NEW ORLEANS -- Sean Payton had a surprise in store for a Seattle defense that thrives on harassing quarterbacks and physically intimidating receivers.The Saints coach dialed back New Orleans prolific passing game and challenged his running backs and offensive line to deliver as much punishment to Seahawks defenders as they could.Drew Brees wound up well short of his typical passing numbers in the Superdome -- 265 yards and one touchdown -- but the Saints (3-4) pulled out a 25-20 victory they sorely needed to improve their prospects for climbing back into the NFC playoff picture.It doesnt really have to be aesthetically pleasing to be effective, Payton asserted. The key is winning.The victory wasnt assured until the New Orleans much-maligned defense, which entered the game ranked 29th in the NFL, came up with a stop on the Seahawks final drive, which started on the Seattle 32 with 1:50 left. Russell Wilson took the Seahawks (4-2-1) to the New Orleans 10, where he had one final play. He lofted a pass toward the corner of the end zone, where Jermaine Kearse caught the ball, but landed out of bounds.It was close. I tried to give him a shot, Wilson said of his last throw to Kearse, adding that cornerback B.W. Webb did a good job of trying to drive him out of bounds. I think he got one (foot) in and was trying to get the second one down. The last drive was a testament to our resilience.The Saints rushed 35 times and passed 35 times -- certainly not the M.O. for a team that entered the game with a second-ranked passing offense and 28th-ranked running game. But it was effective. New Orleans gained 123 yards on the ground with Tim Hightower gaining 102, making him the first Saint this season to rush for 100. New Orleans also kept possession for 36:12 to Seattles 23:48.We knew coming in here it was going to be a physical game, Hightower said. In that fourth quarter, I looked over on their sideline and saw a couple of those guys on their knees and I said, `This is exactly where we want them.Wilson finished with 253 yards passing and was intercepted once by linebacker Nathan Stupar, whose diving snag set up the Saints first TD on Brees 1-yard dive over a pile of players. Brees lone touchdown pass went to Brandin Cooks on a 2-yard slant , which gave the Saints the lead for good early in the fourth quarter.Wil Lutz kicked field goals of 22, 53, 21 and 41 yards for the Saints, the latter coming with under two minutes left to put Seattle down by more than a field goal.MINI SLUMP: Seattle has gone two straight games without a win, having tied Arizona last week, but the Seahawks hardly seem concerned.The great thing is we have all the players, we have the right system, we have the right guys, Wilson said. We are going to be able to do it. This is nothing that we havent faced before.MISLEADING STATS: While the Saints held numerous statistical advantages in several categories, big plays on both sides of the ball helped Seattle lead 14-13 at halftime and keep it close throughout.Seattle defensive end Cliff Avril forced Mark Ingrams fumble in the first quarter. It popped straight to safety Earl Thomas, who sprinted into the open field for a 34-yard touchdown.A trick play set up Seattles second score. Wilson threw a backward screen to his left to receiver Tanner McEvoy, who then threw deep back across the field for a 43-yard completion to running back C.J. Prosise to the Saints 2. That set up Christine Michaels TD run, making it 14-3.Seattles defense also forced a field goal in the third quarter after the Saints had a first-and-goal on the 1 and thwarted a Saints 2-point conversion attempt after Cooks TD.BENCHED: Ingram was benched after his fumble on this third carry of the game. It was his second fumble in two weeks while trying to fight for extra yards after contact. A week earlier, Ingrams fumble inside the Kansas City 10 contributed to a six-point loss.Sometimes those things happen and I know hes going to bounce back, Brees said of Ingram. Ive got so much trust, great confidence in him as does this whole offense, so I wouldnt look into that any further.GRAHAMS RETURN: Jimmy Graham was silent about his return to the place where his NFL career started, avoiding media all week. He had a relatively quiet game as well, finishing with three catches for 34 yards. Graham did speak to media after the game, walking from the locker room to the stadium exit wearing headphones and ignoring several reporters questions.BREES AT HOME: Brees now has a TD pass in 58 consecutive home games, extending his NFL-record streak.UP NEXT: Seattle hosts Buffalo in the Week 9 Monday night game, while the Saints travel to meet San Francisco next Sunday.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Buy Saucony Shoes .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Wholesale Saucony Shoes . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap. http://www.wholesalesauconyaustralia.com/ . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Saucony Shoes Australia . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Saucony Clearance . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games. By thrashing New Zealand in the decider, in Vizag, India thwarted criticism of their performance in the recent ODI series. They had, after all, lost two of the four matches until then.This touring New Zealand side was a weak team, and though India rested some key players, they should have done better in the ODIs - a fact, I am sure, not lost on the team management and selectors. More so given how India beat New Zealand 3-0 in the Test series.The team management and the selectors, essentially those in charge of the destiny of the Indian cricket team, must never think like the fans, who left happy seeing India win the series in grand style in Vizag.Bishan Bedi tweeted during the one-day series that the difference between the two sides was Virat Kohli. He was quite right. India in this series looked a bit like the India of the 90s, where it was basically about beating them by getting Tendulkar out early. Indian cricket has come a long way since then, and dependence on one man should not be allowed to take root. Its a sign of a weak team, which India are certainly not.MS Dhoni looked really good in Mohali when he got 80, showing that he is still a batting force in this one-day team. However, I am not a big fan of him at No. 4. People throw up his impressive numbers at four and make a case for him to bat there, but he has played at that position only a few times in his long career - not enough for those numbers to carry much weight.With the rule change in one-dayers, captains are now forced to keep five fielders inside the circle after ten overs until the 40th over. Dhoni at four will mostly bat in this phase, so he has to start his innings with five players inside the circle, all intent on saving singles. Dhoni has never been a batsman who easily taps the ball around and picks up four singles an over, like, say, Kohli does. Those are the kind of batsmen you need at that position, batsmen who are able to take singles at will, while hitting the odd boundary.To add to Dhonis problems, often he has to start his innings in this phase against spinners, and not seamers, against whom he gets going better, like in Mohali when he got that splendid 80. What then happens is that his strike rate for his first 30 runs is extremely low. He then backs himself to make up for the deficit later with his amazing ability to hit under pressure, but when this late surge does not materialise, he has about 40 off 80 balls.If Dhoni wants to bat at No. 4, he must be able to get his first 40 runs off at least 50 balls, so that, even if he gets out, the innings has not lost momentum. At No. 4 he also feels the added pressure of being more responsible and restrained, not looking to frequently hit the big shots to maintain a decent strike rate. For if he gets out doing so, he looks highly irresponsible - as opposed to doing the same at No. 6 or 7.I am told that under Gary Kirsten, India had a simple formula with Dhoni. He would bat when there were ten or 15 overs left in the innings, no matter how many wickets were lost at that stage. This makes a lot of sense, because batting in that situation is Dhonis USP, really. When the field is spread out and the adrenaline of both teams is running high, thats when Captain Cool really comes into his ownn.ddddddddddddAjinkya Rahane, despite his obvious class and value for India as a Test player, is not quite the same in one-dayers, which is surprising. When Kohli bats, you can see that he has a clear plan in his head about how to approach an ODI innings, which is mostly influenced by the teams needs. It seems Rahane cannot make up his mind whether he wants to be a dasher or an anchor at the top of the order. The thing is, Rahane has the ability to hit the big shots and also to use his hands to hit through the line and get boundaries off good balls. This ability actually adds to his confusion.Rahane has the skills to be an attacking one-day player, and also to be the glue that keeps Indias one-day innings together. The team management could perhaps assist him in resolving this conflict by telling him which Rahane they want in 50-overs cricket. Manish Pandey, on the other hand, was such a let-down for me. After that hundred in Sydney earlier this year, I had my eye on him to see how he develops as a one-day middle-order batsman. I thought this series was an excellent opportunity for him to cement his place in the side. Unfortunately he seems to be from the school of batting where players bat like they need 15 runs an over when the need is for only six an over. The bulk of a one-day innings is about scoring six an over, so is it worth investing in a young batsman who takes big risks to just get those six runs an over? Unless Pandey changes his ways, I dont think hes one for the future.Kedar Jadhav is an interesting player, and so multifaceted. He is a prolific first-class batsman, who on average has been scoring close to 500 runs per Ranji season. In the IPL he bats at No. 6 and successfully chases 12 runs an over, and whats more, keeps wicket too. Then he comes into this India-New Zealand one-day series and shows that he can bowl some decent offspinners as well.But is he a long-term prospect for India? My worry is that his fitness, while running between the wickets with the likes of Kohli, Dhoni, Rahane and Suresh Raina, might just fall short of the high standards set by them.For once Indias bowling overshadowed their batting in a one-day series at home. It was mainly the bowlers who were instrumental in India winning the series, with Hardik Pandya getting the Man-of-the-Match award in Dharamsala and Amit Mishra the Man of the Series.I wonder when the bowlers last held sway like this over an entire one-day series in India. Pandya for me was a revelation. From a bits-and-pieces cricketer he has suddenly become a seamer you can earmark to bowl ten overs. His batting is an added bonus.The brightest spot in the series, though, was Umesh Yadav, who seems to have finally found accuracy without sacrificing pace or swing.As Axar Patel started getting some runs down the order, he also got better as a bowler. Here is someone India can keep in their one-day plans - if not for anything, to push Ravindra Jadeja to be at his best.Who would have thought a review of a one-day series for India at home would end like this, where some batting issues need to be addressed, while the bowling seems fine? ' ' '