The Saints are shattering expectations with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. No, that's not a surprise

NEW ORLEANS — Both stood side by side in the Saints locker room here on Sunday, a postgame interview skit created by running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara. It was part Cheech and Chong, Holmes and Watson, Key and Peele.

It was real.

Vibrant personalities paraded.

"We’re on the same wavelength," Ingram blurted.

"No surprises here," Kamara demanded. "I don’t like that word. I believe in preparation. That leads to success."

"Savage!" Ingram called Kamara.

"I’m from Atlanta, he’s from Flint," Kamara said. "I don’t know Flint. But Atlanta is a place that made me mentally strong and gave me some real grittiness. I busted my lip late in the game on that screen pass. I get it, but I try to give it, too. A lot of people think I’m little. They think I’m just a smaller back. That’s until they meet up with me. I’m more into the way it’s going to be, no matter what the perceptions are."

These were among New Orleans Saints "perceptions" entering this season:

After three straight 7-9 years and no playoffs, 2017 looked the same or worse. The Saints defense had been dull and dreadful and more was anticipated. Quarterback Drew Brees didn’t have enough running game to support him or enough weapons surrounding him to matter. Little chance the Saints could match the power of the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers in the NFC South. And even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the division looked more ascending.

But the Saints completed their regular-season sweep of the Panthers Sunday in a 31-21 victory at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints improved to 9-3 and snatched first place in the NFC South with a quick chance to ruin more perceptions: They play at Atlanta on Thursday night.

Here is more on the perceptions of Ingram and Kamara.

Ingram is a seventh-season player labeled a power back but not shifty. Kamara is a rookie who was drafted last April behind running backs Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook and Joe Mixon.

But Ingram against Carolina juked and danced.

And Kamara outplayed McCaffrey in this game and became the first in his rookie season since the Detroit Lions’ Billy Sims in 1980 to compile more than 600 yards rushing and more than 600 yards receiving.

Perceptions? Kamara has several nose piercings. His mouth is stocked with gold teeth. It’s striking. It’s artistic. It’s delightful. It’s Alvin Kamara.

True NFL team success cannot be based on limited, biased parodies of players’ perceived, affixed labels and talents.

You must dig deeper.

Both Ingram and Kamara exemplify that for the Saints.

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Ingram won the 2009 Heisman Trophy and left Alabama for New Orleans with high expectations. Power back, not shifty. But there he was on a 72-yard burst against Carolina that ignited the Saints. At the end of that run, he gained at least an extra 30 yards dancing with the tackler, manipulating his tackling angle, using his opponent’s movements against him.

"Doing my Alvin Kamara," Ingram said, laughing.

Kamara played at Tennessee and was considered a small guy with juice. Shifty, not a power back.

He scored the game’s first points. It was a 2-yard touchdown run where he sprinted right, met missile-seeking linebacker Shaq Thompson at the goal line, took the hit, gave it right back and powered his way into the end zone.

Ingram is 27. Kamara is 22. Both surprisingly weigh 215 pounds, with Kamara at 5’10 and an inch taller than Ingram. Perception is that Ingram is the bigger back, but the fact is they are more similar in makeup than not.

These backs are achieving dual roles.

They are giving this Saints offense durability, consistency, flexibility, and a foundation off which Brees is elevating. Toss in receivers Michael Thomas and Ted Ginn, Jr., contributing tight ends, a sturdy offensive line and all of that boosted by an improved defense, and the Saints are looking for big things.

Ingram insists there has "never been a championship team in the history of football" that "was worth its salt" that did not feature a running game that made defenses buckle.

Thomas says he sees their work consistently in practice and that Kamara is the latest example of the "competitive, right kind of guys that they have brought in here; the right tools around Drew Brees." He said that both Ingram and Kamara play with "chips on their shoulders with a lot more to go — that’s the scary part." He said their work shows up on Sundays.

Saints left tackle Terron Armstead is in his fifth season.

"I think Mark and Alvin are two selfless guys," Armstead said. "They are sharing the work back there even though both have talent off the charts. Mark has been doing this for a while now; he has a complete background. Alvin, you could see it early in OTAs. He was different. He was special. There was something a little extra to him. When you block for both of them, you have to play through the whistle. They get extra yards even when the play looks over. They are going for it. They are not a 1-2 running back punch. They are a 1-1 punch."

Kamara on Sunday scored two rushing touchdowns. Ingram scored one. Each back contributed at least 122 yards combined rushing and receiving.

Brees applauded Ingram’s "game-changing play" and Kamara’s intelligence in quickly performing the nuances of the Saints complex offense.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera described Kamara this way: "He’s got some elite ability."

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Saints head coach Sean Payton is enjoying creating wrinkles in his offense that highlights the interchangeable, distinctive skills sets of Ingram and Kamara.

Payton brought veteran back Adrian Peterson here and then traded him. Early in the season, the Saints were trying to shuffle that three-back rotation. Now the genesis is Ingram and Kamara.

But the Peterson experience was not useless.

"Adrian used to talk to our younger backs about the responsibility of the position, about the responsibility of their positions, about feeding and taking care of their families and their careers," Payton said. "But more than that, Adrian, just his presence."

Payton opened his hand and spread his arms, dramatically illustrating the "aura" of Peterson around his current running backs.

"They’re tough," Payton said of Ingram and Kamara. "They love to compete. You can get on them."

He was asked just how special are these backs?

"Well," he answered, "they’re special enough for us."

When the punisher can become the shifty the guy and the shifty guy can become the punisher, that is special.

"I want more, we want more," Kamara said. "I want to keep climbing. No surprises."

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How Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram dissect defenses