It was All Saints Day 1966 when the NFL announced the newest franchise would be awarded to New Orleans. Soon they would be called to the New Orleans Saints, a recognition that their birthday fell on a Catholic Feast Day and that New Orleans was a strong Catholic community.
I have no idea if the Saints have played before on All Saints Day; I'm sure they have but I don't have time to look that stuff up. How ironic I thought that at that critical point of the game when we were tied up, the Saints had both scored 49 points and given up 49 points on their 49th birthday. Little did I suspect that the Giants would be careless with the ball, left time on the clock and then let a punt returner get some space and to make things even better, tackle him by the facemask. Then the unlikely hero, a guy named Kai Forbath, kicks his career long kick right threw the pipes; Saints win 52-49!!
There is much to celebrate when your team wins and to focus on negatives get's you accused of being a negative fan and other incredibly bad things. I think there is plenty worth talking about though and I endeavor to do so without benefit of post-game stats.
What should be celebrated: Saints win! Saints have now won 3 in a row and 4 of the last 5. Saints offense never looked better. Drew Brees was all-world today. Now let me get this over with right here, right now. I have been a recent critic of Drew especially concerning arm strength. I have never been a critic of his brain power. I think he recognized this and the Saints have ben playing more small ball with a great running game, of late, to help contribute to a great passing plan. Since returning from his game off in week 3, Drew has played so much smarter. His receivers are also playing smarter. We can celebrate guys like Ben Watson, Willie Snead, Brandon Cooks and our long time hero Marcus Colston! Much improved performance by Drew Brees lately since the opening losses. A running game should also be celebrated. Let's also celebrate some much improved pass rush by the D-line. I would have also said let's celebrate the improving defense until today. And let's celebrate Kai Forbath, that kick was good! And we should also celebrate the fact that the Atlanta Falcons lost today and at home to Tampa Bad!
Not to be celebrated: The obviously devastating injury to Khari Robinson. Don't celebrate the crazy insane number of penalties committed by Brandon Browner. And we can not celebrate the fact that not once but twice the Saints surrendered a 14 point lead and should have controlled the game at both of those moments in time. I don't think we should celebrate the continued inconsistent play of Jarius Byrd. And no way can we celebrate the unknown injury of the rookie dude with the impossible name to spell or pronounce but his number is 44. Since I am going to be consistent, I don't want to celebrate Drew Brees INT because he threw it into triple coverage.
So what does this mean today? Are the Saints now good enough to be back in the hunt? Is this something magical coming together in New Orleans? Cautiously, I say not so fast. The good news is that at 4-4 the Saints do not have a very tough schedule going forward. The stars may be lining up in the Saints favor. Caution here because over the past two years, the Saints sometimes let down or play down to the competition. Let's say they don't; there is a chance the Saints could score several more wins like 4 or 5. If they let down; if they do not play better defensively and if they do not find a way to adequately replace Robinson, they could greatly disappoint. After the offseason, after the preseason, after losses in weeks 1, 2 and 3, I adjusted my 7-9 prediction to 6-10. Hopefully, at 4-4, this should be a team that now wins more than 6 for sure, and more than 7 perhaps. I think we need to wait and see and take the approach that the organization did, even when they were 0-3. They dedicated themselves to one week at a time, the opponent in front of them their only focus and they made the right adjustments.
To wrap this up, if Drew Brees stays hot and a running game continues, if the receivers and TE's continue to develop and improve and if the defense can improve, particularly in the D-backfield, this could be a special second half of the year. At least we all can agree on this, at 0-3 the Saints looked defeated, deflated, left for dead. There was precious little to be hopeful about. At 4-4, there is hope, there may even be a chance. For now, I will just enjoy and celebrate the Saints victory, 52-49, over the NY Giants.
Happy Birthday New Orleans Saints; Happy All Saints Day New Orleans!
What a day, what a win!
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