It's Really Not Too Good to Be True

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.

Reggie still looks like a bust to me.  Granted, the double reverse was nice, and I give him credit for getting the touchdown where another back just can't pull off that acrobatic move.  But beyond that one play, he isn't anything special.  He gets dropped in the backfield, he misses blocks, he seems to have forgotten how to run downhill on punt returns, just juking back and forth until he gets tackled for a loss.  I still cringe every time I see him on the field.

Did the Dolphins just give the league a clinic on how to stop Drew Brees?  When there's pressure and he has to get the football away in a hurry, a lineman that hangs back and puts his hands up is going to get a tipped ball a lot.  It happened repeatedly in this game.  Drew's height has always been a knock on his otherwise flawless resume; it’s something he overcomes with intelligence and quick decisions.  But if you get him off balance with consistent pressure like the Dolphins did early, then that "short" coming can be an issue.

Marques Colston had a good stat line, but he dropped some good balls in this game.  He didn't seem like himself.  Losing that ball on the goal line was inexcusable.  But this is just a hiccup for him.

Early on, it sure seemed like Sean Payton was channeling himself from last year.  How many times did we actually run the ball?  We kept getting incomplete passes on first down, then trying play action on 2nd and 10.  Who's biting then?  Glad to see the run resurface in the 2nd half.

Monday night should be the end of any doubt that the Saints are the league’s best team.  They’ve been getting a little bit of the “let’s wait and see who they beat” attitude from the pundits (and with the Saints’ history, it’s tough to blame them.)  But the Monday night prime time spotlight will put an end to that.  There will be plenty of flashbacks to the Saints’ Monday night game against Atlanta after the Dome reopened.  That was a magical season that fell short.  This time, we’re going all the way.