METAIRIE, La. Hydro Flask Billig . -- Veteran linebacker Craig Robertson, who emerged as a surprise starter in his first season with New Orleans, uses words like confidence and trust when he describes the Saints transformation from an 0-3 team to a resurgent playoff hopeful that has won four of five games.As important as improved chemistry was bound to be for a team with its share of young players and recently acquired journeymen, it might take more than that to see the Saints through an upcoming two-game stretch that could either validate their recent run of winning form, or send them stumbling back to the ranks of playoff long shot.New Orleans hosts defending Super Bowl champion Denver on Sunday, then plays the following Thursday night at defending NFC champion Carolina, which has won two straight since a surprising 1-5 start.You know what it is -- you have two physical teams, two physical battles, Saints running back Mark Ingram said. You just know mentally you have to be prepared and physically you have to be prepared.For the third straight season, and the fifth time since 2007, New Orleans is 4-4 following a start of 1/3 or worse.On the four previous occasions the Saints rallied from a poor start to climb back to .500, they were unable to sustain their mid-season momentum and faded down the stretch.But coach Sean Payton and his players sound dismissive of any attempt to compare the 2016 Saints to those of failed seasons past.Its a new year, a new team, said Ingram, who rushed for 158 yards, including a 75 yard touchdown, and also caught a short TD pass in a 41-23 victory at San Francisco on Sunday. Weve got a lot of guys with great character, a lot of guys with resilience. I feel like our teams getting closer. We all love each other.Halfway through its season, the Saints have at least produced the resume of a competitive team. Of the four teams that have beaten New Orleans, two (Atlanta and Oakland) are division leaders, while the other two (Kansas City and the New York Giants) are second-place teams with winning records. Only New Orleans loss to Atlanta was by more than six points. The other three came down to the final possession.Yet, of the four teams New Orleans has beaten, only one -- Seattle -- has a winning record. Three of their victories were by five or fewer points. New Orleans double-digit defeat of the Niners was only the latest of several lopsided losses for San Francisco.I dont try to look at the quality of wins or losses, Payton said. Its in the rear-view mirror, really, and weve just got to learn from the mistakes.And the Saints made mistakes in San Francisco, particularly on defense. Niners QB Colin Kaepernick had his best performance this season with 398 yards passing -- second most of his career -- including touchdown passes of 47 yards to DuJuan Harris and 65 yards to Vance McDonald. If the Saints defense hadnt come up with four turnovers, including Robertsons early interception that set up a New Orleans TD, Sundays game could have been much tighter.Their explosive plays were mistakes on our end, Robertson said Were still growing as a defense, week by week, mixing together, and youre going to have that where you just have mistakes like that. But its our job as a defense to limit those mistakes because mistakes in this league go for touchdowns.In the meantime, the Saints have managed to reduce pressure on their defense by keeping their offense on the field with time-consuming drives that have featured an improving ground game. In a victory over Seattle two games ago, Tim Hightower became the Saints first running back this season to rush for more than 100 yards. On Sunday, Ingram became the second as New Orleans finished with 248 yards on the ground. And quarterback Drew Brees still managed to pass for 323 yards and three TDs.This team is playing complementary football, Robertson said. Our offense did a great job of running the ball, controlling the clock and letting us have time to rest. And when you have that, you have a chance to be good when its time for you to get back on the field again.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Hydro Flask Günstig Kaufen . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. Hydro Flask Kinder . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. http://www.hydroflaskflasche.ch/ . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Auburn volleyball team went into intermission trailing No. 21 Louisville, 0-2, and came out of it swinging, using tough serves and solid defense to pull off a 3-2 (15-25, 17-25, 25-14, 25-22, 15-8) comeback victory over the Cardinals Saturday night. The match was the final one of the Active Ankle Challenge in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.Louisville is a really good team and were very efficient the first two sets, head coach Rick Nold said. We came out with a new mentality in set three and started really fighting for points. When you do that, things start working out in your favor and thats what happened to us tonight.The Tiger servers took care of business beginning in the third set, putting the Cardinals (4-2) out of system on a consistence basis and allowing the Auburn offense to capitalize on free balls.We really tightened up our serving after the break and got them out of system a lot, Nold added. That forced Louisville into some errors and we took advantage of it.The win moved Auburn to 3-4 on the season. Santa Clara captured the tournament title after going 3-0 on the weekend.Sophomore Brenna McIlroy and junior Alexa Filley were placed on the All-Tournament team for the Tigers. McIlroy led the Auburn offense with a season-high 18 kills, while Filley finished with another double-double of 48 assists and 19 digs. Senior Emily Klitzke added 13 kills and freshman Gwyn Jones had 11 with two blocks.Defensively, junior Jesse Earl put together a 16-dig performance, while sophomore Abigail Miller had a career-best 10 digs. Junior Tate Pember added six digs and a team-best two service aces.The Cardinals (4-2) were led by Melanie McHenry with 14 kills and 16 digs. Tess Clark and Janelle Jenkins added 12 kills apiece and libero Molly Sauer had a match-high 20 digs.Kills from Filley and McIlroy put the Tigers up earlly at 4-3 in the first set. Hydro Flask Kaufen Schweiz. Tied at seven, the Cardinals pushed a five-point run to go up 12-7. Another long Louisville run lifted the home squad to a 17-9 advantage and the Cards took the set, 25-15.Louisville took a quick 4-2 lead in set two and held its slim margin until a handful of Cardinal errors pushed Auburn ahead at 9-8. The Cards responded with a run to go up at 16-11, forcing a Tiger timeout. Louisville went into intermission with a 25-17 win.Auburn used tough serving to take a 7-4 lead in the third stanza and Cardinal errors lifted the Tigers to a 12-9 lead. The Auburn service line continued to put Louisville out system and more Cardinal miscues pushed the Tigers up 17-12. A trio of Klitzke kills made it 20-13 and kills from Stephanie Campbell and McIlroy gave Auburn a 25-14 victory.The Tigers maintained momentum in set four and pushed a 7-5 lead. A pair of Campbell/Filley blocks followed by a trio of Louisville attack errors made it 14-9 Auburn. A kill from Klitzke put the Tigers up 19-15 before the Cardinals regained some energy to take a 20-19 lead. Back-to-back swings by Jones gave Auburn its lead back at 22-21 and the Tigers forced the deciding set with a 25-22 win.The visiting team opened the fifth with a 5-1 run highlighted by trio of kills from McIlroy. The Cardinals battled back and cut the Tiger lead at 6-5. Three Louisville errors put Auburn up 10-7 and a kill from McIlroy gave the visitors match point at 14-8. Pember sealed the Tiger win with a service ace, 15-8.The Tigers return to Auburn Arena, Sept. 9-10, and host the Auburn Invitational. The team opens with a pair of matches vs. Memphis and Miami (OH) Friday and close out the weekend with a 1:30 p.m. match vs. Jacksonville. Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' '