North of the 400

With their home loss to the Dallas Cowboys last night, the New Orleans Saints are no longer undefeated.

And they may be the better for it.

The pressure to go perfect in the regular season, something which only happened twice in the past 40 seasons, is something that can derail a team late in the year. Do you keep going for the 16-0 and keep your starters in for the meaningless games after you’ve clinched home-field? Is it worth the risk of injury, the fatigue factor, the chance your team could be spent in the playoffs?

It’s not that losing is a good thing, but sometimes it has a silver lining. The pressure’s off the Saints now – and the team can focus on the postseason, not the record book.

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