The luster of the New Orleans Saints has gone away over the past few seasons. 2009 seems like a century ago, which is when New Orleans won their lone Super Bowl title over the Indianapolis Colts.

Since that Super Bowl victory, New Orleans has made the playoffs three out of the past five seasons, but has failed to reach the NFC Championship Game. This past season, New Orleans missed the playoffs with a 7-9 record, which was mainly a result of their poor defense.

New Orleans finished the season with the 31st ranked “D,” allowing 384 yards and 26.5 points per game. In this league, you won’t win too many ballgames if you’re unable to stop your opponent from marching up and down the field. You know how the old adage goes, defense wins championships.

The crazy thing is that New Orleans ranked 4th in total defense just a year prior, which was defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s first year in the “Big Easy”.

A lot of pundits believe New Orleans championship window is closing, if it hasn’t already closed. They recently traded away their two best pass catchers in Jimmy Graham and Kenny Stills, but in order for the Saints to get back to being considered a legitimate contender, their defense must improve tremendously going forward.

There were reports floating around that head coach Sean Payton and Rob Ryan ‘strongly dislike’ each other, which caused many to believe Ryan would be fired at season’s end.

That would not be the case.

The tremendous success Ryan had in year one was enough to give him another opportunity, and that is something he won’t take lightly.

“I gotta start with me,” Ryan said. “Whatever I can do better, whatever we can do better, I’ll tell ya, I’ll always have to do it. If I have that opportunity, if I don’t, then I’m still gonna look in the mirror and make sure I’m doing things right.”

Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis would run through a wall for Ryan.

“I want him back,” Lewis said. “I’m going to ride with him, 100 (percent). He’s a great coordinator. You just can’t blame him when things go wrong. We’re the ones out there playing.”

As New Orleans looks to revamp their defense, they’ve acquired Brandon Browner, Delvin Breaux, Parys Haralson, Dannelle Ellerbe and Kyle Wilson.

Ryan wants his unit to get back to playing fierce and nasty.

“I think we forgot how we had success,” he said. “The NOLA defense where nobody likes our ass, that’s how we played better, when our backs were against the wall when we had a lot to prove. We didn’t get soft in a year’s time, but certainly we could have played better and started faster, and you know it cost us early in some games and then we’re treading uphill the rest of the year.”

The addition of Browner was a prime example of what direction they plan on heading towards.

“It is in my character and in my nature to be passionate about the game and show that,” Browner said. “Sometimes it is my teammates. It can’t only be me. A lot of times that’s a great way of leading by example.”

Browner plans on bringing high energy and leadership to New Orleans.

“Not everyone learns the same way,” Browner said. “Some guys hear from their leaders. Some guys hear the leaders’ mannerisms and the way they go to work. That’s why you just try to be yourself…

“Those roles take place. You don’t go out and force anything. If it will help them, I’ll ultimately say something to the guys. My way of leading is by example by coming to work and showing my passion about the game and how I perform on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, New Orleans is looking to become more balanced.

While everyone is talking about Graham going to Seattle, you rarely hear about what New Orleans got in return. They received 2-time Pro Bowl center Max Unger and a first round pick in this year’s draft.

New Orleans also signed running back C.J. Spiller.

These moves indicate New Orleans is looking to take some burden off Drew Brees’ arm. Although Brees threw for nearly 5,000 yards while completing 69 percent of his passes, the 36-year-old had to throw the ball 659 times in 2014, which is entirely too much at this stage of his career.

Sean Payton realizes they must find other ways to win games.

“The style of how we play has varied, and it can week to week with guys that are inactive,” Payton said. “… I know this for certain: This wasn’t about philosophically we’re going in a different direction. This was, I think, we’ll move the football in 2015, but let’s find a way we don’t have to score 35 points to win the game.”

Mark Ingram is coming off a year in which he gained 964 yards on 226 carries to go along with nine touchdowns, but in today’s game, its always nice to have someone to relieve you.

“Mark Ingram had his best season last year,” Payton said. “Certainly an every-down player. He’s smart. He’s someone that stayed healthy and did a great job for us. We also realize the attrition and challenges of playing that position for 16 weeks. To some degree, we have always had complimentary players at running back — a guy like Reggie Bush in the early years and Darren Sproles. Khiry Robinson is a player that I think gives us a physical presence as well.”

Payton believes Spiller can be that second piece for a dynamic two headed monster.

“Spiller’s (skillset) is a unique one. I think one of things that helped us sign C.J. was the versatility that we look to have when he’s in the game. We’ll look at packages to put him out wide, packages where he’s in the backfield with another running back. The key with him when you watch him on tape is finding a way to get him the ball in space because he’s so explosive.”

Heading into 2015, the NFC South is up for grabs. Although the Carolina Panthers have won the division in back-to-back seasons, no one is scared of a team that finished 7-8-1 in 2014.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will most likely be trotting out a rookie quarterback in 2015 (Jameis Winston) and the Atlanta Falcons are well, the Atlanta Falcons.

As long as New Orleans has Drew Brees under center, you have to like their chances every year in this division, especially if their defense is able to improve and lets be honest, it can’t get much worse.