Has it been that much already? Seems that way, at least. The latest outrage comes from those paragons of football logic, Sports Illustrated, where John Mullin ranks the best QB/RB combos in the league. The Saints rank 17th.

Here's what Mullin has to say about us:

Brees' passing numbers are bordering on the irrelevant without a backfield mate that commands some attention consistently.

Get that: irrelevant. You come 16 yards shy of breaking a nearly unbreakable record, and you're irrelevant. And why? Because Mr. Mullin doesn't know that Pierre Thomas has a 4.8 yards-per-carry average. Poor Pierre is simply not enough of a running back, and without a better rushing game Drew Brees is only spinning his wheels.

Not so the Minnesota Vikings. They rank 16th, one spot ahead of the Saints. They have Adrian Peterson. He has a 4.8 average. He accounted for 1,885 yards of offense last year, you see; whereas Drew Brees only accounted for...well, over 5,000, but we spell that i-r-r-e-l-e-v-a-n-t.

The Vikings also have the immortal Tarvaris Jackson, who, teaming with Peterson, gave them 3,086 yards last season; whereas the inadequate tandem of Brees and Thomas only produced a measly 5,693 yards. Pardon me while I elaborate on that: Brees and Thomas produced a surplus in yardage over Minnesota's tandem that was equal to one-and-a-half Adrian Petersons. That makes them both irrelevant.

It's probably not good policy to take comfort in the utter stupidity of people; but there are times when it can be comforting, and this is one of them. We continue to fly under the radar...and that's the way it ought to stay. Until the rest of the league wakes up about mid-season to realize that the Saints are working on home field advantage.