The Saints are marching themselves right out of Super Bowl contention. They’ve dropped from 8-1 to 20-1 to win the first championship in franchise history, but the main concern right now is to get a win, period.

New Orleans had a pretty bad defense in 2006; it’s playing even worse this year, but the real problems have been on the other side of the ball. For some reason, Deuce McAllister was given just 10 carries in each of the first two games. If the Saints keep giving the ball to Reggie Bush on Monday night against the Titans, their linebackers will stuff him when he tries to bounce outside.

Tennessee (+4) has a very good chance to win this game outright. If they had any semblance of a vertical attack, the Titans might be the favorites. They’ve covered nine of their past 11 games, all as underdogs, thanks to good old defense and running. Why stop now?

The Giants have fallen off the beanstalk. They’re 0-2 SU and ATS, and while coach Tom Coughlin is trying his best not to scream at his players anymore, they still have the glazed-over look of a child that has just been taken to the woodshed.

Having to face the grinding Redskins (-4) won’t help in the confidence department. Washington is 2-0 (1-0-1 ATS) thanks to smashmouth football and the gradual development of Jason Campbell at quarterback. Eli Manning could have used some of that.

Manning must be even more frustrated when he looks at the Bears. Rex Grossman got to play in a Super Bowl, after all. But the Bears can only ride their defense for so long; they haven’t covered a game yet, and Dallas (+3) has ridden the second-best offense in the league so far to a pair of double-digit victories. Yes, Tony Romo is a Pro Bowl quarterback.

We’re about to find out whether our eyes have been deceiving us. Arizona and Green Bay have each covered twice; Baltimore is 0-2 ATS, and the Chargers were lucky to split the cash after two lackluster performances.

The Cardinals got the duke last week when Seattle turned a game-winning drive into a Three Stooges revival. But coach Ken Whisenhunt deserves credit for simplifying the game plan; Matt Leinart certainly looks more comfortable in the pocket. However, the Ravens (-8) have a history of making opposing QBs feel very uncomfortable indeed.

As for the Chargers, their offense has been stymied twice by the potent front sevens of Chicago and New England. The Packers (+5.5) are also stacked up front, as both the Eagles and Giants found out the hard way. If Brett Favre continues to jell with his young receivers – and San Diego’s secondary is vulnerable – good things will continue to happen in Green Bay.

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The battle for second place in the AFC East is on. With the Patriots threatening to run the table, if the Dolphins or Jets are going to make the playoffs, it’ll probably take another 10-win Wild Card season like New York managed last year.

Miami doesn’t seem anywhere closer to the Promised Land with Trent Green at quarterback. The reliable veteran blew a tire last week against Dallas, throwing four interceptions, and the Miami defense has gone from the team’s saving grace to sad disgrace in just one week.

The Jets join Miami at 0-2, but look pretty good at –3 against the visiting Fish. Getting pulverized in Week 1 by New England was no shame, and coming back to cover against Baltimore with backup QB Kellen Clemens making his first NFL start was an accomplishment. Chad Pennington (130.5 QB rating in Week 1) will reportedly get the nod against Miami. The home fans might even cheer this time.

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I’m not sure what was more painful during last Monday’s tilt between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers – the game itself, or the television commentary.

Let’s just say the Seattle Seahawks look very good to defend their NFC West crown at 11-10. The Niners have been hyped as legitimate contenders, and perhaps they will jell as Alex Smith gets used to his third offensive coordinator in three years. But that last-minute 20-17 win over the Cards was bowling-shoe ugly.

At least Arizona (5-1) has figured out what to do with Edgerrin James. But without center Al Johnson for Sunday’s matchup against Seattle, the Cards are looking at 0-2 right off the bat. They’ll be fighting it out with the St. Louis Rams (13-2) for third place in the division. The defensively challenged Rams were forced to raid the San Diego practice roster to fill out their hobbled offensive line. Uh-oh.

What’s up with Jacksonville? The Jaguars went from compelling Super Bowl dark horses to the glue factory in just one week, opening the 2007 campaign with a 13-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Really, 18 rushing attempts for 72 yards?

Now the AFC South has a middle class. The Jags are now just 20-1 to win the conference, even with the Titans, and 35-1 for Super Bowl XLII. But don’t write Jacksonville off just yet.

Not that either team’s performance holds a candle to what the defending champion Indianapolis Colts did to New Orleans on Thursday. After that 41-10 shellacking, the Colts are now 7-2 to take the AFC and 6-1 to retain the league title. Even with New England in the way, that holds some value given how Indy’s defense stifled the Saints.

Last, and perhaps least, the Houston Texans squashed Kansas City 20-3. Houston is 50-1 to win the AFC, but kudos nonetheless.

The AFC North could be the best division in the entire NFL. And after Monday night’s shenanigans, it just got a lot more competitive.

The Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals are now tied at 8-1 to win the conference title after Cincy’s 27-20 victory in Week 1. Although the Bengals were favored by three points at home, and although they took “winning ugly” to a whole new level Monday, this was a significant accomplishment for a team that went just 8-8 last year.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a much easier season opener, beating the Cleveland Browns 34-7 and sending Charlie Frye packing to Seattle. Pittsburgh is 10-1 to win the AFC; the Browns, meanwhile, have plummeted to the bottom at 100-1.

How things will shake out in the end is anyone’s guess. But that’s why they play the games, and that’s why we bet on them. Suffice to say the Steelers have some value.

Is there a better bounce-back candidate in the NFL than the Seattle Seahawks? With Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander both healthy, they look a lot more like the team that went to Super Bowl XL. The Seahawks are 22-1 to erase that painful memory.

Playing in the NFC West helps. The competition will be a little stiffer this year, but Seattle remains the division favorite at 7-5, despite carrying a regular-season total of just nine victories, with the “over” the slight favorite at –120.

For that matter, playing in the NFC itself is the easier way to get to Glendale. The Seahawks are 13-2 to win the lesser of the two conferences, behind five other teams in a tight pack at the top of the odds list. Strangely, one of those teams is San Francisco at 6-1. The Niners are 9-5 to win the NFC West; they’re Seattle’s biggest obstacle in 2007.

The news hit the betting world like a hammer: The New England Patriots, 2-1 favorites to win the Super Bowl.

The Pats were expected to get plenty of title talk. This “dynasty” underwent a high-profile upgrade during the offseason, adding the likes of Randy Moss to what was a no-name receiving corps in 2006. But 2-1?

The betting public didn’t even blink. New England’s odds shortened to 8-5 before the pendulum swung back. But those bettors who assumed a fair chunk of Super Bowl risk for relatively little reward might be second-guessing themselves.

New England’s title chances, however strong, took a hit when Rodney Harrison was suspended for four games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. With Richard Seymour missing at least the first six games after going on the PUP list, and Moss missing the entire preseason with hamstring issues, the Pats are staring at a possible 3-3 start to their would-be championship season.

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Last year, the Indianapolis Colts went 1-3 straight up (2-2 against the spread) in the preseason. The Oakland Raiders went 4-1 SU and ATS.

So why do they play these games again? Revenue seems to be the main concern. Fans love NFL football so much, nearly 37,000 of them showed up at Lambeau Field in 1987 to watch the replacement Packers lose to the replacement Lions.

That rabid following has been enough to quell any attempts to reduce the exhibition season from four games (plus the Hall of Fame game, plus the occasional International Bowl) to two.

Handicappers, though, don’t mind the extra opportunities to bet. And even if the final score of these exhibition games has little to say about what will happen during the regular season, it’s still a chance to keep an eye on player development. Which is what the preseason is really supposed to be about.