By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Nine weeks into the 2011 NFL season, the New Orleans Saints sit atop the NFC South division with a 6-3 record, but a handful of performances over the past few weeks has left some fans confused as to what kind of team to expect week to week.

After a down-to-the-wire loss against the reigning NFL champion Green Bay Packers in week one, the Saints rattled off four straight wins before dropping a disappointing game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to end a four-week road stretch.

The Saints returned home the next week to blow out the Indianapolis Colts but then went back on the road and played incredibly flat in an embarrassing loss to the winless St. Louis Rams. The team followed that performance with a much better game against the Bucs this past weekend.

The question on many fans’ minds is who are the New Orleans Saints? Are they a team that will make noise in the playoffs, or are they destined to fall flat once again at the end of the year? Voters who responded to our weekly website poll don’t seem to be too sure.

Coming off the Rams loss, L’Observateur asked readers how they thought the Saints would fare at playoff time. Although more than 80 percent of respondents believe the Saints will return to the playoffs, there is some doubt as to how long they will last, as none of the options garnered more than 25 percent of the vote. The results mark a drastic change from previous polls, which consistently show overwhelming support for the black and gold.

A complete breakdown of the results is as follows:

• 14 percent of respondents chose “They will fail to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.”

• 16 percent of respondents chose “They will lose in the first round again this year.”

• 23 percent of respondents chose “They will lose in the second round.”

• 16 percent of respondents chose “They will make it to the conference championship game but fail to take the NFC title.”

• 11 percent of respondents chose “They will be the NFC champs but fall short of another Super Bowl win.”

• 20 percent of respondents chose “They will shake off the performance against the Rams and end up with the Lombardi Trophy again.”