One of the trendy topics right now is whether the 2009 New Orleans Saints are a better offensive unit than the record-setting 2007 New England Patriots.

The Saints are undefeated and putting up numbers at a historic pace, so the discussion was bound to come up. I am here to tell you that the New England Patriots were a vastly superior offense, and it really is not even that close.

This is the world we are in today. Someone or some team starts putting up big numbers and it is the best ever. I'm going to remind people how much better the 2007 New England team was on offense by looking at a few statistics and other factors.

1) Tom Brady vs. Drew Brees - It is not even close. New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees is on pace to complete 362 passes in 530 attempts for 4,672 yards, 34 touchdowns, 14 picks, and a QB rating of 106.1. New England Patriots QB Tom Brady completed 398 passes in 578 attempts for 4,860 yards, 50 touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a QB rating of 117.2.

Brady was superior in every facet of the game. Slightly better completion percentage, more completions, more attempts, more passing yards, way more passing touchdowns and a much better QB rating.

Brees has 17 touchdowns and seven picks through his first eight games. Brady had 30 touchdown passes and two picks in his first eight games. Brady also had at least three touchdown passes in every game over the first eight games of his schedule. Brees has already been held out of the end zone twice and has had only one touchdown pass in two other games.

Brady's 2007 season is light years ahead of Brees, both in terms of the first eight games and where Brees is projected to end up. The statistics show that it is not even close.

2) Randy Moss vs. Marques Colston - Teams worry about Saints WR Marques Colston this year. Teams were terrified of Patriots WR Randy Moss in 2007.

Colston leads this team with 37 receptions for 596 yards and six touchdowns. WR Wes Welker, who was the second best receiver on that Patriots’ team, had 56 receptions for 613 yards and six touchdown receptions in his first eight games alone. Moss was the Patriots’ leading receiver that year with 47 receptions for 779 yards and 11 touchdowns in the same span. He would go on to set a NFL record with 23 receiving touchdowns that year.

The Patriots duo of Moss and Welker put up much better numbers than anybody on the New Orleans Saints. The league had never seen anything like Moss in the 2007 season.

The Saints are winning with a variety of weapons, but they do not have the superstar ability that the Patriots had on that team, especially at the receiver position.

3) The Numbers - The reason why the Saints offense is being put in the same conversation as the Patriots is the total points scored. The Patriots scored 589 points in their 2007 season and the Saints are on pace to score 606 points this season. Keep in mind the Patriots exploded for 331 points in their first eight games or 41.3 points per game. They scored 34 points or more in all eight of their contests to start that season.

The Saints have not been as consistent. They were held to 27 points against Buffalo (3-5) and 24 points at home against the New York Jets (4-4), not exactly powerhouse competition. They were also held to 30 points against the Carolina Panthers (3-5). Those are good point totals compared to the rest of the NFL; they aren't very impressive when compared to the 2007 New England Patriots.

The one area the Saints have the Patriots beat is in total yards gained. The Patriots averaged 411.3 yards per game gained as opposed to the Saints 426.9 yards per game. The reason for that is that even though the Saints are not the same passing offense as the Patriots, they rush the ball better.

The Saints are tied for third in rushing attempts per game (32.4), fifth in rushing yards per game (144.6) and lead the NFL in rushing touchdowns (15). The Patriots, on the other hand, rushed the ball only 28.2 times per game, gained only 115.6 yards per game on the ground and scored only 17 rushing touchdowns all year.

Both teams used a committee of running backs, but the Saints have clearly had the better offensive balance through the first eight games, but that gets me to my next argument.

4) The Schedule - Everyone knows that the AFC East was terrible in 2007. The Buffalo Bills finished (7-9) with four of their wins coming against the New York Jets (4-12) and the Miami Dolphins (1-15). That said, the Patriots played some tough games that year, especially in their first eight games.

They had to play against the Dallas Cowboys, who finished 13-3 that year and earned the No. 1 Seed in the NFC. They played the San Diego Chargers, who finished 11-5 and made the AFC Championship Game. They played the Cleveland Browns, who finished with 10 wins that season. They also played the Washington Redskins, who finished 9-7 and earned a NFC wildcard bid. They beat those teams by a combined score of 172-65. Overall, their first eight opponents had a 62-58 record for the season (removes the eight losses those teams all suffered to the Patriots).

It is a little tougher to do the same thing for the Saints, because we do not know how these teams will finish. It could be some of these bad teams on their remaining schedule rebound, or it could be that the good teams collapse. The Saints have faced only three teams so far that have a record over .500.

They played the (5-3) Eagles in Week Two without QB Donovan McNabb, who missed the game with a broken rib. They absolutely destroyed a (5-4) New York Giants 48-27 in what has been their most impressive win of the season. They beat the (5-3) Atlanta Falcons 35-27 in the Superdome. Overall, their opponents have a record of 29-28 (removes the eight losses those teams all suffered to the Saints).

I think the schedule shows that the Patriots played a lot tougher competition in their first eight games than the Saints have played in their first eight games. I think the Saints were impressive against the Giants and the Patriots, but the Patriots basically did the same thing in four games, not just two.

Looking ahead, the Saints play the (1-7) St. Louis Rams, the (1-7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice, and the (2-6) Washington Redskins. It will be interesting to revisit the schedule at the end of the year and see how the Saints strength of schedule pans out, but to date the Saints have had a pretty easy schedule with most of their tough games at home. They have only one remaining road game against a team with a winning record, (5-3) Atlanta. Their only two games that should be challenges at home will be the (6-2) Dallas Cowboys and (6-2) New England Patriots.

I think when it is all said and done, even though the Patriots played in an inferior division, they also will have had the more difficult schedule. The Saints have benefited from the Buccaneers and Panthers underachieving this year, combined with a last-place schedule they inherited from their (8-8) season in 2008. The Patriots, on the other hand, had a first-place schedule (in ’07) due to their 12-4 season in 2006.

5) New England vs. The Superdome - Let's not forget that New England's offense really started to slow down when the weather cooled down late in the year. The Patriots played five December games in 2007. Three of those games were at home, one was in the Meadowlands and one was in Baltimore. Those are not exactly great weather environments. It is tougher to throw the ball in wind, snow and rain, which slowed down the Patriot offense over the last five games; the Patriots only averaged 29.4 points in those five contests. Had they played games in a dome like the New Orleans Saints, they would have had a better chance of keeping up their first half pace.

That is going to be a major advantage for the Saints. If you look at the prolific offenses of the last 30 years, most of them played in nice environments.

The 1998 Minnesota Vikings scored 556 points playing eight games in the Metrodome. The 1999-2001 St. Louis Rams played on the “Greatest Show on Turf” in the Edward Jones Dome. The 2004 Indianapolis Colts played in a dome. The 1984 Miami Dolphins played in the Sunshine State. All those offenses eclipsed 500 points. 

Could you name a dominant offense other than the 2007 Patriots that played in a cold weather city? The only recent team I could think of was the 1998 Denver Broncos, who averaged 31.3 points per game, which barely put them over 500 points for that season. As good as Brett Favre did in Green Bay all those years, the most points they ever scored in a single season was just 28.5 points per game in 1996. Those offenses were great offenses, but they did not put up the single-season historic point totals of those other ones I mentioned. 

You just do not normally see high-scoring teams playing in cold weather places. Cold weather cities are known for their tough and intimidating defenses. When they talk about the Monsters of the Midway, they aren't talking about a 50 -touchdown passing Chicago Bears quarterback. The Purple People Eaters are not Vikings QB Fran Tarkenton and his three wide receivers. Cold weather cities are known for Hall of Fame running backs and top line defenses.

The two things that have amazed me most when it comes to passing numbers are:

1)     Favre being able to hold every single passing record playing the majority of his career in Green Bay, WI, (one of the coldest environments in the history of the NFL) and,

2)      The 2007 New England Patriots being able to set the offensive records they did playing in a place that is know for cold and snow.

As always, it is too early to tell. The Saints could just be warming up and be ready to give us a show we have never seen before, and in eight weeks, I may be eating my words.

I just think that 2007 Patriots team had a rock star quality to it that I have not seen yet out of the 2009 New Orleans Saints. Maybe that was because they won three Super Bowls prior to that season, or maybe it was because of Brady and Moss's start power before that season, but my vote still goes with the Patriots based on what I have seen as of today.

We will revisit this at the end of the season and see how it panned out.