A raucous crowd set up a Christmas Eve wall on the goal line
in the Superdome on Sunday and the Falcons could only penetrate the wall late
in the Saints 23-13 victory The Saints
defense turned away the Falcons without a point twice from the one yard
line. It was a signature performance by a depleted
defense. Mante Te’o played the game of
his life as he filled in for AJ Klein, who was joined on injured reserve this
week by Kenny Vaccaro. Do the Saints
have enough?
They did for the rivals who had stung them 17 days earlier. The Saints running game has slowed a little
in recent weeks, as NFL defensive coordinators adjust. The slowing of the Saints offense would
normally be a death knell. But not this
year with the defense doing its share. And
then there’s Drew Brees, whose rainbows to Michael Thomas are a thing of
beauty. Brees has always spread the ball
around, but he can’t help but favor the Magical Michael, who snatches the ball
out of the air like I snatch dinner rolls.
Brees is now behind Peyton
Manning and Brett Favre in the 70,000 yard club. He will pass them next year, and 80,000 seems
within reach before the end of his incredible career.
Defensive stalwart Cameron Jordan made his case for NFL
defensive player of the year with a couple more sacks. Jordan rarely comes off the field and has been
the Saints most dominant defensive lineman in many years, as the Saints got the
improvement from their defense that they needed to improve behind those three
straight 7-9 seasons.
The Saints are in the playoffs, but will have to win the
division outright during their trip to Tampa next week. That would also guarantee them a home playoff
game, something that hasn’t happened for 5 years. Then, they will be 3 wins from the Super
Bowl. Didn’t see this coming. No, I didn't.
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