Do. Not. Panic.

Rinse, then say it again, Saints fans. It is way too early to run into the streets screaming over a single loss, even a loss to a team coached by Eric Mangini. The NFL is just too balanced this season, and the gap between 10-6 and 4-12 is about the width of an envelope. Losses to teams like the Browns happen, even if it difficult to watch when the league’s No. 1 team plays like it is running into piles of No. 2.

That said, the Saints’ 30-17 loss to the Browns in New Orleans was definitely a head-scratcher. Four Drew Brees interceptions, two of them brought back for touchdowns. Cleveland, of all teams, using razzle-dazzle plays that confounded the NO defense. Sean Payton on the sidelines doing a Norv Turner imitation. All weird stuff, one week in advance of Halloween.

There isn’t much time for the Saints to contemplate their navels, however, as the 5-1 Steelers come to town for a Sunday nighter in what probably passes for the biggest game so far in a season in which no clear favorite to win the Super Bowl has emerged. If Cleveland can win in New Orleans, then what will the Steelers do? (Las Vegas oddsmaker Peter Korner, however, points out frequently that every game in every season is situational, and it makes no sense to shoot at shadows. Pittsburgh, for the record, opened as a 1-point favorite, which means the books have no clue who will win this one.)

If there is a high ground in the one-size-fits-all NFL, it is occupied by the Steelers. They have their quarterback back, they are once again death to run against, and the remainder of the schedule has enough two-foot putts to allow for an occasional slipup. Ben Roethlisberger brings fresh legs (and hopefully a fresh off-the-field persona) to the game. He has thrown 5 TDs passes in two games since returning from the suspension, and his quarterback rating (122) would be by far the best in the league if he had played in enough games.

The Steelers treat opponents in pretty much the same way that Attila the Hun dealt with terrified villagers, so it’s incumbent on the Saints to be able to get down and dirty in this one. Chris Ivory has been NO’s best runner this season, but he was stuffed by the Browns, and once Cleveland got the Saints running game under control, they teed off on Brees. Ivory won’t run for 100 yards -- no one does that against Pittsbrugh -- but if he can give the Saints offense a viable alternative, it can keep Brees on his feet and out of the hospital.

There are still miles to go before the AFC North and NFC are put to bed, but this game will help give one of these two teams a big lift headed into the final two months of the season.

The Vikings and their fans never saw what the rest of us did, did they?

They were willing to take the Brett Favre on his terms, and were willing to overlook the fine print at the bottom of the contract. The part that says that this is all about Favre, not about the team. All about Favre being able to run this team that way he ran the full-of-piss-and-vinegar Packers back in the day. All about winning on Favre’s terms or not winning at all. All about the head coach taking a back seat if he knows what’s good for him. All about one individual standing out even in the ultimate team sport.

The Vikes told Favre to take his time coming back, so he did. Until they begged him to return and get in some kind of rhythm before the real games started. At $1.25 million a game, how could he say no? All right. If you insist.

Now the devil is here to collect his soul, and the 2-4 Vikings trudge into Foxboro on Halloween afternoon desperate to stay relevant in a winnable NFC North. And the big question is: Will Favre continue to call the shots, or will coach Brad Childress finally show some spine and bench the 29th-ranked quarterback in the league?

“It goes back to taking care of the football,” said Childress after Sunday’s loss to Green Bay in which which Favre threw three interceptions. “You can’t throw it to them. You’ve got to play within he confines of our system. Sometimes it’s OK to punt the football.”

The Vikings’ game plan was for Favre to take the snap from center, turn and dutifully hand the ball to one of the top running backs in the league (Adrian Peterson) and wear down the Packer defense with short- and at most intermediate-range passes. That may have been Childress’s plan, but apparently Chilly didn’t pass it by Favre, who figures that possession of the football after each snap gives him veto power over anything the Viking coaches dream up.

The Vikings have this week to repair the damage done to whatever relationship still exists between Chilly and Favre before heading to New England, where the Patriots have not lost a regular-season game since 2008.

Randy Moss’s return to New England will certainly stir the stew a bit in Foxboro, and Moss -- whose motivation last season was questioned on several occasions -- figures to be on his best, stick-it-to-the-team-that-wouldn’t-pay-me behavior. Moss wasn’t having a great year in New England before the trade, but Patriots watchers insist that defenses have already adjusted to dealing with NE sans Moss. Wes Welker has only 11 catches since Moss’s departure, and the Chargers bottled him up (25 yards total) last Sunday.

Tom Brady was very un-Tom Bradylike against the Chargers (19/32 and just 128 yards), but he loves the spotlight that shines in big games, and the light will be brighter than bright when the wounded Vikings limp into town with Brett Favre and his 4 tons of luggage in tow.

Early public opinion indicates that fans in New England are split about 70-30 against the trade of Randy Moss to the Vikings, but in Minnesota there is unanimity -- Moss is welcomed back to the fold with open arms after a 5-year absence. Assuming he keeps the bitching and moaning to moderate levels and shakes the team down for a contract fat with zeroes, he could be what gives the Vikes at least a fighting chance in the NFC this season.

It was clear that something had to be done in Minnesota. The Vikings lost their first two games, and only getting the equivalent of a gimmee putt -- Detroit at home in Week 3 -- was able to save them from complete eradication. The arrival of Moss now gives Brett Favre a reason to get up in the morning, should open up tons of space for Percy Harvin’s short stuff over the middle and gives jealous Green Bay fans something to worry about again.

Assuming Moss doesn’t pull a hamstring in any practice that he chooses to attend in the next few days, it also makes the mercurial wideout the answer to a great trivia question -- who is the only player ever to play in back-to-back Monday night games?

But Monday night in New Jersey could bring the Vikings back down to earth. They get 4 from the Jets in a game that has oversized significance to both teams and will definitely impact the developing playoff picture in both conferences. Going 1-2 makes things hard. Starting out 1-3 is another story entirely, and with a schedule created by the devil himself (Dallas at home the next week, followed by trips to Green Bay and New England) the Vikings have to stiffen their spines in this one.

It’s doubtful that the high-flying Jets will make things too easy for the Vikings. New York has already cleaned house in the AFC East with consecutive victories over the Patriots, Dolphins and Bills, and that loss to the Ravens on opening day now seems about at bothersome as a mosquito in mid-January. Plus, any concerns that Mark Sanchez is not ready for prime time have been laid to rest in the wake of three solid performances in a row -- while no one was watching, Sanchez has moved up the QB ladder and now has the 4th-best QB rating in the league (105.3). And there is none of the confusion that was so evident in the middle of last season -- he has thrown 8 TD passes and exactly zero interceptions.

And if the prospect of another Moss/Darrelle Revis matchup is not juicy enough, consider the fun inherent in the return of Favre to New York. Favre’s last effort in New York was marked by a slew of interceptions and the Jets’ lying about his injuries, and it’s not likely he’ll get a warm welcome from Fireman Ed and the other 70,000 or so fans who’ll be on hand.

Favre. Moss. Sanchez. Revis. Harvin. Rex Ryan. Adrian Peterson. LaDainian Tomlinson. Monday night.

Does it get any better than this?

In the Peyton Manning era the Colts just do whatever it takes to win.

If they need to pass the ball 35-40 times a game, they do it.

If they need to run the ball, they do it.

If they need a stop on defense, they do it.

One thing the Colts don’t do is panic, so you won’t see the players jumping off bridges after a surprising 2-2 start that has given life and hope to fan bases in Jacksonville, Tennessee and Houston. One-quarter of the season is in the bank, and the division still hasn’t sorted itself out.

Indianapolis hosts undefeated (3-0) Kansas City this week, and if the Colts are in a free-fall and the Chiefs are on the rise, you wouldn’t know it from the line. Indy is a solid 8-point favorite, which is one indication that not everyone is convinced that the Colts’ season is already in the dumper.

“We’re a .500 team,” Colts coach Jim Caldwell earlier this week before adding the Yogi Berra-type caveat, “but I don’t think that’s who we are.”

Huh? We think Caldwell means that his guys are a better team than they’ve showed, especially in the opening-day loss to the Texans and in last week’s bizarre defeat in Jacksonville, when the horses were taken out on a 59-yard field goal at the final gun. If Caldwell is right, Indy needs to start getting things right this week against the Chiefs, because with two division losses already the Colts are in essence dead last in the four-team pack.

KC’s fans, meanwhile, are giddy with the team’s best start in over a decade and loving every minute of it as the team once again becomes relevant in an AFC West that is clearly up for grabs. It matters not a bit that the Chiefs scored the early-season hat trick by surprising a perennially slow-starting San Diego team on opening day, then got fat with victories over weak sisters Cleveland and San Francisco. Like in golf, in the NFL they don’t ask how, just how many, and at last check KC was the last remaining undefeated team in the league, even if the 2007 Patriots aren’t much concerned about them tying their 16-0 regular-season record.

The Chiefs have had a few weeks to get ready for Peyton Manning, who is the top-ranked passer in the league (112.2 rating) and has 11 TD passes in four games. Manning is capable of taking care of the over total (it’s 44.5) all by himself and the Chiefs have some kids in the secondary. Usually that’s a lethal mix, but KC is confident and coming off its bye week has had two weeks to rest up and prepare.

One thing to keep an eye on is how well KC’s offense is able to move the ball against a Colt defense that has been hit hard by injuries. Bob Sanders, Indy’s best defender, is done for the season, and earlier this week yet another safety, Melvin Bulitt, joined Sanders on injured reserve. In 2006 the Colts survived with a porous defense and went on to win the Super Bowl. This year just getting to the playoffs might be a chore.