The New Orleans Saints didn’t make their fans proud on Sunday, or in ESPN’s updated NFL power rankings following Week 1 of the regular season. Despite the Saints defense having shown all sorts of problems, the blurb from ESPN staffers oddly focuses on the tailback situation:

9. New Orleans Saints 2018 record: 0-1

Preseason ranking: 3 Mike Gillislee is playing for his fourth team in six years, and the Saints hope he can complement Alvin Kamara during Mark Ingram’s four-game suspension. Early returns are not good, as Gillislee lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown in the surprising loss to the Buccaneers. — Joey Koontz

The good news is this ranking still has the Saints highest among their NFC South peers. The Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers sit at 10 and 11, respectively, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers loiter back at 19, Fitzmagic notwithstanding.

There’s still confidence among the 80 panelists that make up ESPN’s polling for this project that New Orleans can turn this thing around and bounce back into an NFC playoffs race that only looks murkier after the opening slate of games. With a very serious threat of awarding the Cleveland Browns their first real victory in years on the horizon, pressure builds even higher towards winning on Sunday.