By Deke Bellavia

NEW ORLEANS--The hopes and dreams of hosting the Super Bowl and playing in it have taken a big drop as the New Orleans Saints have started the 2012 season with a 0-2 record.

Now the Saints come back home for their second home game of the season as they face another 0-2 team in the Kansas City Chiefs.

If New Orleans is going to be the first team to play in the Super Bowl that they host, they have to clean up a lot of things and they have to do so right now!

Ok, let’s make this simple.

When you are 0-2, there are not many good things to talk about. Coach Aaron Kromer said in his post-game speech that he and the Saints are going to right the ship and win more games that they lose.

Now the team that has often overcome long odds to win games and championships will have to do so once again.

When teams start out 0-2, they reach the playoffs just 13 percent of the time. So you know what that means.

Now the Saints face another 0-2 team in the Kansas City Chiefs. New Orleans needs a win desperately before the go on the road to take on the Green Bay Packers. If this week was not considered a must-win situation, is the game against KC a must- win?

Let’s break down the latest good, bad, ugly after the Saints 35-27 loss to Carolina.

The Saints have 14 regular season games left.

We are only a game behind Tampa and Carolina with Atlanta still to play Denver Monday night. Don’t look at anyone outside of the NFC South.

The Saints defense is bad and nearly ugly. In two games the Saints defense has allowed 927 yards of total offense. Washington gained 464 yards while Carolina got 463 yards. Teams have rushed on average for 186 yards per game against the Saints defense and Carolina and Washington passed for a combined 555 yards, for an average of 277.5 yards per game.

The Saints are minus -4 in the turnover department in two games. And the new-look defense has given up 75 points for an average of 37.5 points per game.

Dropped passes have also plagued the Saints.

In the Saints loss against Carolina, these players all had a dropped pass: Jimmy Graham, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Darren Sproles and Joe Morgan.

That just can’t happen. And when you are 0-2, those things add up.