February 1, 2015 – The Shootout to end all shootouts.
After the 2 star quarterbacks were done throwing darts, it
was a kicker who decided the highest scoring, and only overtime Super Bowl in
history, as the Saints beat the Patriots 48 – 45.
Sean Payton had no choice but to send out Shayne Graham to
try the game winner from 48 yards, despite misses from 42 and 35 earlier in the
game. “One of the reasons we went with a
veteran kicker this year, was we knew he could rebound from adversity, and he
certainly had to do that tonight,” said Payton of the veteran Graham who
drilled the game winner as the French Quarter went crazier than usual.
Through all the offensive fireworks that Tom Brady and Drew
Brees provided, how could a defensive player be named Super Bowl MVP? Well, pick off a Brady pass to set up the
game-winner, along with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery – that was the formula
used by NFL Defensive Player of the Year Kenny Vaccaro, who was all over the
field making plays and had to be helped off at the end like a Kellen Winslow.
It was Vaccaro who provided the latest heartbreak for Brady,
who up until the overtime had been flawless, going 40 for 45 for 407 yards,
records unlikely to ever be broken, unless of course the NFL tightens the
defensive rules again in the future. Brady’s
6 touchdown passes, 3 to Rob Gronkowski, were almost matched by Drew Brees, who
was 32 for 40 for 353 yards, which may be even more amazing when you consider
that Bill Belichick’s defensive game plan was so effective in taking away the
Saints main weapons. Darrelle Revis
blanketed NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Brandin Cooks and held him to only 3
catches for 25 yards. Jimmy Graham’s
regular season record setting performance (1412 yards) was but a memory, as the
Patriots held him to 45 yards on 4 catches.
But, in the end the Saints had too many weapons, and Marques Colston (12
catches for 145 yards) was the one who took most advantage as he and Pierre
Thomas (8 grabs) and Kenny Stills (6) kept the chains moving.
The Patriots heartbreak followed their own breaking of
hearts in the AFC Championship when they again went into Indianapolis and ended
the Colts season, as Brady outdueled NFL MVP Andrew Luck in another overtime thriller
38-32.
The Saints were not well received in Phoenix, as they had
broken the hearts of Arizona Cardinals’ fans in the NFC Championship game in
the Superdome. Arizona’s dream of
playing a home game in their Super Bowl was ended when Brees’ final minute
touchdown pass to Graham snatched victory from their grasp 24 – 21. As his Saint’s teammates hilariously tackled
Graham before he could dunk, New Orleans began to party as only it can.
It all begs the question.
How good are they really? Brees
and Payton? Brady and Belichick? Joined at the hip like no other
coach/quarterback tandems, how good would the 4 have done without each other?
One of the four will have to retire before we get an
inkling..
THAT’s how the upcoming NFL season will end. How will we get there?
Well for the Saint’s it won’t
be easy.
There are 3 basic obstacles.
First, there are injuries.
If the Saints can stay healthy, to put it simply, they are loaded. They have assembled a cast of complimentary
talent that rivals their 2009 club. New
playmakers like Cooks on offense and Julius Byrd on defense, and the continued emergence
of Vaccaro bode well for the Saints.
Second, there is the West Coast. The Saints have lost in the playoffs 3 of the
last 4 years on the West Coast, and home field advantage for their high powered
offense is essential.
Which brings us to the brutal schedule.
Two games on the road to start the season is almost not
fair.
It starts with a critical in-division matchup with an
Atlanta Falcons team that will undoubtedly be surly and ready to show that they
never want to star in “Hard-Knocks” again.
The Falcons have added Devin Hester (putting all the heat on punter/kick
off man Thomas Morestead) and Osi Umenyiora and with their two star wide outs
healthy, the usual home and home rivalry split is a probability.
Next it will be 2 games potentially against rookie
quarterbacks, which the Saints have a history of making stars out of. First up a trip to Cleveland. Will Johnny Football be the starter by week
2? Let’s hope not.
Will Teddy Bridgewater be the Vikings starter by game 3 for
the Saints’ home opener? Let’s hope
not. Young mobile quarterbacks (remember
RGIII?) scare me.
So we’ll have a pretty good idea of how things look after
the first 3 weeks.
The second scary part of the schedule comes in October when
the Saints must play the Packers on a Sunday night, come back on Thursday night
against the Panthers, followed by the 49’ers the next Sunday. That’s a tough 2 weeks. November is equally difficult with an AFC
North sprint with the Bengals, Ravens, and Steelers back to back to back.
It’s brutal, and the NFL ices the cake (and probably the field) with their annual
dispatching of the Saints to Soldier Field.
So, once again it will be just like Ringo says. The Saints won’t go undefeated, but they now
realize that outright clunkers like last year’s games against the Rams and Jets
are extremely costly in terms of home field advantage in the Playoffs.
Other Predictions:
The Seahawks will look dominate until about midway through
the season. That’s how long teams are
usually super – about a year and a half.
The Broncos will start slow, but end up in the playoffs
until Manning has his usual season ending clunker.
Green Bay, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Arizona (surprise)
will be division winners, with the 49’ers and Seahawks as the wild cards.
Denver, New England, Baltimore and Indianapolis will be
division winners, with Miami and Pittsburgh as the wild cards.
What has distinguished the last 2 Super Bowl winners has
been the breakthrough of til-then non-elite quarterbacks Flaco and Wilson. Luck is the most likely to take the next
step, but his team isn’t quite strong enough despite being in a cakewalk
division. Super Bowl XLIVXIC or whatever
it is should see a return to a top 5 QB winner.
There, now you can take a vacation in South America since
you already know how it will end.
