12-0! Looks like my prediction of 12-4 is a lock, eh?

These guys are amazing! And the old saying that "they can do no wrong..." does not apply.

They did enough wrong yesterday - and still won at Washington!

And the great addition last night of Minnesota getting beat - badly I might add - by Arizona really helps  the home field factor big time. Takes the pressure off of having to stay a game ahead of those guys!

Hopefully, they'll lock up home field and kind of not have to worry about going undefeated! That'd be nice, but hosting the NFC Championship is more important I think! Man, would the dome be rockin' then!

Well, I didn't get to watch it, but kept an eye on the live numbers on-line... 

Dallas absolutely, positively HAD to win and they apparently came out and played as good as they can play!

Not being able to see what was happening I can only say that a couple of big plays late for Dallas made the difference despite not getting the field goal.

It kept the Saints from having more time to score...

Apparently just couldn't stop the runs after the catches tonight. That was truly the difference as best I can tell. Because the guys had the opportunity to come back and tie this sucker up at the end. But three turnovers at critical times is going to kill anybody!

But when all is said and done - it's a lot better to lose one game in December than one in January! I'd much rather they play a bad game now and run - or throw - their way to the Super Bowl! 

But to be down by 21 in the fourth quarter and still have the chance to pull it out shows a bit of what they are made of! Also lets everybody else know what they have to do to beat them.

You've at least got to make your field goals...

On to the playoffs! One more win gets them home field throughout, I believe.

  SCOOOORE AGAIN! I love it!

They just said that (if this score holds and Carolina wins) the Saints would have to lose twice and Minnestoa would have to win twice for the Vikings to take the #1 spot...

Not likely - but you never know!

Whoooo Hooo!  Interception by Carolina! Pretty well clinches this one - but I'll feel better when the clock says 0:00.

I would love for the Vikings to have to come to New Orleans so we can get them back for the times they killed us!

 

C'mon!!! Da Bears!

Almost kickoff against the Cardinals... 

Sandy is actually in New Orleans, but not for the game. If she gets in there without me I'll never speak to her again!

Here we go! It's play-off time for the boys!

Don't try to call me for the next 3 1/2 hours...

Halftime! Well that was quite the display!

The scary thing is that Sean Payton and crew usually figure out how to do things better at halftime!

Records are dropping like flies down there!

Just hope Warner's not too bad off - hate to see a guy like that go out, but did he ever get hammered!

Man! Looking back at the opening post in this thread! What goes around...

The Superdome will certainly be rocking Sunday night!

And recall that Arizona beat Minnesota "badly" particular that week.

But we all really wanted to see #1 and #2 after all and especially the NFC Championship in The Dome!

What a game Brees against Favre is going to be!   

You know it's a big game when our priest cancels Sunday pm mass  (only does that for Super Bowl weekend).

 
 

Well! That was like an exorcism!

The demons have been cast out!

NFC Championship - on a monster field goal - in overtime - after one of the most brutal games I think I've ever seen - over Minnesota no less! There finally is justice for the Saints...

And once again - they are never EVER BORING!

By the way, NFL officiating this entire season has been horrid and tonight was an example of it! My God - the calls that were made - and NOT made - both ways could have cost either team the game. Somehow both teams managed to overcome the zebras and play each other to the wire!

On to - after 40+ years can I say this - the SUPER BOWL!

Yep, just sounds like a bunch of whining to me. I wonder when the last time we had to Number One ranked teams in the Super Bowl? It was a hell of a game, one of the best in years, and could have gone either way. But obviously, the best team at that stage of the game, that had played well enough all day to be there, won!! I wonder if Peyton was watching yesterday??

Hey Bubba, I think I heard that the last time #1 and #1 made it to the Super Bowl was like 1991 or '93 - something like that!

Colts Dwight Freeney - highly suspect... And a defensive back hurt too... Give Brees a little edge although hardly anything matters at this point!

Getting my game face on!

Here's how I see it going... Either it's last one with the ball wins - or it gets really ugly for either one. It's not going to be a mediocre game. It's either going to be tight or a shock to one side or the other!

Despite the Colts being favored, I think this one is a genuine toss-up! I wouldn't bet a cent either way on this game.

It's time, it's time... 

Getting a good vibe in my brain! I see a solid game coming up! I foresee Super Bowl Jitters will disappear on the Saint's sideline quickly...

Or maybe that's just all the gumbo I ate last night!

Guerin Super Bowl gathering at my kid sister's! Two big screens going to be going! More gumbo, muffelettas, jambalaya, pulled pork, Southern Maid King Cake and Saintaritas on tap!

Analysis of the results to come once it's all been absorbed either way! The game that is - well the food too!

Later... 

After a couple of days to settle down and enjoy Lombardi Gras I've "spotted" something.

I got to see Pierre Thomas' touchdown several times and it is the real indicator, a "microcosm", as they say, of what this Saints team has done.

That one play shows just how well this team is coached and how perfectly efficient they are.

It's a screen with Thomas sneaking out of the backfield, but what you've got to see is the three giant lineman who set up in a row to Thomas' left as he caught the ball. They, all four, were all moving at the same pace, synchronicity, and filling the middle of the field.

Thomas stayed along side them perfectly as, one by one, the big guys picked off their men, blowing them, to the outside, away from Thomas while he gave them time to make the blocks.

I saw three or four Colts laying on their butts and two backing up while Thomas kicked it into gear and flew past whatever was left. This is all happening 8 to 12 yards past the line of scrimmage!

The play was executed perfectly from start to finish! Pretty much the way Sean Payton planned the play, pretty much the way he planned the day, the playoffs - the end of the regular season - and the entire season.

He knew what he was doing. And he had his players effect it, block by block - move by move - all season long!

Porter's interception was coaching! He told us that! At first people said it was a great play on his part. Then they wanted to say it was a bad throw by Manning - it wasn't - then they wanted to say it was a bad route by Wayne - it was exactly what Porter expected him to do. When all is said and done - Porter made the smart, informed play! And then finished it.

Pretty much what the whole bunch did all year. They just plain beat the Colts. 

In a way, the reason this season is so big for Saints fans is that we got a near perfect team after all the years of unconditional support that the team has gotten from them! They may have had bags on their heads, but they were in the stands and we watched!

They were 1-15 and still filled the seats. The only place that comes close to the same relationship might be in Green Bay. It took the Saints 20 years to get their first winning season and fans were still in the Super Dome!

Remember - they finished 2005 at 3-13! Almost moved out of town, but stayed and the rest has been the ride of the last four years!

Maybe the biggest turn-around in NFL history! From perennially dismal - to a hint of things to come with the NFC Championship game against Chicago - a couple of tough years suffering through some growing pains while Payton and Brees showed how it could be done - to this!

The Saints fans stayed in their seats and have now been rewarded for the devotion!

Like I said - newbie "band-wagon" Saints fans just don't get it!  It's got less to do with "Katrina" than people realize. There are no fans who deserved this more - and that's why this team is loved more than any other in the league!

By the way.... The 2009 Saints were:

1st in points scored,
Thereby, 1st in points per game at 31.9
1st in yards per game,
Tied for 1st in yards per play - 6.3 (with Dallas)
2nd in first downs per game,
3rd in turnovers - +11
1st in interceptions for touchdowns.
1st in point differential - they outscored opponents by 169 points (10 pts per game)
1st in TD's scored - 64 (Vikings were 2nd with 56),
Tied for 1st in road wins,
Tied 4th in home wins,
Tied for 3rd in division wins,
Tied for 2nd in conference wins,
Tied for 1st in non-conference wins,
2nd in games won,
20th in points allowed (but who cares when you outscored them by 169 points!).

I guess that's how you win Super Bowls!

They're very young, you know... 

Got the makings a powerhouse for several years to come!

A Saints Dynasty?