Wow. The Saints closed out the regular season playing the best football in their history. They thumped the Carolina Panthers 45-17, setting a team yardage record with 617 yards. Led by Drew Brees they trampled both the NFL and team record book, thrilling the Who Dat Nation with an offense like none that has ever been seen in the NFL.
Brees set an NFL passing yardage record for a season with 5476 yards. Darren Sproles set an all-purpose yardage record with 2969 yards. Brees re-set his own completion percentage record at an amazing 71.6% and completed the most passes ever in a season with 468. The Saints broke the NFL yardage record with 7474 yards. This is quite simply the most prolific arsenal ever assembled by a football team.
Then there’s the defense. Sunday, for the first four Carolina possessions they looked awful, giving up running and passing yardage in huge chunks. After that they made adjustments and turned what looked like it was going to be a shoot-out into a runaway.
That’s the good news. It’s been a thrill to watch. Now, it means nothing as the playoffs begin and if history tells us one thing it’s that anything can happen.
Last year Matt Hasselback destroyed a depleted Saints defense, and Brees had no running backs. So, the bad news is that the Matt that is coming to town next Saturday night is way better than Hasselback. Sunday, Matthew Stafford followed Brees and Brady into the 5000 yard club with a monster performance. The Lions are awesome, in case no one noticed. They’ve come from way behind on numerous occasions, and put on a fireworks display in the Superdome beating themselves more than the Saints beat them at the beginning of December. Fortunately their defense got shellacked Sunday, and despite the presence of Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, they’ve stopped no one.
I’m scared to death of the Lions. I think this will be the Saints toughest game in the playoffs, and if they can get by the Lions, the Saints have an excellent chance of parading with another Lombardi. I predict a shootout of epic proportions, with the Lions not making near the mistakes they made in their last dome trip. I’m hanging my hat on the maturity of the Saints knowing how to win and hoping that the Lions aren’t there yet. It won’t be easy. Time to enjoy some January football.
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