After Michael Thomas went down with a high ankle sprain in Week 1, the New Orleans Saints had to lean heavily on Alvin Kamara.

When the Saints went into Chicago on a cold and windy Sunday without three of their top four receivers in the lineup, they were counting on Kamara more than ever.

Heck, even before the season started, the Saints pinned a lot of their hopes for 2020 and beyond on Kamara by making him one of the NFL’s highest-paid running backs despite their severe salary-cap limitations.

In each instance, Kamara has delivered -- at a historic rate.

Kamara’s 55 receptions are the most by a running back in NFL history through the first seven games of a season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau -- putting him on pace for 126 on the season.

His 556 receiving yards are the most of any running back since Lenny Moore in 1958.

“He’s been a bit of a human highlight reel so far this season,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said last week -- and that was before Kamara rolled up another 96 receiving yards and 67 rushing yards in their 26-23 overtime win at Chicago.

Every one of those yards was essential, too, from his 47-yard catch-and-run on the final play of the first quarter to his 20-yard run that set up the game-winning field goal in overtime. He had six plays of 12-plus yards on a day when every yard was at a premium.

“It is what it is; you gotta play in the elements. It doesn’t matter if it's cold or hot, windy or raining, we gotta do what we gotta do,” Kamara said of the Chicago elements, which also include the sometimes-treacherous sod in Soldier Field.

Kamara leads the NFL with 987 yards from scrimmage -- 131 more than any other player, even though the Saints have already had their bye.

His 507 yards after the catch are 202 more than any other player in the league, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

He is on pace for 985 rushing yards, 1,271 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.

And let’s face it, the Saints have needed every one of those yards and TDs all season long. Because even though they are 5-2, they have been performing on a high wire all year -- coming from behind to win each of their last four games, each by six points or less.

But when you’re living on a high wire, what better asset than Kamara, whose balance has always been his signature trait?

Actually, Kamara’s balance is one of two traits that coach Sean Payton has always emphasized. The other is his intelligence. Payton has compared that combination a few times now to that of Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk, whom he coached in college at San Diego State.

“I'm not making the comparison,” Payton stressed last week. “They're different runners. But Faulk was extremely intelligent and talented, obviously. They're built differently, but I would say from a talent and intelligence level, Marshall was that way."

Kamara has done some remarkable things in the past -- like his 1,554 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns when he won the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2017 or when he followed that up with 1,592 yards and 18 TDs a year later.

But this is even more impactful considering how much the Saints have relied on him to be practically their entire offense while the WR corps has been so depleted and Brees has been unable to push the ball downfield consistently.

When asked if this is the best he has ever played in his career, Kamara said, “I don’t know. I guess I’ll leave that up to everybody else to decide. I’m just playing, I’m just out there having fun. Trying to get wins.”

So far, it’s working.

Kamara is the early front-runner for the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award. But at this rate, MVP isn’t out of the question.