Brees needs the play calling of Payton to confuse defenses, right? I just feel that at the national level, they ignore the bigger picture and just focus on Brees and Bush. Guess what I'm trying to say is, they are popular and playmakers, but they aren't the team. Keep up the blog. Nice Work. I know the comment is long. Even if it doesn't make it to the mailbag, I hope it's something you think about.

Pat Yasinskas: It made the mailbag, Brandt and it is a good point. Brees is off to a phenomenal start, but he’s far from a one-man show. First off, the Saints have a very unique offense and Payton is a master at pulling the strings on that. In fact, I’d make the case that if Brees hypothetically went down for one game and backup Mark Brunell had to play, the offensive numbers would still be impressive. That’s because this offense is built on a system that works and it’s loaded with great players at all the skill positions. Brees deserves tons of credit for what he does and he’s amazingly efficient. But there are plenty of other moving parts in this offensive machine.