So Many Weapons, So Little Time.
Drew Brees and Sean Payton deployed their weapons well, blowing up the “hot” Arizona Cardinals. So much for momentum.
Reggie Bush couldn’t have picked a better time to snap out of his dance fever mode and play the game of his pro career. The Saints now have 4, yes 4 running backs contributing. Lynell Hamilton has joined Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell, and Bush in the rotation. The Saints have 4, yes 4 top flight receivers. The 2, yes 2 deep threats Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem and the 2 magnetic handed possession guys Marques Colston and Lance Moore (healthy again) are simply awesome. Mix in mercurial Jeremy Shockey and versatile David Thomas as the tight ends, and you’ve got an assemblage of offensive talent that still manages to fly under the radar in the NFL.
The exciting thing about this season is not just that the Saints are in contention for the Super Bowl – but that this assemblage of talent has a chance to be very good for several years.
Saturday night, the defense rose to the occasion, displaying a little of their early season aggressiveness, applying constant pressure to Kurt Warner, who at 38 appears to have lost some arm strength, if not accuracy.
The Vikings will bring the next wave of the QB Seniors Tour to the Superdome with 40 year old Brett Favre having no such problems. Now, the Saints go where no Saints team has gone before – to the Superdome for an NFC Championship game. If Bourbon St on Saturday night was any indication, this should be the most profitable pre-Mardi Gras weeks ever.
Let’s go around the NFL.
No surprise, but Norv and Wade tanked again. While you can see that Rex Ryan inspires the Jets, it appears that Norv and Wade put their teams to sleep. The Chargers and Cowboys appear to have gotten a lethal injection of Ambien sometime before the weekend. They sleep walked their way right out of the playoffs.
Although I don’t think it will happen, wouldn’t it be great if the Colts got beaten by the Jets, whom they allowed into the playoffs with their capitulation of their perfect season? Now that would be ironic! It would be a tough lesson for Jim Caldwell to learn in his first season.
So, the Jets go to the Indy dome and the Vikes visit our dome.
And it is our dome.
Let me just say “I told you so” to Tom Benson. Remember the time many years ago that I screamed at you when you were on TV? While doing the Benson shuffle of trying to convince everyone you needed a new stadium to compete you famously said, “no one wants to sit up there – the seats are too pitched and high.” To which I screamed, “No, it’s the product on the field – that’s why the dome isn’t filled. Improve that product, and the dome will fill.”
Well, he wisely listened to me. There’s a terrific product on the field and our dome is incredible. It’s becoming like one of those great old stadiums that ooze tradition. I can’t even recount all the great football moments I’ve experienced there. This is a great football cathedral. The energy of this special season has been something to behold. Now just one game from the Super Bowl, the Saints must hook into the energy one more time and play their best game of the season Sunday against the Vikings.
If they do, a dome and a city may erupt. Be there – you don’t want to miss this.
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