“There were a lot of things that I would say were unsettling, and the thing that I am proud of is this team has come back right away, found a way to win 11 games despite losing draft picks, despite a number of disadvantages,” Payton said Monday. “It’s an entirely different season from a year ago.”

The Saints are not the only team that bounced back to make the playoffs. The Kansas City Chiefs won 11 games, one year after finishing 2-14, firing their coach and general manager, and grappling with the murder-suicide involving linebacker Jovan Belcher. The Carolina Panthers won their division for the first time since 2008, thanks to the emergence of Cam Newton and the league’s second-best defense.

But given the Saints’ success in recent years, they had the pressure of high expectations. Their losing record last season without Payton also underscored his value and his special bond with quarterback Drew Brees. This season, Brees finished with more than 5,000 yards passing for the fourth time.

“I don’t think you can overstate the importance of Sean; he’s one of the best coaches in the league,” said Trent Dilfer, a retired quarterback and an ESPN analyst. “He and Drew have a really simpatico relationship, probably the best in the N.F.L. in terms of play-calling. They speak each other’s minds, finish each other’s sentences and prepare like animals.”

Since arriving in New Orleans a year after Hurricane Katrina sent the team into temporary exile, Payton and Brees have been the cornerstones of the Saints’ renaissance and leap into national prominence. An enormous banner of the two men, with Brees holding the Lombardi Trophy, hangs in Champions Square, a plaza adjacent to the Superdome.

Before Katrina, the Saints were ranked in the bottom third of the league in terms of popularity, according to Rich Luker, the founder of Luker on Trends and the ESPN Sports Poll. With Payton and Brees building the team into a contender, the Saints have risen as high as No. 6 in popularity.

The glow from the team’s Super Bowl victory in the 2009 season has started to fade, though, and to maintain the team’s popularity — and its value to the owner Tom Benson — the Saints must contend for more championships.