Saints Report #12, December 6, 2009

Just another ho-hum, boring, methodical, “we had ‘em all the way” game on this Magical Mystery Tour. I've got an invitation to make a reservation.

The Saints traveled to Washington, and in a reversal of their performance of last year, got outplayed for most of the game, but pulled out a victory. When things are going your way, strange things happen:
You punt the ball and it hits an opposing team member in the back and you recover the “fumble.”
You throw an interception and one of your receivers rips the ball away and runs in for a touchdown.
Your opponent misses a chip shot field goal that would have put the game away.
Your depleted and beaten up defense gets pushed all over the field – until overtime.
You give up tons of yardage, but your QB throws for 419.

The temptation is to feel sorry for the Redskins who clearly outplayed the Saints for 59 minutes. I don’t. How many times have the Saints lost games after dominating for 59 – too many to count. Steve Young and Joe Montana were specialists at snatching games from the Saints.

Good teams get the breaks and the calls. The Saints have a good team, a magical team, and one that can be good for a long time. The question is, how long can they be magical? These Saints never quit, never give up, never surrender. When the Saints pushed it to overtime yesterday before pulling off a 33-30 win you could sense the magic.

With 3 of the last 4 games of the regular season within the division we’ve already clinched, the stretch run will be bloody and bloody interesting. Buckle up, it’s a Magical Mystery Tour.