So, how to explain the recent turn of events?

The Saints, against impressive odds, opened the 2002 season by upsetting the Buccaneers -- the runaway choice to win the newly created NFC South division -- in overtime at Tampa Bay and then dusted the Green Bay Packers last week, 35-20.

"We're no joke," said safety Sammy Knight after the victory over the Packers. "People think the NFC South is a soft division, but all those other teams are going to find out the truth."

New Orleans visits the Chicago Bears Sunday at Champaign, Ill., in a battle of, gasp, unbeaten teams. It is, in some minds, the most attractive matchup of the week. Of the surprise 2-0 teams (the Carolina Panthers and San Diego Chargers qualify), the Saints would seem to be the one with legitimate playoff aspirations.

"Uh, oh," said Rick Mueller, the Saints' director of player personnel earlier this week. "Thanks a bunch.

"We're trying to sneak in, to stay humble, and here you guys are killing us. Yeah, it's been good so far but, hey, it's only two games."

Mueller, the brother of the deposed general manager, is quick to point out that Randy Mueller was intimately involved with all of this year's high-profile free agent and draft decisions. Mickey Loomis, the new general manager, also credits his longtime friend.

"After the meltdown, so to speak, sometimes when you go through that you have to make changes," Loomis said. "Randy knew it had to happen. You're not necessarily blaming the individual, obviously, but the chemistry wasn't working.

"It caught up with us the last few weeks of last season. But there was a sense of it before then. We felt coming off that nice year in 2000 that we didn't handle the success or the additional expectations put on us very well."

And now, with the lowered expectations of a 7-9 season, the Saints seem confident and reasonably relaxed as they head into a pair of Midwest road games in Chicago and Detroit. Count head coach Jim Haslett among those focused on football. Loomis, in his first major move, extended Haslett's contract, which was in its last year. Haslett signed an estimated five-year deal worth $15 million. He's now 19-15 in his two-plus seasons, which translates to the best winning percentage (.558) in Saints history; Jim Mora (93-74) finished at .557.

"This is a business of highs and lows," Haslett said late Sunday. "My message is: Don't get too high. Just keep plugging away."

Aaron Brooks, too, is concentrating on football. He was the league's third-lowest-paid quarterback -- backup Jake Delhomme was making more than the $450,000 Brooks was set to make in the final year of his contract -- but Loomis solved that ticklish problem with a new 6-year, $36 million deal.

"We feel like the pieces are in place to make us a better team," Loomis said.

An accounting of the underestimated replacement parts:

When then-coach Mike Ditka gutted the 1999 draft to make the deal with Washington to take Williams, the Texas running back was almost doomed to fail. Williams got better every year -- 884 yards, two touchdowns as a rookie; 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns in 2000 and 1,245 yards, six touchdowns in 2001 -- but his erratic behavior and plodding running style prompted the Saints to look elsewhere.

As it turned out, the answer was sitting on the bench.

Deuce McAllister was a first-round pick, but last year he only carried the ball 16 times for 91 yards and had 15 catches for another 166 yards in four starts. When the Saints shipped Williams to the Dolphins there were whispers in some quarters that they had lost their minds.

"When we drafted Deuce, we knew he was a pretty good fit for this offense," Rick Mueller said. "A lot of people questioned him, but we knew we were getting a pretty good player. When Miami called and gave us the opportunity to move Ricky, it was an easy deal for us. Deuce does a lot of different things for us. Nothing against Ricky, but he's a different runner."

Added Loomis, "There was a lot of skepticism trading Ricky, but everybody in the building had confidence Deuce could carry the load. He's a better receiver and more explosive. He doesn't need 30 carries a game to get the kind of yards you need from a running back."

McAllister, who is 6-foot-1, 230 pounds and runs a 4.3-second 40-yard dash, has carried 52 times for 232 yards and scored two touchdowns. While Williams is ranked first in the NFL with 243 yards, McAllister stands an impressive fourth.

The trade of the gargantuan Roaf and his equally mondo salary opened up the left tackle position for All-Pro Kyle Turley. His right tackle spot has been ably manned by Spencer Folau. Second-round pick LeCharles Bentley is the team's only rookie starter, at right guard. By allowing Glover (Dallas) and Johnson (Green Bay) to leave, the Saints gave themselves some breathing room under the salary cap.

	“	We're no joke. People think the NFC South is a soft division, but all those other teams are going to find out the truth. ”
		— Sammy Knight, Saints safety

"We used that cap money and those dollars and got two or three other guys," Loomis said. "The net effect was we got deeper, faster and changed the chemistry of our team."

This is, by consensus, the fastest Saints team ever.

And now, when wide receiver Joe Horn gets double-teamed, Brooks has some viable options. The most exciting one is rookie wideout Donte' Stallworth, the team's first first-round pick. He averaged 20 yards per catch last season at Tennessee and caught 10 touchdown passes. In two games with the Saints, he's already caught eight balls for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

"I think he's got special ability," said Rick Mueller. "What he gives us is that defenses can't just roll every coverage at Joe Horn. And Joe has taken advantage."

Indeed, Horn, who has 14 catches for 228 yards, is enjoying more space on the field.

The other offseason pickup, former Colt Jerome Pathon, has four catches and a touchdown.

The defense, while remaining an obvious question, has made a nice transition.

"La'Roi Glover was a good player for the Saints," Loomis said. "But we made a conscious decision that we needed to get bigger and stronger at the defensive tackle position. For the compensation, we felt like he didn't really fit for us. The coaches felt like they could still create a pass rush."

In the opener, Tampa Bay quarterback Brad Johnson was knocked down an incredible 21 times. Green Bay's Brett Favre was only sacked once, but he threw an interception and two of the three Packers fumbles were caused by the defense. There were also two intentional grounding calls and two holding penalties on Green Bay.

Don't forget that middle linebacker Charlie Clemons had 13½ sacks a year ago and safety Knight was a Pro Bowl starter. With Grady Jackson and Norman Hand holding down the tackle positions, defensive end Willie Whitehead has two sacks and backup end Charles Grant, the second first-round pick, has one.

Injuries and the indefinite alcohol-related suspension of Dale Carter have hurt the secondary, but fourth-round pick Keyou Craver has helped cover the Saints' bases.

Suddenly, only two weeks into the season, 2001 seems very far away.

Things started out well with a 24-6 win at Buffalo, but the 9/11 tragedies and a bye week left the Saints with three weeks between games. They never seemed to recover their momentum. Instead of catching the 49ers early in the season, the Saints had to wait until the end of the season for the rescheduled game and were crushed, 38-0.

When wide receiver Albert Connell was suspended for the final two games for allegedly stealing $4,000 from the locker of McAllister, it underlined what a strange, turbulent season it had been for the Saints.

The architect of the new Saints, Randy Mueller, is taking this all in from the distant perspective of Spokane, Wash. He's hunting and fishing and watching his daughter grow up. This is because Tom Benson fired him in May, citing, among other things, a lack of loyalty when he investigated a job offer in Atlanta.

And though both Rick Mueller and Loomis are closely tied to Randy Mueller, any mention of this connection has been excised from the Saints' 2002 media guide. Still, they speak with him regularly and both predict he' ll be back in the NFL next year.

"Really, it was Randy that put this team together," Rick Mueller said. "We're just carrying out what he did. He's been nothing but congratulatory to us."

Said Loomis, "In many ways, this is his team still. He pretty much brought the entire football operation together.

"Very few people thought we would be competitive. But we knew we 'd be competitive. How competitive remains to be seen."

Greg Garber is a senior writer at ESPN.com.