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NEW ORLEANS – Because he has a boyish face, an outgoing personality and a penchant for partying with Kenny Chesney – or perhaps simply because he is pro football's most creative offensive strategist – Sean Payton has this way of being misinterpreted.

All of the aforementioned qualities possessed by the New Orleans Saints' fourth-year coach obscure the most integral element of his essence: He's a cold, calculated, competitive CEO with a steely swagger, and his goal in life is to leave his opponents overwhelmed and powerless.

And now, for the first time, he has a team capable of doing it.

Payton congratulates Bush after a second-quarter score.

(Matt Stamey/US Presswire)

In a game that cemented Payton's team as the NFL's most potent to date, the Saints (5-0) manhandled the New York Giants 48-27 in front of 70,011 fans in the Superdome on Sunday. With an uncontainable, versatile offense and an aggressive, dynamic defense, New Orleans put

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He plays on a blatantly rebuilding team which has lost 15 consecutive games, and he's a 26-year-old running back on pace for a 1,443-yard season.

Steven Jackson can do the grisly math, and that's why he wasn't especially caught off guard Thursday night when I asked him if he thought the St. Louis Rams might deal him to another team before Tuesday's NFL trading deadline – which, incidentally, is the one-year anniversary of their last victory.

Jackson had 84 rushing yards against the Vikings last week.

(Scott Rovak/US Presswire)

''It really wouldn't surprise me,'' Jackson said. ''A couple of years ago I saw Isaac Bruce(notes) get let go and end up on the 49ers, and I realized anything is possible in this business. So I just put my head down and play hard and try to win games for the St. Louis Rams – and I want to be a St. Louis Ram for as long as they'll have me.

''At the same time, I'm very aware of the business side of this game. Last

Michael Silver will not host a Live Trippin' session this afternoon. Live Trippin' will resume Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 1 PT.

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It has been exactly two months since Michael Vick(notes) signed with the Eagles, creating a stir that shook the boredom out of the preseason. Breathlessly, we all pondered what would happen next.

Vick had four carries for 10 yards against the Buccaneers on Sunday.

(Eric Hartline/US Presswire)

Would Vick, in a Wildcat-type role, emerge as a potent weapon in an already prolific offense? Would he push Donovan McNabb(notes) and, if the veteran were to struggle, supplant him as the Eagles' franchise quarterback? Would animal-rights activists turn Sundays at Lincoln Financial Field into a made-for-CNN circus?

We now know the answer to all of these questions was a resounding, "No," and I'm wondering how this notorious and polarizing player turned out to be such an afterthought.

In his prime, Vick was exceptionally elusive.

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SAN FRANCISCO – I showed up in San Francisco on Sunday morning with a major man-crush on Matt Ryan(notes).

By midway through the third quarter of Sunday's game at Candlestick Park, I was ready to take the Atlanta Falcons quarterback up to Gavin Newsom's box on the west side of the stadium and ask the San Francisco mayor to marry us.

No, I'm not being literal (not that there's anything wrong with that). But I do think Ryan is an awesome football player, and his stellar effort in the Falcons' 45-10 victory over the San Francisco 49ers bolstered my conviction that the second-year passer is on his way to being the best in the business.

Ryan kept the offense clicking during an easy win vs. the 49ers.

(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

In completing 22 of 32 passes for a career-high 329 yards and a pair of touchdowns against a defense that had been ranked fifth in the NFL coming into the game, Ryan showcased his tremendous skill set while looking far

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – When Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable told his assistants after a sloppy Aug. 4 training-camp practice that he planned to meet privately that night with the team's defensive backs, Randy Hanson was sure how things would play out.

"You know what's gonna happen there," Hanson, a defensive assistant who had worked closely with the team's secondary, predicted to a small group of fellow staff members. "Tom's gonna come out of the meeting and say I'm the problem, that I'm the one confusing them and blame it all on me."

Hanson was right: Later that night, Cable informed him that the Raiders' cornerbacks and safeties had pegged him as "the problem," exacerbating the tension that Hanson says had been festering between the two coaches since January, when Hanson was hired by owner Al Davis before Cable had been offered a permanent head-coaching role.

Hanson joined the Raiders staff in 2007.

(NFL Photos/Getty)

What Hanson says he never saw coming was an alleged violent

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At the current pace of communications technology, at a time when some people seem incapable of having a conscious thought without immediately micro-blogging it, the thank-you note may seem as obsolete as the telegram by January. Even so, as an old-school gesture of gratitude, Denver Broncos rookie coach Josh McDaniels might want to think about sending one to Andy Reid, his Philadelphia Eagles counterpart.

Dawkins takes down Bengals FB Brian Leonard(notes) in the opener.

(Frank Victores/US Presswire)

If the Broncos end up hosting a playoff game – and given their stunning 4-0 start, two-game lead in the AFC West and suddenly suffocating defense, they're well on their way – they'll have received a major assist from Reid in the form of a ferocious 14th-year safety, the gift that keeps on giving.

A quarter of the way through the 2009 season, there's no doubt as to which free-agent signee has made the biggest impact upon his new team, at

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It's as inevitable as a Terrell Owens(notes) swipe at his quarterback, a tawdry reality-TV scandal, or a booth of broadcasters competing with one another to gush over Brett Favre's(notes) greatness – and, I would argue, it's equally annoying.

I call it the Coordinator Cleansing Phenomenon, and here's how it works: A hot NFL assistant, usually in charge a successful team's offense or defense, gets hired as a head coach. A few years later he is dismissed, having failed to win enough games and to make the tricky transition from brainy play-caller to big-picture overseer.

So he takes another job as a coordinator and – lo and behold – he's still good at serving in that role. The unit he oversees on his new team has some early success, and suddenly he is being talked up once again as a hot head-coaching candidate, causing otherwise semi-stable people like myself to bang my BlackBerry against my head in frustration.

The reason I bring this up is

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DENVER – To those of us who concluded that the Denver Broncos' tumultuous offseason foreshadowed a meltdown of mile-high proportions, the final two minutes of Sunday's game at Invesco Field provided some of the most surreal scenes imaginable.

Marshall goes over Newman for the game-winning grab.

(Jack Dempsey/AP Photo)

With the score tied late in the fourth quarter and 76,440 fans screaming, quarterback Kyle Orton(notes) dropped back in the pocket, cocked his lightly regarded right arm and delivered a brisk pass more than 20 yards downfield to the right sideline. Reaching above Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman(notes), Denver wideout Brandon Marshall(notes) – the trouble-prone player whose childish behavior on the practice field in late August got him a nine-day suspension for insubordination – made a terrific catch, cut to the middle of the field and darted back to his right, spinning away five defenders to complete a