Drew Brees and Sean Payton, the New Orleans Saints dynamic duo responsible for the franchise's only Super Bowl, stared a fourth straight losing season in the face.
It was Monday, Sept. 18, a day after they were again flattened into an 0-2 hole.
Payton's Saints had two more games before the Week 5 bye to resurrect their season, in the coach's mind.
"We talked about it," Payton told Twin Cities reporters on a conference call. "I felt as a team that two-game stretch was really going to define our season. I don't think we could've dug ourselves further into a hole, and I think fortunately we played well at Carolina. Defensively we got the takeaways."
The defensive turnaround has been a key to the Saints' sixth playoff appearance in 12 seasons of Payton and Brees. The defense was exposed in this season's infancy, starting with the Vikings' 470 yards in the opener. The following week, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw three first-quarter touchdown passes while New England totaled 555 yards in a win.
It changed almost overnight.
The young Saints, featuring rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore with a team-leading five interceptions, couldn't get one takeaway in the opening two games.
They had at least one takeaway in 13 of the next 14 games, giving the ball back to their future Hall of Fame quarterback during an eight-game win streak after the 0-2 start.