What a difference a day makes — or, in the Saints’ case, five.

A season on the brink of implosion now shines under a much more optimistic light after the team’s decisive victories over Green Bay on Sunday night then at Carolina on Thursday. New Orleans is 4-4 now, a half-game ahead of a seemingly very troubled Carolina team and comfortably in front of Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

While the Saints may not be completely cured of all their ills, this team was never quite as bad as its 2-4 start made it seem. New Orleans was only truly dominated at Dallas; in six of the Saints’ eight games, to date, it has held a lead of 13 points or more. A team isn’t absolved of a loss when it’s close, but it was never a truly easy job to beat the Saints.

But clearly, the Saints have looked worlds better over the past two games on both sides of the football.

What’s changed?

Offensively, the Saints have rediscovered their ability to generate big plays. An offensively driven football team can’t afford to lack explosiveness, and the Saints had for a few weeks. But Kenny Stills and Brandin Cooks have emerged as deep threats, and that’s opened things up in a big way for Jimmy Graham and the team’s underneath receivers. The Saints have run it well all season, but now the team can collect a big payoff in the play-action game. Opposing defenses have to pick their poison.

Defensively … look, this team still has issues. Aaron Rodgers was slowed by a hamstring injury in the Sunday night game, and while the defense probably had its best effort on Thursday, I’m not sure Cam Newton could have completed 50 percent of his passes in warmups based on the majority of his throws.

Having said that … things are looking up with the secondary. Rafael Bush is coming to play, and Patrick Robinson — yes, Patrick Robinson! — seems to have found a niche as the team’s nickel corner.

An encouraging tidbit I saw from the Green Bay game … the one big pass play Rodgers had to a wide receiver was his early touchdown pass to Randall Cobb. Cobb beat Keenan Lewis on that play. Counterintuitive as it may sound, that the one big connection came against Lewis, the Saints’ best corner, is a positive to me because the team has nothing to worry about with Lewis. He misplayed a ball … it happens. He recovered to shut down Jordy Nelson and then Kelvin Benjamin. The other guys didn’t get lit up.

New Orleans isn’t out of the woods, yet. The Saints do have a welcome three straight home games, but none will be easy. San Francisco, Cincinnati and Baltimore are all quality football teams. All can run the football at a high level, and all boast quality receivers. The Saints’ defense will be stressed and its improvement tested. After that, it’s a very tough road game in Pittsburgh, and then back at home against Carolina.

I would believe even three wins in this stretch — provided one comes against the Panthers — could be enough to put the Saints squarely in the pole position to win their division, given the sorry state of the NFC South. But one thing’s for sure: things are looking up.

Some early NBA thoughts, given the first few nights of the season …

Anthony Davis is one of the X-Men. He’s a human cheat code. The NBA’s Western Conference is the toughest division/league in all of sports, but he gives the Pelicans a chance to break through nonetheless. Pairing him with Omer Asik really gives the Pels an identity. It’s hard to score on the interior against those guys, and the team is going to be a plus in the rebounding category. The Pelicans are running a Twin Towers defense without the mobility issues such a two-center alignment can bring … considering that is just one example of how special a talent Davis is. This should be a fun ride.

Dallas is going to be a NIGHTMARE for teams to defend. While it will be tough to unseat San Antonio in the West, Dallas is my early pick to have the best chance to do just that. Adding Tyson Chandler and Chandler Parsons were slick moves because it simultaneously heavily upgrades the team defensively while turning the Mavs into maybe the league’s best offensive team. Against Utah Thursday night, a 260 pound 7-footer in Derrick Favors had to try to check Dirk on a regular basis — he couldn’t hide on a Shawn Marion anymore, because Parsons is a threat to shoot or drive. And guess who the Pelicans host tonight?  I guess I’ll see some of you at the Smoothie King Center!