NFL Power Rankings, Week 9: 49ers embarrass Panthers, Eagles shock Bills

3. New Orleans Saints (3)

No one needs to explain just how disappointing it was to see Alvin Kamara miss another game for the New Orleans Saints, but at least Drew Brees returning for the first time since Week 2 helped make up for it.

Back in September when Brees suffered a thumb injury during a loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the Saints seemed like they would be in serious trouble on offense, which obviously was far from the case after watching Teddy Bridgewater step up the way he did.

Obviously, Bridgewater is nowhere near the same level as Brees since there’s a reason why the New Orleans star is basically a lock for the Hall of Fame when the time comes, but the Louisville product managed to go 5-0 as the starter for the Saints.

With Brees healthy enough to return, there were some questions over whether New Orleans would be better off waiting another week since Bridgewater seemed capable of defeating the Arizona Cardinals on his own.

And even though the first quarter of Sunday’s win made it seem like the Saints would be in trouble, Brees eventually got things going on offense and would finish 373 passing yards to go along with three touchdowns.

If this is any sign of what’s to come, New Orleans is only going to continue to get stronger with Brees becoming more comfortable by the week.

With the Atlanta Falcons coming to town after their bye week, Brees and the Saints should have little trouble increasing their winning streak to seven games.