Swagger-licious.

Back in April, that's how Bart Scott described the attitude of the New York Jets under new coach Rex Ryan. Gone was Eric Mangini, the coaching tyrant who sucked all of the life out of the Jets with his heavy-handed rules and fines. In was the brash Ryan who actually had to remind the players that it was OK to have fun in practice.

Ryan didn't make players run laps when they made mistakes. He encouraged them to talk trash, to challenge each other, and to celebrate little victories. He wanted his players to have personalities - and to show them - and, most important, he wanted them to have a swagger.

For many professional football players, swagger comes naturally. The Jets just hadn't been allowed to show theirs. Now, about six months after their first minicamp under Ryan, the Jets are one of seven undefeated teams in the National Football League. Today, they will play the equally hot New Orleans Saints in a game that will feature two divergent styles, the risk-taking Jets defense against the heretofore unstoppable Saints offense.

It will be New York's toughest test yet.

"I think we're confident," Ryan said on Friday. "There's confidence there. We expect to win regardless of who we're playing. We respect our opponent, but we fear nobody. We are a confident team, and whether that's swagger or whatever that is, I'm not sure. But I usually just say, 'Yeah, we've got swagger.' "

As the Eagles saw in Week 2, the Saints are thriving under the innovative Sean Payton. In three games, they've scored 120 points, an NFL record for the first three weeks of a season. Drew Brees has completed about 70 percent of his passes for 841 yards and a 118.1 passer rating, the highest in the league. Last week, when Buffalo focused on slowing down the Saints' passing attack, New Orleans easily switched gears and rushed for 222 yards while holding the Bills to 243 total yards (and Terrell Owens to zero catches).

For whatever reason, the Eagles did not blitz Brees a lot. New York will.

The Jets have only four sacks this season, but they've hit the quarterback 30 times. They've blitzed on 63 percent of defensive downs, according to ESPN Stats, and have not allowed a completion of longer than 29 yards. And, quarterbacks have completed only 48 percent of their passes.

"These guys can play," Ryan said of the Saints. "There's a lot of talent there. They've got a smart quarterback. They've got some big-time athletes, but so do we on defense. They're going to be challenged, too."

New York will be without Donald Strickland (sprained ankle) and Lito Sheppard (strained quadriceps). Neither defensive back has practiced in two weeks.

Ryan said they thought about bringing in another cornerback this week but opted against it.

"You keep hoping that we'll be able to get them back, and they're doing a lot better, and they're running, but they're not ready to go 100 percent," Ryan said. "We think we probably could play them right now if we had to, but I don't think it's fair to them."

It's clear that Ryan likes his team, particularly his defense. The whole team has a swagger, even quarterback Matt Sanchez, who was named NFL rookie of the month for September.

But they'll be tested today.

"I've played against much easier than this," Ryan said.

Running on empty

Paging the Atlanta running game. Last year, the Falcons averaged 152.7 rushing yards per game. This season, they've averaged 92.3 rushing yards. Michael Turner, who finished second in the league in rushing in 2008, is tied for 11th this season and is averaging the fewest yards per rush (3.5) of anyone ranked in the top 17. . . .

As he did last year, Adrian Peterson is leading the league in rushing, averaging 119 yards per game (up from 110 in 2008). Best news for Vikings fans: Peterson has fumbled only once; last season he lost the football nine times. . . .

Two days after St. Louis released him last week, former Eagles defensive lineman Hollis Thomas joined the Carolina Panthers. He better hope he has better luck than the Panthers' previous two nose tackles. Maake Kemoeatu tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the team's first practice of training camp, and Louis Leonard, whom Carolina subsequently acquired in a trade with Cleveland, broke his ankle. . . .

It's amazing that Los Angeles still does not have an NFL franchise, but Jacksonville does. The Jaguars sold 46,520 tickets to their home opener, and only about 38,000 fans showed up. No wonder they're talking about playing some games in Orlando. . . .

Washington hasn't scored 30 points in 19 games under Jim Zorn. In the same span, the Eagles have topped 30 points nine times.