By Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS — I’m heading downstairs for postgame interviews and will be back with a full column as quickly as possible.

But, first, here’s the Rapid Reaction for the Saints’ victory over Pittsburgh.

What it means: The Saints are alive. One week after a humiliating home loss to Cleveland, they bounced back with a victory against one of the best teams in the league. There’s still work to be done, and some injured guys need to get healthy for the Saints to have a true shot at repeating as the Super Bowl champions, but this game served as a reminder that the Saints still can play with anyone. At 5-3, they’re only one loss behind Atlanta and Tampa Bay in the NFC South.

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Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

The New Orleans Saints played like Super Bowl champions on the big stage against the big bad Pittsburgh Steelers, winning 20-10 before a loud and rowdy crowd at the Superdome on Sunday night.

Will Smith climbs all over Ben Reothslisberger, getting one of the three sacks for the Saints in a big defensive effort at the Superdome on Sunday.

Quarterback Drew Brees bounced back from a terrible game against Cleveland by going 34-of-44 for 305 yards and two touchdowns. He looked like the Brees of last season, completing big passes when he needed to.

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James Varney, The Times-Picayune

With the return of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger the Pittsburgh Steelers are once again a full-throttle offense that is keeping New Orleans Saints defensive coordinators up late, Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said Saturday.

“Little bit more pass happy,” Williams began in his assessment of the current Steelers attack. “You know how we’ve faced a couple of younger quarterbacks who really haven’t done a thing against us defensively, we’ve had some conservative game plans come against us because of these young quarterbacks, you’ll see Pittsburgh now be a little bit more wide open because the trust Ben. Ben’s an older quarterback.

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AP

PITTSBURGH — This is one week in which the Pittsburgh Steelers are truly convinced that numbers lie.

Glance at an NFL statistics sheet, and it appears the Steelers (5-1) simply won’t be able to keep up with the New Orleans Saints (4-3) during Sunday night’s matchup of the past two Super Bowl champions.

The Saints, thanks to quarterback Drew Brees, are No. 1 with a 69.7 pass completion rate. The Steelers are fifth from the bottom among defenses, allowing opponents to complete 66.2 percent of their passes. During the fourth quarter, the Steelers rank a dreadful 31st, as opponents complete nearly 70 percent of their passes.

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Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

The New Orleans Saints will wear black jerseys for the first time in the Superdome this season – fitting for Halloween night. Some players are expecting the black pants, as well, though Payton didn’t confirm the choice of pants, which he said can be changed up until game day.

The Saints’ choice of uniform is often one of the most discussed topics among fans, who believe some uniform combinations lead to better outcomes on the field. Payton, however, said there isn’t much strategy or superstition when it comes to choosing the colors.

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METAIRIE, La. — Pierre Thomas hobbled into the Saints’ locker room on crutches Thursday, keeping weight off his sprained left ankle and sounding perplexed about why his recovery is going so much slower than he’d hoped.

“I really don’t know what’s the whole problem. Everybody keeps saying it’s a sprain or maybe a little tear there,” Thomas said. “I don’t know for sure if that’s true. I’m hearing so many different stories. I don’t know what to believe.”

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By Jason La Canfora

New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush remains sidelined with a right leg injury, and it’s highly unlikely that he will return this week, a league source said Wednesday.

Bush wasn’t able to practice Wednesday, and a team source said no final determination has been made on the running back’s status for Sunday night’s showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, it doesn’t look promising.

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