It's Really Not Too Good to Be True

(Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

For the first time this year, I felt like a Saints’ fan is used to feeling.  It’s a feeling usually treated with something over the counter, like Alka Seltzer.  Those who will admit it will tell you they’ve been waiting for the bottom to fall out, and Sunday seemed like the day had finally come.  We’re just not used to seeing the overwhelming success that’s been on display this year in the New Orleans Saints.  Something’s got to give, right?

About halfway into the most exciting football game of the week, I thought it finally had.  The Saints were down 24-3, and I was enduring some pretty harsh trash talk from the 8 year old Dolphins’ fan who happens to reside in my house.

Granted, anyone who watched the Dolphins play the Colts or Jets this year knew they are a team you can’t underestimate.  Talented, underrated, and the only team to make the inexplicable Wildcat work consistently.  They weren’t going to be put down easily.  But 24-3???  I could feel myself having flashbacks of all-too-familiar mediocrity and missed opportunities.  It had been too good to last.

But then it happened.  The head-scratcher time out.  The camera on Drew Brees making his case to Sean Payton.  Not a hint of desperation, not a single Saints’ player ready to trudge into the locker room down by 21.  To a man, they wanted to get back out there and show the world that this is not last year’s team or any other’s.  Three seconds later, the comeback has started, and my little trash-talker is getting a little of his own medicine.  The Saints, it turns out, are just getting started.

This is an unheard-of thing in NFL lore—there’s a winner in New Orleans.

There hasn’t been a shortage of good players in New Orleans lately.  In fact, they’ve oozed talent over the last few years.  What they’ve lacked is the will to win.  And that’s always the dividing line in the greatest sport on earth.  There are plenty of talented teams in the league, but most of them spend their Januarys at home.  Winners are still in it.  Ugly or pretty, they find a way to win.  They don’t hold press conferences talking about the missed calls or missed opportunities.  They. Find. A. Way. To. Win.  Period.

That’s what the Saints did Sunday.  They found a way to overcome three interceptions and a fumble by the best signal caller in the league.  They found a way to overcome a 21 point deficit.  They found a way to overcome the crowd noise, a malfunctioning replay system, and on and on.  They found a way to win.  And that’s what we’ve been missing.  That’s what we’ve been waiting for.  It’s gonna be a fun year for New Orleans Saints’ fans.

Observations

If you haven’t seen any of Drew Brees’ press conference footage yet, go watch some.  He is exactly the leader we need.  He exudes confidence.  I can only imagine how it must be in the huddle to hear him calling the play like it’s a done deal.  This guy is definitely the most underpaid player in the league.

I love watching Jeremy Shockey play.  I had reservations about him coming to the team, but he brings energy that’s contagious.

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