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Now, that the NFL draft is over, let’s have some fun. Let’s start looking ahead to next season with team-by-team looks at what I project as the opening day lineups for each of the four NFC South teams.

Let’s start with the New Orleans Saints, who might not have any rookies open the season as starters because they didn’t have a draft pick until the third round. Also, let’s keep in mind that the Saints could be dealing with some suspensions from their bounty program. We won’t speculate on possible suspensions. We’ll just go with the depth chart as I see it now and I’ll throw in comments where there could be competition.

OFFENSE

• QB Drew Brees (assuming his contract situation gets straightened out)
• RB Pierre Thomas (you can also count Darren Sproles as a starter)
• FB Jed Collins
• WR Marques Colston
• WR Devery Henderson (Lance Moore will play as much as the starters)
• TE Jimmy Graham
• LT Jermon Bushrod
• LG Ben Grubbs
• C Brian de la Puente
• RG Jahri Evans
• RT Zach Strief

DEFENSE

• DE Will Smith
• DT Sedrick Ellis
• DT Brodrick Bunkley
• DE Cameron Jordan
• LB Curtis Lofton
• LB Jonathan Vilma (it remains to be seen if Vilma or Lofton will play in the middle)
• LB Scott Shanle
• CB Jabari Greer
• CB Patrick Robinson
• FS Malcolm Jenkins
• SS Roman Harper

SPECIALISTS

• K Garrett Hartley (assuming he wins training camp competition with John Kasay)
• P Thomas Morstead
• PR Darren Sproles
• KR Darren Sproles

In a normal year, Sean Payton would be in the bunker the day before the draft.

But, as we all know, this is far from a normal year for Payton and the Saints. New Orleans doesn’t even have a pick in the draft until the third round and Payton is suspended.

Payton had been out of the public eye since his season-long suspension began two weeks ago. But he resurfaced Wednesday, playing in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans pro-am event and was paired with PGA Tour player Ryan Palmer. There’s no doubt Palmer and Payton conversed as they played.

But, here’s the weird thing: Payton isn’t allowed to have contact with anyone that works for the Saints while he’s suspended. Several New Orleans players and Saints employees also were playing in the event. I understand the NFL doesn’t want Payton coaching the Saints from a distance while he’s suspended.

That’s understandable. But I think it’s a little ridiculous that Payton couldn’t even say a casual hello to kicker Garrett Hartley, offensive tackle Zach Strief or some long-time co-workers that also were playing in the event.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ agreement with wide receiver Vincent Jackson on Tuesday night was big. Their signing of guard Carl Nicks on Wednesday morning might be even bigger.

Yeah, I know it’s hard to imagine the arrival of a guard topping the presence of a receiver who has a history of making big plays down the field. But the Bucs just might have pulled off that trick by signing Nicks to a five-year deal that’s worth $47.5 million.

Jackson was perhaps the top receiver in free agency. But Nicks is pretty much the unquestioned best guard in the NFL.

He’s also only 26 and may be just hitting his prime. Jackson is going to give quarterback Josh Freeman a big target downfield and, in theory, should open things up for the rest of the receiving corps. But Nicks might end up being even more important.

He’s going to give Freeman plenty of time to find targets downfield. Nicks is dominating as a pass-blocker. He’s also dominant as a run-blocker. The Saints averaged more than 6 yards per carry when running to Nicks’ side last season.

With Nicks and Davin Joseph, the Bucs now have two of the NFC’s Pro Bowl guards from last season. They’ll move Jeremy Zuttah from guard to center. They’ve also got Donald Penn, who is an above-average left tackle. Right tackle Jeremy Trueblood has taken lots of criticism in the past, but his level of play should improve with those four guys around him.

We’ll see how it all shakes out in time. But, on paper, the Bucs suddenly have what could be one of the NFL’s best offensive lines. New coach Greg Schiano has pledged to make the Bucs more physical in all areas, and the arrival of Nicks certainly makes the offensive line much more physical.

But this move has implications beyond Tampa Bay. The loss of Nicks is a blow to the Saints. They wanted to keep him, but found it impossible with a tight salary-cap situation. Nicks also fell third in the pecking order after the Saints put the franchise tag on quarterback Drew Brees and re-signed receiver Marques Colston.

With Nicks and Jahri Evans, the Saints had what many said was the best guard tandem in the league. Nicks and Evans made tackles Jermon Bushrod and Zach Strief and center Brian De La Puente look better than they really are. The Saints have Baltimore's Ben Grubbs in for a visit, and he's decent.

Evans remains and he’s very good. But the Saints no longer have the best guard in the league.

The Bucs do.

Colleague Ross Tucker ranked the offensive lines of the eight teams remaining in the postseason. He has the Saints at No. 2, behind only the Houston Texans.

That’s quite a tribute to the offensive linemen and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer. Plus, you could throw in offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and coach Sean Payton because they obviously have a lot to do with how the offensive line is used.

But I think the thing that really stands out to me about Tucker’s ranking, is that the Saints really only have two blue-chip offensive linemen. Guards Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks are All-Pros and they really carry this line, especially consider the fact the Saints went through some big changes on the line before and during the season.

They let veteran center Jonathan Goodwin go in free agency, coincidentally to the 49ers, who play the Saints on Saturday. They also released veteran right tackle Jon Stinchcomb in training camp. They signed veteran Olin Kreutz to replace Goodwin. But Kreutz got injured, came back briefly, but the left the team, saying his heart no longer was in the game.

After Kreutz left, the Saints got a very nice surprise. Brian de la Puente has stepped in and played pretty well. I’m sure he’s helped by the fact he’s sandwiched between Nicks and Evans, but de la Puente certainly deserves some of the credit.

Right tackle Zach Strief took over for Stinchcomb, but Strief missed five games around the middle of the season with injury. Strief is healthy now and like de la Puente, Strief isn’t considered a big-time talent.

You could even throw left tackle Jermon Bushrod into that category. I know Bushrod made the Pro Bowl this season, but I think that had a lot to do with how prolific the offense is. Bushrod has more talent than Strief or de la Puente and has developed into a solid player. But he’s not a great left tackle.

But I think the moral of this story is that, if you have the two best guards in the NFL, they’re going to make the guys around them look a lot better.

Three things to know about next Saturday’s New Orleans Saints-San Francisco 49ers divisional playoff game:

1. On a roll: The Saints have not lost since Oct. 30 when they inexplicably dropped a game to St. Louis. Although that loss was a big reason why the Saints now have to go on the road, it brought about some positives. The Saints made some major adjustments in their pass protection to give tackles Jermon Bushrod and Zach Strief help. Since then, the offense has been unstoppable. Everyone talks about the passing game and that’s understandable. But the running game has been almost as impressive with Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory sharing the carries. People like to label the Saints a “dome’’ team, but that’s not necessarily true. With this running game, the Saints can also play outdoors and still be able to move the ball if the weather is an obstacle.

2. A different breed: New Orleans’ offense has had a record-setting year. But look back at the opponents. The Saints have yet to face a defense as good as San Francisco’s. Coach Sean Payton will have to be more creative than ever. San Francisco linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman are playing as well as any duo in the game right now. Defenses generally have no idea how to match up with New Orleans tight end and Jimmy Graham and Sproles. But the 49ers might have the personnel to do that.

3. Some help from the defense: The offense has carried the Saints throughout the regular season and there was nothing wrong with that because no defense could slow the Saints. But the 49ers have the potential to keep the Saints under some sort of control. That means Drew Brees and the offense could benefit from some help from the defense. Back in the 2009 championship season, the Saints were opportunistic on defense. They produced turnovers in bunches. This year’s defense hasn’t done much of that. But producing a turnover or two -- or at least generating a little bit of a pass rush -- could be a big help in a road playoff game.

NEW ORLEANS -- Maybe the reason Drew Brees is such a good quarterback is because he can see things the rest of us can’t.

Take the case of Monday night’s 49-24 victory by the New Orleans Saints against the New York Giants at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It looked to be about as close to a perfect performance by a quarterback as there has ever been.

Brees threw for 363 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown, perhaps the most spectacular run of a career that hasn’t included a lot of runs. But the most impressive stat of all might have been that the Saints had 577 yards of total offense (the second-highest output in franchise history) without a 100-yard rusher or receiver and without a sack.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever witnessed that before.

Didn’t think so. It sure looked like perfection.

Instead of celebrating, though, Brees was ripping himself apart -- and apologizing to Michael Jordan -- for not doing enough.

“I’m always hard on myself,’’ Brees said. “I expect perfection. I just know deep down there are some things I still need to work on.’’

Really? What’s left to work on when you’ve put 49 points on the board and spread 25 completions among seven different receivers?

“He is his own worst critic and he is as hard on himself as anyone else could possibly be,’’ New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. “The time he’s been in our system, we’re on Year 6 now, and he’s throwing the ball with great rhythm and anticipation.’’

But let’s stop the tap dancing and the personal critiques. Let’s get right to the truth.

Brees has been a very good quarterback for a long time. But he now is playing better than he ever has. He should be a candidate for Most Valuable Player.

Go ahead and start the chants for Aaron Rodgers. I get it and there's no doubt Rodgers is having a tremendous season. But I think Brees is having every bit as good a season as the Green Bay quarterback. Maybe better, and I am not alone.

“Aaron Rodgers is on an undefeated team and obviously that means a lot,’’ New Orleans right tackle Zach Strief said. “Aaron Rodgers is an absolutely great quarterback, no doubt. But is anybody playing better than Drew Brees right now? Probably not.’’

No, definitely not. Brees is on a roll that has him on pace to break Dan Marino’s record for passing yards in a single season (5,084 in 1984). On his current pace, Brees would finish with 5,366 passing yards. He’s also got the Saints off to an 8-3 start and alone atop the NFC South.

Yeah, the Packers defeated the Saints in the season opener and Rodgers and Green Bay have kept right on winning. No knock on Rodgers, but he’s got a great team around him. So does Brees, but name another true superstar on the New Orleans roster?

I don’t think there’s one besides Brees. He’s surrounded by a bunch of good players, who he makes even better. If he wasn’t hitting running back Darren Sproles and tight end Jimmy Graham on underneath routes against the Giants, he was throwing downfield to Devery Henderson, Marques Colston and Lance Moore.

Could Brees end up as the MVP?

“He’s in that conversation,’’ said Colston, who had six catches for 78 yards. “As long as we keep winning, he’s got to stay in that conversation.’’

Colston came into the NFL in 2006, the same year Brees arrived in New Orleans. Colston has seen Brees in games and practices. They went to an NFC Championship Game in their first year together and won a Super Bowl in the 2009 season. Brees became only the second quarterback ever to throw for 5,000 yards in 2008.

“Drew Brees is even better now than he’s ever been,’’ Colston said. “The crazy thing is that we long ago came to expect great things from him. But he’s taken it to an even higher level. Heck, that touchdown run he had, I’ve never seen out of him.’’

Ah, yes, the touchdown run. If you haven’t seen it, check the highlights. It came with 5:48 left in the third quarter. That’s when Brees dropped to throw, tucked the ball, ran and dived across the goal line.

Shades of Tim Tebow from a guy who's never been known as a runner.

“When he’s throwing the football, you would say he’s very decisive,’’ Payton said. “On that play, you could say the same thing.’’

Brees was decisive on the run that gave the Saints a 35-10 lead. He even was decisive on what he attempted to do next, although that was the one moment of the night where Brees wasn’t perfect and that’s where the apology to Jordan came in.

After scoring, Brees made a run for the goalposts. His plan was to dunk the ball over the post, in the same manner he used to imitate Jordan’s dunks on a shorter-than-regulation basketball rim when he was growing up.

“I was a little more tired than I thought I would be,’’ Brees said. “I didn’t quite get the oomph and I turned it into more of a finger roll. I apologize to Michael Jordan.’’

But Brees didn’t have to apologize for anything else. Heck, Brees is so good that he forces Payton to defy every coaching handbook he's ever seen. When the Saints got the ball back at their own 12-yard line with 1:09 left in the first half, Payton didn't call for handoffs to run out the clock. He turned Brees loose. The Saints went straight down the field and scored on a pass to Moore with 40 seconds left in the half and a 21-3 lead.

"It's that confidence that players around have in him and, obviously, we have in him,'' Payton said.

In the locker room after the game, his teammates were still in awe.

“It’s weird to say this,’’ Strief said. “You play with lots of guys through the years and every guy you play with, you can remember him having a bad game at some point. I can honestly say I’ve never seen Drew Brees have a bad game. What he did tonight was simply amazing. He just keeps getting better and better.’’

“He’s the only quarterback I’ve really played with in the NFL,’’ Colston said. “But I look around at other quarterbacks and I just can’t imagine a better quarterback than Drew Brees.’’

Or a better MVP candidate.

Drew Brees is on pace to break all sorts of passing records. Darren Sproles might be the best free-agent pickup of the year, and Jimmy Graham is well on his way to becoming the best tight end in the NFL.

Oh, and let’s not forget a group of receivers (Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem) that’s as deep as any other in the league. All of the above are huge reasons the New Orleans Saints are 7-3 and sitting atop the NFC South.

But if the Saints are 8-3 on Tuesday morning, it won’t necessarily be because of the previously mentioned guys. It will be because of the best thing the Saints have going for them right now.

That’s the offensive line. Yep, seriously. A group that struggled with adversity from training camp right up until midseason suddenly has become one of the team’s biggest strengths. That offensive line will have to be stronger than ever Monday night when the Saints host the New York Giants at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The Giants come into New Orleans tied for second in the league with 31 sacks. Jason Pierre-Paul is No. 3 with 9.5 sacks, and Osi Umenyiora is tied for 12th in the league with 7. There’s no doubt the Giants can get after the quarterback, but I’d give the edge to the New Orleans offensive line right now.

This unit has suddenly found itself, and it’s only going to keep improving.

“The offensive line is the group that has to play with the most continuity,’’ Brees said. “They have five guys that need to be on the same page every play. It’s hard to do, and yet I feel like we have smart, tough guys that do that.”

But it wasn’t always this way. The New Orleans offensive line has been flawless only the past two games. In victories over division rivals Tampa Bay and Atlanta, the Saints haven’t allowed a sack. Note what Brees said about continuity. That’s why I’m saying the New Orleans offensive line will continue to improve.

Coach Sean Payton has a brilliant offensive mind, and his offensive coaches have worked very hard to fix some early problems. The linemen have put in a lot of work after a flaw that could have ruined the season was fully exposed to the rest of the league.

On Oct. 30, the Saints strolled into St. Louis as huge favorites against the Rams, who were winless at the time. The Saints left embarrassed, and Brees was battered like he’d never been battered since joining New Orleans in 2006. He was sacked six times and hit at least an additional 10 times.

It added up to a 31-21 victory by the Rams and a lot of tape for the rest of the league to look at. The season could have spiraled out of control right then, but it hasn’t.

That’s because the Saints limped out of St. Louis knowing something like that could never happen again, and it hasn’t. Brees hasn’t been sacked -- or even pressured very much -- since that day.

That’s because the Saints finally have figured out who their five best linemen are, and they’ve finally been able to get them all on the field at the same time. It just took about half a season for all the pieces to be on the table.

The Saints came out of the lockout knowing they would have to mess a bit with the continuity of the offensive line, which might have been the league’s best during the 2009 Super Bowl season and wasn’t bad last year.

The Saints liked Jonathan Goodwin, but they weren’t going to pay huge money to keep a 32-year-old center. They let him sign with San Francisco. They’d prepared for Goodwin’s eventual departure by drafting Matt Tennant in 2010.

But the Saints looked at Tennant for the first few days of training camp and quickly realized he was nowhere near ready. They quickly went out and signed Olin Kreutz, who was 2 years older than Goodwin, to a much cheaper deal and hoped he could act as a bridge for a year until Tennant was ready.

The bridge collapsed quickly. Kreutz started three games before being sidelined for two games with a knee injury. He came back for one game and then decided to walk away from the Saints, saying he no longer had the desire to play. Subsequent reports said Kreutz’s decision might have been made because the Saints were about to bench him -- not to go with Tennant, but to throw in the ultimate no-name player.

That was Brian de la Puente, who’d been bouncing around training camps since 2008 but had never appeared in a regular-season game until he started when Kreutz first was injured.

About the same time Kreutz was walking away, right tackle Zach Strief was dealing with a knee injury that sidelined him for five games. Strief didn’t exactly have a great pedigree to begin with. He’d been with the Saints as a backup since 2006 but was thrust into the starting job when the Saints decided to cut aging veteran Jon Stinchcomb in training camp. The Saints initially hoped the Goodwin departure would be the only change and they could squeeze one more season from Stinchcomb. But training camp quickly showed that Stinchcomb was at the end of the road, and the Saints handed the starting job to Strief. He started off pretty well but then went down with the injury. Charles Brown struggled as Strief's replacement.

But Strief has returned to start the last two games, and de la Puente is getting very comfortable in the middle.

“Certainly the time on task, snaps and experience for a young center and Zach Strief coming off an injury, all those things help,’’ Payton said. “They’ve played very good football here of late. We think it’s a key to us playing good football games. Certainly from a repetition standpoint, the more those guys get to work together, the more they become comfortable with the center, who is going to making a lot of the calls and [identifying] the defense along with Drew, I think that’s very important.’’

It’s important to note that the Saints already had and continue to have the league’s best guard tandem in Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks. Left tackle Jermon Bushrod is never going to be a superstar, but he’s been starting for three seasons and has become a very dependable player.

The Saints went through some changes and early adversity on their offensive line. But now that Strief and de la Puente have emerged as nice complementary players to Nicks, Evans and Bushrod, things have stabilized.

The Saints might have taken a couple of initial steps back when they let Goodwin walk and released Stinchcomb, and they certainly took a hit when Kreutz didn’t work out. But all of a sudden, it’s looking as though the adjustment period is over. The Saints might have an even stronger offensive line than before.

They’re going to need that against the Giants.

The New Orleans Saints’ offensive line, coming off its best game of the season, has been selected as the weekly winner of the Madden Protectors Award.

With right tackle Zach Strief returning to the starting lineup after an injury, the Saints bounced back from a rough performance against St. Louis to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The offensive line played a big role as quarterback Drew Brees was not sacked. He was sacked six times the previous week.

But Strief teamed with guards Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans, left tackle Jermon Bushrod and center Brian de la Puente to turn in what Hall of Fame coach John Madden called the best performance by an offensive line this past weekend.

The Saints also were able to move the ball on the ground. They finished with 195 rushing yards.

“When a team finds a great balance between the run and pass, you start giving out credit, and that usually starts with the offensive line,” Madden said.

NEW ORLEANS – After getting pushed around by St. Louis in Week 8, the New Orleans Saints did the only logical thing. They brought out the bats.

Yeah, the baseball bats.

For those who haven’t followed the Saints in recent years, the bats are significant. For those who have, you know the bats mean the Saints are swinging for something besides the fences.

“The whole philosophy behind a bat game is it’s going to be a physical, physical game,’’ New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees said. “You’re not going to look at the scoreboard. All you’re going to do is think about winning the physical battle, and if you can outhit the opponent, you win the game. We save these for special occasions. Typically, we don’t do it for a division opponent. You can say they’re all physical and important and all those things. But, maybe in light of where we are in the season and what happened a few weeks ago at their place, (coach Sean Payton) felt like it was appropriate.’’

One of Payton’s favorite motivational tricks was perfectly timed Sunday as the Saints defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-16 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

A week after an embarrassing loss to the previously-winless Rams and about a month after losing to the Buccaneers in Tampa, the Saints (6-3) turned to the heavy lumber to hold onto sole possession of first place in the NFC South. In a tradition that’s best remembered from when Reggie Bush ran onto the field carrying a bat before a playoff victory against Arizona in the 2009 Super Bowl championship season, Payton had red bats with Tampa Bay’s nickname distributed to all his players before the game.

The implication is simple.

“Be physical, bring the wood and hit somebody,’’ said Jo-Lonn Dunbar, who started at middle linebacker in place of the injured Jonathan Vilma.

To those who like to call the Saints a “finesse team,’’ they were far from it against the Buccaneers. After allowing Brees to get sacked six times and hit another nine times against the Rams, the Saints protected their quarterback perfectly. Brees wasn’t sacked -- and barely was touched -- and it wasn’t simply because the Saints gave tackles Jermon Bushrod and Zach Strief extra blocking help.

The bats were swinging from every direction on offense.

“I thought we found a great balance,’’ Brees said.

Against St. Louis, there was no balance. There was no running game and that allowed the Rams to focus on Brees. Against the Buccaneers (4-4), the balance was pretty close to perfect. Brees completed 27 of 36 passes for 258 yards with two touchdowns.

But he had tremendous help from the ground game. The Saints finished with 195 yards, including a rare 20-yard scamper by Brees. But the rest of it came from the combination of Chris Ivory, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas.

Sproles, who is the offense’s jack-of-all-trades, finished with 42 yards on four carries and also caught five passes for 57 yards and a touchdown. He also had a touchdown run near the end of the game that was called back by a penalty. Thomas rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Ivory, who returned last week after sitting out the early portion of the season with an injury, led the Saints with 67 yards on 15 carries. The Saints didn’t even seem to miss injured rookie running back Mark Ingram.

That bat rack seemed more than full as Brees completed passes to eight different receivers, including six for 78 yards to tight end Jimmy Graham.

“When you look at our productivity when we’re running well, it’s through the roof,’’ Brees said.

The Saints looked a whole lot different than they did against the Rams.

“Last week, that’s not the team we are,’’ Brees said.

“We’re past that,’’ Payton said. “We’re not scratching any heads.’’

That’s partly because the Saints also came out swinging on defense. They held the Buccaneers to 84 rushing yards on 20 carries. Tampa Bay’s LeGarrette Blount got off to a hot start, but he seemed to cool off after the Saints stopped him on a fourth-and-one at the New Orleans 29-yard line with 5:07 remaining in the first quarter.

The defense also held Tampa Bay to just three field goals until Josh Freeman and Kellen Winslow connected on a touchdown pass with 5:33 left.

Payton made it a point to say this was the first time the Saints ever have had a “bat game’’ against a division opponent. That might have helped reverse last week’s mess and put the Saints on a good path as they head to Atlanta for next Sunday’s game against the 5-3 Falcons.

So why don’t the Saints just bring out the bats for every game?

“I don’t think there’s enough room for all those bats,’’ wide receiver Lance Moore said.

Moore was speaking in the literal sense about space in the locker room. But it’s fair to suggest he might also have a point in the figurative sense. Maybe the Saints don’t need to physically hand out 53 baseball bats every week. That would make Payton’s point about playing physically get old in a hurry.

Instead, just take some of the lessons learned between the embarrassment at St. Louis and the joyful victory against Tampa Bay and carry them all the time. The Saints aren’t the type of team that must be dramatically more physical than their opponent every week. They just need to be physical enough in their running game and with their defense to prevent everything from falling on Brees’ shoulders.

“It makes things so much easier when you have a balanced attack,’’ Moore said.

When the Saints have that balance, they can make any game look like batting practice.

We’ve got an update to our previous post about how there might be some injury-report games going on in advance of Sunday’s game between the Saints and Buccaneers.

The Saints now have added right tackle Zach Strief to the injury report. Strief is listed with a knee injury and participated fully in Thursday’s practice. Strief was not listed on Wednesday’s injury report and was not on the first report the Saints sent out Thursday.

Coach Sean Payton has said Strief will start Sunday’s game. He had missed the previous five games with a knee injury.

Looks like we might have a little game going on even before the Buccaneers and Saints play Sunday in New Orleans.

Raheem Morris suggested (jokingly?) that quarterback Josh Freeman was added to the injury report because the Saints made a call to the NFL office after seeing Freeman wearing padding on his thumb during an NFL Network interview.

"Ask the Saints, they reported it," Morris said when first asked about Freeman's thumb injury.

Morris went on to say that Freeman is fine and will play Sunday. Morris said the injury was minor when it first happened in the Oct. 23 game against the Bears in London and was able to practice during last week’s bye and this week.

But the Bucs got a call from the league office Thursday, strongly suggesting that Freeman be added to the injury report. The league also told the Bucs that safety Tanard Jackson should be added to the report.

Jackson left the Chicago game with a hamstring injury, but has been practicing this week. Technically, Jackson should at least be on the report. The league put in a new rule this year that a player who leaves a game or sits one out with an injury must be listed on the injury report for the following game, even if there is a bye week involved. Jackson was added to Thursday's report and the team said he did not practice.

If Morris is correct that the Saints reported the Freeman situation (and perhaps the Jackson situation) to the league office, there’s more than a bit of irony at play. Morris is one of the league’s most open coaches when discussing injuries. New Orleans’ Sean Payton follows a different path. Like a lot of coaches, Payton is extremely guarded with injury information, providing only minimal updates and only at times those updates are required by the NFL.

In fact, you could make a case that the Bucs might want to put in a call to the league office because New Orleans right tackle Zach Strief and linebacker Will Herring are not on this week’s injury report. Both were inactive Sunday, although Herring might have been a healthy scratch. But both players had been out with injuries for multiple games.

Time for a look at the top Thursday morning headlines around the NFC South.

Atlanta special teams coach Keith Armstrong said that rookie punter/kickoff specialist Matt Bosher is making progress. Bosher got off to a very rough start and a lot of fans were calling for the Falcons to bring in a replacement. The team stuck with Bosher. That was largely because the Falcons did a lot of homework on Bosher in the draft process and believed he could move past the early problems. He’s not a finished product yet, but Atlanta’s patience with Bosher could end up paying off.

Scott Fowler wonders aloud if Carolina rookie quarterback Cam Newton should make the Pro Bowl. It’s starting to look like at least a possibility. The Panthers aren’t winning, but Newton’s statistics are outstanding. If he can add a few wins, he’s got a chance.

New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees already has been sacked 19 times. That’s more than he’s been sacked in most of his full seasons in New Orleans. It’s not hard to figure out what’s going on here. The Saints have had a lot of turnover on their offensive line. Veteran right tackle Jon Stinchcomb was released in training camp. Center Olin Kreutz, who was brought in to replace Jonathan Goodwin, abruptly retired. Zach Strief, who replaced Stinchcomb, has missed five games with a knee injury. The Saints simply don’t have the continuity they once did on the offensive line. It’s going to take some time to get that back.

Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis, who is out for the season with his third major knee injury, said he wants to return next year. Davis said he’s willing to restructure his contract. He’ll have to take a cut in pay to stay in Carolina or land anywhere else. Davis is due an $8 million bonus in March and there’s no way the Panthers are going to pay that to someone who has had so many injuries. Restructuring is possible, but the Panthers may simply cut Davis and then see if they can bring him back later at a much lower salary.

Tampa Bay long-snapper Andrew Economos has recovered from a torn Achilles tendon and will make his season debut Sunday in New Orleans.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The New Orleans Saints will turn back to Zach Strief at right tackle this week.

On a conference call with the Tampa Bay media Wednesday, coach Sean Payton said Charles Brown (hip flexor) will be placed on the injured reserve list.

“Zach will be back and he’s going to start at that right tackle spot," Payton said.

Strief started the first three games of the season before suffering a knee injury. Brown took his place and did well initially. But Brown and the rest of the offensive line struggled in Sunday’s loss to St. Louis. Quarterback Drew Brees was sacked six times.

“Last week, we got into a lot of third-and-long situations,’’ Payton said. “Those are tough situations if you’re an offensive lineman.’’

» NFC Stock Watch: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

FALLING

1. The New Orleans offensive line. Drew Brees was sacked six times and the running game never got going in Sunday’s loss to St. Louis. Right tackle Charles Brown struggled mightily and it’s likely he’ll be back on the bench soon because Zach Strief is coming back from injury. But the problems weren’t all due to Brown. New Orleans has some highly regarded players across the rest of the line, but none of them played well Sunday. Guard Carl Nicks had a bad game and fellow guard Jahri Evans also appeared off. Jermon Bushrod has developed into a dependable left tackle, but he wasn’t dependable against the Rams.

2. Jonathan Vilma, Saints linebacker. He has been one of the top players in the NFC South the past few years. But Vilma doesn’t look the same this year. Part of it might be because of a knee injury that’s been bothering him all season. Against the Rams, I saw Vilma miss a couple of tackles he never would have missed a few years ago.

3. Olindo Mare, Panthers kicker. Carolina cut veteran and fan favorite John Kasay to make room for Mare, who landed a huge contract. Mare has kicked well most of the season. But he missed a 31-yard field-goal attempt that would have sent Sunday’s game with Minnesota into overtime. Yeah, Kasay was old and couldn’t kick off, but I don’t recall Kasay ever missing very many 31-yard kicks.

RISING

1. Kregg Lumpkin, Buccaneers running back. He’s 27, but this reserve has all of 14 career carries and has never scored an NFL touchdown. Ready or not, Lumpkin’s about to get an increased role. With Earnest Graham lost for the season to injury, Lumpkin is going to be the top backup to LeGarrette Blount. He also is likely to be used as the third-down back. The Tampa Bay coaches are high on Lumpkin and they better be right because he’s only a Blount injury away from being the feature back.

2. Jason Snelling, Falcons running back. Fullback Ovie Mughelli has been lost for the season with a knee injury. The Falcons did sign Mike Cox and he could be used as the lead blocker for Michael Turner at times. Snelling is the top backup to Turner at tailback, but he has filled in at fullback from time to time. Don’t be surprised if the Falcons decide to let Snelling and Cox share the duties at fullback. At 237 pounds, Snelling might be a little light for a fullback. But he’s a good blocker and his ability to run and catch passes could add a new dimension to Atlanta’s offense if he’s playing fullback.

3. Julio Jones, Falcons receiver. The rookie was off to a pretty good start before missing the past two games with a hamstring injury. The bye week helped Jones get healthy and he returned to practice Monday. I’m expecting a big second half of the season from Jones. Remember, he was thrown right into the starting lineup and didn’t have a true offseason because of the lockout. He seemed to catch on pretty quickly, but this little break has given Jones a little time to really process everything.

Thoughts on the New Orleans Saints' 31-21 loss to the St. Louis Rams on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

What it means: I’d like to say there’s no shame in losing to a St. Louis team that came into the game winless. But I can’t. I’d like to say there’s even less shame because the Rams were using future Hall of Famer A.J. Feeley at quarterback instead of the injured Sam Bradford. But I can’t. I’d also like to say there’s no shame in not scoring an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter when you’ve got Drew Brees and a world of offensive talent going against a defense that hadn’t been stopping anybody this season. But I can’t. Quite simply, the Saints can’t afford to lose a game like this if they want to go to the Super Bowl. But they did. They could have been waltzing away with the NFC South race. Now, they’ve opened the door for Atlanta and Tampa Bay. There’s no other word to describe this one besides shameful. Well, unless you want to go with “embarrassing.’’ Take your pick.

Stat of the day: The Saints were held scoreless in the first half. That’s the first time that’s happened to them since a 2007 game against Tampa Bay.

The streak lives on: It didn't come until the final seconds, but Brees extended his streak of games with at least one touchdown pass to 35. That's the third longest streak in NFL history. Brett Favre is No. 2 at 36 games and Jonny Unitas is No. 1 at 47 games.

Prediction time: I’ll just about guarantee you Zach Strief will be back in the starting lineup at right tackle the next time the Saints take to the field. Strief’s been out with a knee injury, but was back at practice last week. The Saints might have been playing it a little cautious on Strief and they continued to start Charles Brown in his place. Brown had been doing pretty well, but not against the Rams. I saw Brown give up at least two sacks.

Mystery of the day: Yeah, I know the Saints fell behind and it’s common to abandon the running game when that happens. But the Saints never really used the running game before things got out of hand. They barely ran the trio of Chris Ivory, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas against a St. Louis defense that had been having lots of problems stopping the run. And the Saints can’t use Mark Ingram’s absence (due to a bruised heel) as an excuse. Ivory was their leading rusher last season and Sproles and Thomas had been running well this season.

What’s next: The Saints host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday at the Mercedez-Benz Superdome. The Bucs beat the Saints in Tampa in early October and I’m sure there is some residual anger among the New Orleans players and coaches. Throw in the natural anger of the embarrassing loss to St. Louis and the Saints should be very motivated for the Bucs. If they’re not, they’ve got real problems.