At long last, the New Orleans Saints are home. After spending over a month on the road due to complications from Hurricane Ida, Louisiana authorities approved the team's return to the Caesars Superdome this past weekend. Their home opener will take place on Sunday, against the New York Giants.
The team had to evacuate New Orleans on Aug. 27, in advance of the storm making landfall. Displaced, the Saints spent weeks practicing around Texas -- their season opener took place "at home" in Jacksonville. But the adversity didn't faze them, and CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora is impressed.
"These are the ultimate creatures of habit. There's been nothing routine for the Saints since they broke camp in Metairie, Louisiana and hoofed it over to Texas," La Canfora told the Reiter Than You show on Wednesday. "For them to do what they've done in the post-Brees era, you have to be impressed by it, how prepared they've been. Impressed by Sean Payton's willingness to win...
"They're going to stay balanced, hit way more big plays than they have in the last three or four years. And that's a pretty good defense. There's going to be some missteps here or there, because of all that newness... But I think they can withstand that, and the good will outweigh the bad. Once they're able to get back home, play before their real fans, and enjoy some of the comforts everybody else has taken for granted, that only bodes well for them."
The Saints have overcome several obstacles since the hurricane. In Week 1, on a neutral field, they obliterated the Green Bay Packers, 38-3, behind five touchdowns passes from new starting quarterback Jameis Winston. Although their Week 2 road loss to the rival Carolina Panthers was ugly, winning ways returned last Sunday against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Winston is making the most of his opportunity with the Saints. Through three games, the former first-overall pick has completed 60.3-percent of his passes for 387 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. During Week 1, he became just the seventh quarterback in history with five passing scores and no interceptions in a season opener, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
New Orleans (2-1) and New York (0-3) are scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Saints currently have a 63-percent chance to reach the playoffs and a 25-percent chance to win the NFC South.
The entire NFL conversation between La Canfora and Reiter can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Reiter Than You show on Twitter @sportsreiter and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.