THE SAINTS WILL COME MARCHING IN

Have a seat Mercury Morris. Put away the rosary beads Nick Buoniconti.

The undefeated ’72 Miami Dolphins are going to have another team in their select company.

And, no, it won’t be the Indianapolis Colts.

Look for New Orleans to run the table. The Saints pulled their finest Houdini act to escape the Redskins. Now they have smooth sailing.

Sean Payton is the only person who can stop the Saints from going 16-0. He wants to finish unbeaten, unlike Jim Caldwell and the Indianapolis Colts.

Look for the Colts to start giving rest to some of their starters if they defeat the Broncos at home this Sunday and break the record for most consecutive regular-season victories.

The Saints are favored this week at Atlanta. They will be favored next week hosting Dallas. New Orleans finishes its regular-season hosting Tampa Bay and traveling to Carolina.

NOT SLY AS A FOX

Who is John Fox kidding? The Carolina coach wants to keep the Patriots guessing on which quarterback the Panthers will be starting, Matt Moore or Jake Delhomme.

I’m sure Bill Belichick is lying in bed shaking at night trying to figure that one out. Delhomme was a turnover waiting to happen – and that was before he suffered a broken middle finger on his throwing hand. Moore simply isn’t a starting caliber NFL quarterback.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE - THE BOOKS WON MONEY

Nevada sportsbooks enjoyed their finest NFL Sunday of the season during Week 13 as both sharps and squares took a hit.

The house won big on the Raiders, Dolphins and Cardinals. All three underdogs won straight-up.

WEEK 14 TRENDS TO MAKE NOTE OF:

The Saints have gone over the total in 10 of their last 11 December games.

The Bengals have gone under the total in 10 of their last 11 December games.

Seattle is 1-7 against the spread as an underdog.

Green Bay is 17-7-1 against the spread on the road.

The Patriots are 21-6-1 against the spread following a loss.

Dallas is 3-13-2 against the spread in December.

The Eagles have covered 16 of their past 23 road contests.

The Eagles and Giants have gone under the total in 13 of their last 16 meetings in New York.

Buffalo is 7-2 against the spread on the road.

The ‘under’ has cashed in 14 of St. Louis’ last 19 games on grass.