The Saints and Falcons are set for a showdown that will be hyped as the unofficial NFC South championship game — and depending on what Carolina does against the Cleveland Browns could go down as the official one, at that.

For much of the season, I’ve been wrong about the Saints. I truly felt their on-field issues came down to talent deficiencies at key areas on the team. But the way this season has gone … yes, those deficiencies do exist, but the effort has also been inconsistent. While Drew Brees, Marques Colston and others fit the profile of veteran leader, this has been a team showcasing a lot of “young team” qualities, most notably something Brees alluded to this week when he said the team had shown it could handle adversity, but not yet that it could handle success.

Sean Payton understood what was at play when his team was trounced by Carolina two weeks ago. Players were comfortable in their positions. He cut Joe Morgan, likely to send a message to the rest of the players, then reportedly sent a direct one to 10 others via face-to-face “evaluation” meetings.

It honestly wasn’t surprising to me that the Saints defeated Chicago so soundly; I’ve found over the years that right after a team has it’s darkest hour, it comes back with a surprising performance. A series of close games where problems are visible, be them wins or losses, often fail to create a sense of urgency; Carolina, 41, Saints, 10, that’s when changes are made and problems are corrected, or at least an attempt is made to do so.

I truly feel the Saints win this game against Atlanta. I’d have my doubts ordinarily, but if Julio Jones isn’t near 100 percent, that takes away the Falcons’ greatest advantage over the Saints: multiple receivers to attack a thin secondary with. Keenan Lewis certainly seemed healthy as he bottled up the Bears’ Alshon Jeffery Monday night, and he should be able to handle Roddy White in a similar manner.

The Saints, I believe, will have no problem getting up for this game. This, again, will be billed as an NFC South-deciding showdown. On the whole this season, the Saints have played the best football in the NFC South, not that it says all that much. They’ll be at home against a hated rival. These are the games that are easy to get up for. Nobody takes Atlanta for granted.

But it’s not likely either Atlanta or New Orleans will be aided by a Johnny Manziel-led Cleveland Browns team this week, and so, no matter who loses in the Superdome, the Panthers should remain a factor into Week 17.

And that, more than the Falcons, truly scares me as a Saints fan. Because we’ve seen the Saints step up in a handful of big, high-profile games this season. We haven’t seen them do something arguably much tougher: take care of business in a professional manner when the spotlight is elsewhere, when an opponent could be taken for granted. Tampa Bay is the definition of that kind of opponent.

I’ll be cheering along with the rest of you when and if they achieve victory Sunday afternoon. But the job will be far from finished. This week is about physical, on-field ability. Next week is about mental toughness, and that’s where this team must prove themselves. The Cowboys, nor the Browns, Bengals and Falcons haven’t been the Saints’ biggest nemesis this season. It’s been the Saints all along.