NEW ORLEANS – Who dat dey say gonna beat dem Saints?

That’s what, in a distinctively N’Awlins way, they’re asking here in the Big Easy, home of the NFC’s only undefeated team.

Who dat dey say gonna beat dem Saints?

Not the Pats.

Not here, anyway.

Not in front of a full-throated, full house in the Louisiana Superdome, a raucous crowd that could make a Mardi Gras parade seem as genteel as an afternoon tea party.

Not in front of a national television audience in what figures to be a highly rated Monday Night Football game.

Here’s why:

The Patriots have faced only one top-quality quarterback all season. That was Colts QB Peyton Manning, who just happens to be a native of New Orleans, having grown up in the fashionable Garden District, a streetcar ride out St. Charles Avenue from the French Quarter.

Manning, after getting off to a slow start two weeks ago against the Pats in Indianapolis, directed a finish that was both frenetic and fantastic (for Colts fans), shredding the New England defense for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter while wiping out deficits of 17 points with 14 minutes remaining, and 13 points with just 4 minutes to go.

So worried was Patriots coach Bill Belichick about Manning and the Indy offense that, leading by six points with 2:08 to play, he elected to try to pick up a first down on 4th-and-2 at the N.E. 28, rather than punt the ball to the Colts.

Saints QB Drew Brees isn’t quite the equal of Manning — or the Patriots’ Tom Brady, for that matter — but he belongs in the same class.

His 22 touchdown passes are tied for the league lead with Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay, who threw for three in the Packers’ Thanksgiving Day rout of the lowly Lions in Detroit. Brees has completed 218 of 320 attempts, a percentage of 68.1, for 2,746 yards. He has 9 interceptions.

And the Saints have been piling up points. They lead the NFL in scoring, averaging 36.9 points per game — six more than the next-closest team, Brett Favre’s Minnesota Vikings (30.6).

The Patriots can light up the scoreboard, too. They lead the AFC, averaging 29 points a game, which promises to make for an exciting game against New Orleans. But that’s still a TD and a PAT shy of the undefeated Saints.

New England also ranks second in the league, behind Indianapolis, in scoring defense, allowing an average of just 16.4 points a game.

But that number is deceptive because of the quality — or lack of same — of the quarterbacks the Pats have faced so far.

Other than Manning, the best they’ve seen have been promising youngsters Matty “Ice” Ryan of the Falcons and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, whose teams are muddling along at 5-5.

Who else impresses you? The Dolphins’ Chad Henne? Denver’s Kyle Orton? Certainly not Buffalo’s Trent Edwards, the Jets’ interception-throwing rookie, Mark Sanchez, Tennessee’s Kerry Collins — who lost his starting job to Vince Young after the Titans were humiliated in New England, 59-0, nor struggling Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman.

Brees is much better than any of them, and has a supporting cast that’s scary.

Wide receiver Marques Colston lead the Saints with 44 catches for 687 yards and 6 TDs. Tight end Jeremy Shockey has 39 receptions and 3 TDs. Wideout Robert Meachem has only 16 receptions, but 6 of them have been touchdowns — 4 of those coming in the last 3 games.

Running backs Mike Bell, Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush are averaging a combined 5.0 yards per carry. Bush, the second player selected in the 2006 draft, is more dangerous as a pass receiver than as a runner. He has just 29 catches this year, but has averaged 71 the last three years.

“They look pretty good to me,” Belichick said of the Saints, noting that they’re “more balanced” offensively than the Colts.

“Wherever you want to start — quarterback, running backs, tight ends, receivers, offensive line — you’ve got to defend a lot of players,” Belichick said. “They beat everybody. And they beat a lot of teams pretty soundly. They have no weaknesses that I can see.”

The Saints haven’t lost anywhere, to anybody.

And they’re not going to lose to New England.

Who dat dey say gonna beat dem Saints?

Not the Pats, it says here.

jdonalds@projo.com