Who Dat dey dat be Super Bowl champs? The New Orleans Saints!

The Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in an exciting Super Bowl contest making history in acquiring their first ever franchise title.

I’ll keep this short.

In case anyone missed the game, which is very doubtful, the Saints used a Super Bowl MVP performance from Drew Brees ( 32-39, 288 yards passing, two touchdowns) and a fourth quarter, game changing interception for a touchdown from Tracy Porter to come from behind and make history.

I don’t need to get into specific statistics or give everyone a play by play of the game as I’m sure everyone has already viewed that.

I just wish to congratulate the New Orleans Saints franchise on their very first Super Bowl crown as they whole-heartedly deserve it, as amongst catastrophic controversy involving the city their fans stuck together and supported a talented franchise that they truly had hope in.

New Orleans should be proud of this team.

Here’s to the Saints, the city of New Orleans, the state of Louisiana, and to all Saints fans around the globe.

The Who Dat? Chants will be in full force as the new football champions of the world claim ownership of the Vince Lombardi trophy for the 2009-2010 football season.

Way to go Saints, this writer is proud of you all!

Super Bowl Sunday is quickly approaching, with the New Orleans Saints taking on the Indianapolis Colts in what should be a high flying offensive attack led by two of the National Football League’s elite teams.

This will be the Saints first Super Bowl visit in franchise history as they are given the difficult task of squaring off against a championship caliber team known as the Indianapolis Colts.

The Colts were the only team in the NFL with a better regular season record than the Saints and matchup fairly even with them both on the offensive and defensive sides of the game.

Peyton Manning could outgun Drew Brees and vice versa.

The wide receiving tandems of Marques Colston, Devery Henderson and alike matchup with Indy’s Reggie Wayne and young gun Pierre Garcon.

Tight ends Jeremy Shockey & Dallas Clark are two of the elites at their position.

The defenses are very similar.

So where do the Saints turn to in order to claim their franchises first ever championship?

In my opinion, the running game could be the determining factor in this Super Bowl.

The Saints have the advantage of having Pierre Thomas (793 rushing yards); Reggie Bush (390 rushing yards) & Mike Bell (654 rushing yards) while the Colts counter with Joseph Addai (828 rushing yards) & rookie Donald Brown (281 rushing yards).

The Saints use of Thomas a long with a half decent, fumble free game from Bush could spell trouble for the Colts defensively.

Another determining factor could be that of injured All Pro defensive end Dwight Freeney.

All across the NFL Freeney scares the living heck out of offensive lines on route to demolishing opposing quarterbacks.

Freeney is currently battling a torn ligament in his right ankle which he suffered late in the Colts AFC conference victory over the New York Jets. He is questionable for the game.

Even with an injured Freeney in the lineup the Saints will not feel the normal pressure of dealing with the monster which will allow more time for Drew Brees in the pocket.
Let’s hope that last game’s poor throwing attempts from Brees to his receiving core in the second half was nothing serious that may arise again come Sunday.

Finally, the Saints defense has to shut down the Colts offensively, or at least slow them down.

A much easier task said than done with Peyton Manning at the quarterback helm.

I believe if the Saints can somehow force the Colts into more running situations they can win this game.

Allowing Joseph Addai to have a big game in exchange for Manning tossing to the likes of Clark, Wayne & Garcon is a fair exchange.

The Saints cornerbacks & secondary will have to have a spectacular game to achieve this.

This is where the offseason addition of veteran Darren Sharper will really prove its worth in my opinion.

Sharper had a fantastic regular season, but that means nothing if he does not help lead the secondary in the franchises biggest game in their existence.

Sharper could be the game changer in this one, not by picking off a pass, or tallying up a large amount of tackles. His veteran leadership in holding down the Saints fort against a strong passing game from the Colts could easily garner him the title of unsung hero in possibly the Saints first Super Bowl victory.

Saints fans are praying for their 1st Super Bowl title this Sunday.

I, as most football viewers around the world are more excited than ever for this Super Bowl, as two teams that are very well matched up will go face to face in what could be a legendary Super Bowl contest.

If the Saints can exploit the injury plagued Dwight Freeney, along with establishing a dominant running game and get a big game from their secondary, I fully expect them to bring home the Vince Lombardi trophy home to Louisiana where Saints fans can chant Who Dat dey dat be Super Bowl champs?

The New Orleans Saints have done it.

They are moving onto the franchises first ever Super Bowl after defeating the Minnesota Vikings in thrilling fashion with a 31-28 overtime victory.

The hero on the day was young Garrett Hartley who connected on a 40 yard field goal in overtime to win the game. Easily the biggest kick of his young career.

The Saints used six fumbles and two interceptions from the Vikings offense to just barely come away victorious.

The game featured a Saints offense which is prototypical dominant struggle throughout most of the second half, allowing the Vikings to stay in the game despite their butterfingers offensively.

Judging by the scoreboard you would think that the Saints defense was not productive, but if you actually watched the game you would see that four of the six Vikings fumbles were forced by the defense, plus the two picks and the consistent beat down that was put on the aging body of Brett Favre.

It was very apparent the Saints defense were gunning for Favre and were even close to forcing the veteran quarterback out of the game at one point.

On the day cornerback Tracy Porter was exceptional, with his eight tackles, one forced fumble and one pick, while Scott Shanle also notched eight tackles of his own.

The Saints also fended off a big game from Vikings power running back Adrian Peterson (122 yards rushing but could not hold onto the ball in the second half), Bernard Berrian (9 catches for 102 yards) & Visanthe Shiancoe (4 catches for 83 yards).

Offensively the Saints struggled at times.

Drew Brees seemed nervous or perhaps injured in the second half as most of what normally are bullet passes from the quarterback looked dead through the air, forcing some receivers to miss-judge passing plays. This caused quite a few dropped passes from the normally sure handed Saints receiving core.

The Saints got average production from Pierre Thomas with 61 yards on 14 carries and Reggie Bush was a complete mess in this game with 8 yards on 7 rushing attempts as well as losing a punt return on a fumble when he should have fair caught the attempt.

Judging solely on the numbers, if you put the Vikings six fumbles aside the Vikes most certainly would have dominated this game, but the Saints defensive pressure seemed to frazzle the Vikings and it paid off in the long run of things.

Yes, there was certainly some luck involved in the Saints victory (Adrian Peterson’s sudden lack of hands, winning the coin toss in OT), but the combination of said luck mixed in with definitive plays at the right moment helped secure the Saints first ever Super Bowl appearance in which they will square off against Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts.

Fitting scenario considering the most famous of Saints players just happens to be Peyton’s own father and mentor Archie Manning.

The Saints magical dream season continues in two weeks on Sunday February 7th 2010 when Super Bowl XLIV is upon us all.

Just last week I wrote that Deuce McAllister, one of the most popular running backs in New Orleans Saints history had returned to the squad prior to their game with the Arizona Cardinals.

Well, it was announced Tuesday that McAllister has officially retired from professional football.

McAllister will remain with the team throughout the playoffs in an unofficial capacity, most likely providing moral support towards the team that made his National Football League career a great one.

The former two time Pro-Bowler was the only Saints player to have four 1,000 yard rushing seasons, the last one coming in 2006, when he helped the Saints advance to the franchise’s first NFC championship game.

McAllister is the Saints’ career rushing leader with 6,096 yards.

McAllister also holds club records with 55 total touchdowns and 49 rushing TDs.

After reconstructive surgery to repair serious knee injuries in 2005 and 2007 McAllister struggled to regain his form of old and was never the same player again.

McAllister now owns a home in the New Orleans area and will surely continue his career in some capacity with the team as time moves on.

Thanks for the memories Deuce.

I am sure it is a sad day for Saints fans as a true professional has ended his storied career.

After losing their final three games of the regular season some football critics, as well as fans, thought that perhaps the New Orleans Saints’ lack of momentum going into Saturday’s matchup with the Arizona Cardinals could be the defining factor in the end of the Saints season.

The Saints proved the naysayers wrong by dismantling the Arizona Cardinals 45-14 and advancing to the NFC Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Saints used an offensive attack led by elite quarterback Drew Brees and the dangerous receiving arsenal of Marques Colston & Devery Henderson to make the Cardinals defense look overmatched.

Although Brees and his receivers were big in this game the resurgence of the underachieving Reggie Bush was easily the biggest factor in the Saints win.

Reggie Bush was on fire in the Saints victory over the Cards.

Bush came out of nowhere and surprised game viewers by rushing for 84 yards on just five rushing attempts with a touchdown. The touchdown came courtesy of a 46 yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Bush was also lethal on special teams as he returned a punt for an 83 yard touchdown return in the third quarter, in what would be the final scoring blow the Saints would inflict upon the already dying Cardinals.

Initially, the Saints seemed in trouble in this game when Tim Hightower opened the scoring early for the Cardinals with a 70 yard touchdown run seemingly putting Saints fans in attendance at the Superdome into a state of shock.

That feeling was quickly counteracted with a 21 point quarter by the Saints offense as they never looked back in a decisive victory.

The scoring on the day for the Saints came courtesy of a Lynell Hamilton one yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, followed by a 17 yard passing play from Brees to tight end Jeremy Shockey and the 46 yard rushing touchdown from Bush that I mentioned earlier.

In the second quarter, after the Cardinals scored their second touchdown of the day courtesy of Beanie Wells, the Saints answered with more offense courtesy of a 44 yard touchdown pass downfield to Devery Henderson & a 2 yard passing play to Marques Colston late in the half.

The Saints ended their scoring barrage in the third with a Garrett Hartley 43 yard field goal strike and the 83 yard punt return from Bush.

Drew Brees ended the day with 23 of 32 with 247 yards passing and three touchdowns.

The Saints defense was formidable, aside from the long touchdown run early in the game, as they only allowed 205 yards passing from Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner with zero touchdown passes as he went 17 for 26 from the field. Backup Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart also saw some limited action completing 7 of 10 passes for 61 yards.

The Cardinals fumbled the ball three times in the game and the Saints came up with the ball on one of those opportunities. They also picked off Warner once as defensive lineman Will Smith came away with a pick.

Saints cornerback Randall Gay had a big day with seven tackles and a forced fumble, while linebacker Scott Shanle had a nice day as well with six tackles of his own.

The Saints offensive line also proved once again why they are one of the best in the National Football League allowing Brees time in the pocket, as well as keeping any possible sacks away from their quarterback, as the Cardinals defense registered zero on the day.

The victory was an impressive one and I am sure Saints head coach Sean Payton was more than impressed with his team on Saturday.

The joy and happiness combined with the feeling of victory should be short-lived as the Saints must now prepare to achieve the NFC championship crown this Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings who are also coming off a decisive win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Can the Saints defeat Brett Favre and the Vikings and move onto the Super Bowl?

Saints fans sure hope so.

We shall see this Sunday when game time kicks off at 6:40pm EST.

Deuce McAllister, the former New Orleans Saints running back and fan favorite is returning to help the squad with their push towards a Super Bowl title.

According to Saints head coach Sean Payton via a text message to the Associated Press the rumours are in fact true.

McAllister was recently spotted practicing with the club and could be active for Saturday’s playoff matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

The 31 year old running back was waived by the Saints after last season and has been working out on his own, rehabbing a knee injury.

McAllister is the Saints’ career rushing leader and his 55 total touchdowns and 49 rushing touchdowns also are club records.

The New Orleans Saints season came to an end yesterday with a season ending loss to the Carolina Panthers 23-10 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

The Saints who are playoff bound and holders of the number one seed in the NFC rested their starters as expected.

With the loss the Saints finished out the campaign with a record of 13-3.

The game was a bit of a snoozer offensively for the Saints without the cannon like arm of Drew Brees at the starting quarterback helm.

Veteran quarterback Mark Brunell started the game for the Saints passing for only 102 yards while completing an awful 15 passes on 29 attempts with no touchdowns and one interception.

The Saints also rested running back Pierre Thomas and handed the ball off to Mike Bell, Reggie Bush & Lynell Hamilton on the day as they rushed for a combined 111 yards on 32 attempts.

The Saints were resting starters defensively as well and were led by a game high seven tackles courtesy of cornerback Randall Gay.

The Panthers scored their 23 points on three field goals courtesy of John Kasay combined with two touchdowns.

One of the touchdowns was an exciting 67 yard running play from Jonathan Stewart to open the scoring in the first quarter.

The other touchdown scoring scenario was a 30 yard passing play from the Panthers Matt Moore to wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett late in the second quarter.

The Saints only scored 10 points on the day, three of which were from the leg of kicker Garrett Hartley in the second quarter, with the lone touchdown coming via a Lynell Hamilton one yard rushing play in the third.

Along with resting Brees and Thomas the Saints also rested Pro Bowlers Darren Sharper & Jonathan Vilma, along with tight end Jeremy Shockey, wide receiver Lance Moore, safety Usama Young, linebacker Scott Shanle, tight end David Thomas and defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis.

The Saints will receive a first round bye along with the Minnesota Vikings as the playoffs begin next week.

It was an extraordinary season for a Saints squad led by head coach Sean Payton as everything seemed to turn around for them this year.

Let’s hope that the Saints can recover from finishing the season with three straight losses and get back on track for their Super Bowl run.

The New Orleans Saints were perfect just two weeks ago, but that streak ended last week against the Dallas Cowboys and continued this week against a pitiful Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that came into the game with a record of 2 – 12.

The Saints who have already clinched their division and a playoff spot were playing for the chance of receiving home field advantage throughout the entire playoffs as the number one seed in the NFC, so the game did have meaning.

Unlike the Indianapolis Colts perfect season coming to an end at the hands of the New York Jets, the Saints did not bench their starting players; the Saints simply lost this game.

Were the Saints playing on full throttle throughout the game? Perhaps not, but from this writer’s viewing perspective they certainly did not look like a team that should have lost this game after the first half of play.

The Saints went into halftime with a 17-3 stranglehold on the Bucs and seemingly had the game in hand by that point.

The Saints used a Pierre Thomas rushing touchdown, a 30 yard passing touchdown to Robert Meachem & a Garrett Hartley field goal to score the 17 first half points.

The Saints defense also seemed in full force throughout the first half allowing only a late Bucs field goal from Connor Barth.

Perhaps the Saints came out of the half time break lethargic or cocky, but the second half of this game was a different story as the Bucs absolutely owned the Saints in every aspect of the game.

The Bucs & Saints played a scoreless third quarter and than something clicked for the Bucs in the fourth.

Carnell “Cadillac” Williams set the Bucs ship straight with a 23 yard rushing touchdown while the Buccaneers defense held the fort against the Saints offensive attack led by quarterback Drew Brees.

The defensive battle between both squads seemed like it may last the rest of the game which the Saints were happy to have happen as they still led the game by a score, but with less than three minutes remaining in the game neither the Saints defense nor its offense was its downfall.

On this occasion the special teams failed miserably allowing a 77 yard punt return for a touchdown from the Bucs Michael Spurlock.

With a crushed Saints crowd in attendance at the Louisiana Superdome eyeing what this writer can only describe as shock and awe the game was forced into overtime, where the Bucs lucky streak continued as Connor Barth would hit a 47 yard field goal to upset the Saints 20-17 at home in a game that should not have even been close.

Some highlights from the game for the Saints were Darren Sharper picking off his ninth pass for an interception this season, an eight tackle day for Malcolm Jenkins and an eight catch day for Marques Colston totaling 77 yards.

Drew Brees completed 32 of 37 passes for 258 yards passing, but only managed one touchdown pass which is not typical of him.

The Saints were also without starting tight end Jeremy Shockey again this week as he sat out the game with an injured toe. Saints head coach Sean Payton did not want to risk pushing Shockey back too soon, but let the media know that his return is very likely next week against the Carolina Panthers.

With the loss the Saints move to 13-2 while the Bucs move to 3-12.

The Saints move onto play their final game of the season against the Carolina Panthers in Carolina as they look to lock up the first seed in the NFC.

The game begins at 1:00pm EST next Sunday.

Yes, you did read the title of this article correctly.

The New Orleans Saints road to perfection came to an abrupt halt last Sunday at home in front of Saints fans at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Saints who have already locked up a playoff spot as well as home field advantage throughout the playoffs were not on their A game as the Cowboys, desperate for a win to ensure a playoff appearance of their own jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

The Cowboys struck early with a 54 yard touchdown pass via quarterback Tony Romo to wide receiver Miles Austin.

That was followed up with a Marion Barber touchdown run as the Cowboys dominated the first quarter of play.

The Saints normally potent offense was held in check in the first half of play as they only managed three points on a Garrett Hartley 34 yard field goal, while the Cowboys added a field goal of their own in the second quarter to go into halftime with a surprising 17-3 lead.

The Cowboys defense continued to hold the Saints in check allowing zero point in the third quarter while the Cowboy offense continued to score with yet another Marion Barber touchdown run.

The Saints made a game of it in the fourth quarter scoring two touchdowns via a Mike Bell touchdown run and a Lance Moore touchdown reception but it was not enough as the Cowboys walked out of Louisiana with a 24-17 victory ending the Saints chances of a perfect season.

The Saints reliable defense had been all but that the week prior against the Atlanta Falcons and that trend continued once again in this game.

Tony Romo lit up the Saints defense for 301 yards passing on 22 completions.

139 of those passing yards were to his new favorite target on the season Miles Austin, while the Cowboys running game consisting of Marion Barber (62 rushing yards) & Felix Jones (58 rushing yards) passed the 100 yard mark.

The Saints who have persevered when behind throughout numerous occasions this season did not have what it took to gain the victory over the Cowboys.

Drew Brees had an average day passing for 298 yards on 29 completions with one touchdown pass while throwing one interception.

Marques Colston caught five balls for 86 yards while David Thomas who was filling in at tight end for Jeremy Shockey had a decent day of his own catching eight passes for 77 yards.

The Saints running game vanished in this one as Pierre Thomas only managed 20 yards on six attempts while Mike Bell gained 8 rushing yards on four attempts and the leading rusher of the day for the Saints was Reggie Bush with 29 rushing yards on one measly attempt.

Brees was also sacked four times at the hands of Cowboys linebacker Anthony Spencer (2 sacks) & DeMarcus Ware (2 sacks).

Some notables on defense for the Saints were big days from the Saints line backing core combination of Jonathan Vilma & Scott Fujita as they contributed with 10 tackles and 9 tackles respectively.

Although Saints fans are most likely saddened that the road to perfection was stopped at the hands of the Cowboys it may be a good sign in the long run of things as the pressure of remaining perfect is now off the Saints and put on the Indianapolis Colts.

Having the pressure taken off of them may allow them to focus solely on the playoffs and continuing in their journey of achieving a Super Bowl title.

It was a good run guys but a Super Bowl title in New Orleans would be a better way to top of this amazing season.

The Saints will host the 2-12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week in New Orleans at the Superdome.

I do not expect the Saints to start everyone in their current starting lineup but I still expect a mismatch no matter what.

The game begins at 1:00pm EST sharp.

The New Orleans Saints had the hearts of their fans beating quickly on Sunday as they travelled to the Georgia Dome to do battle with their division rivals in the form of the Atlanta Falcons.

The Saints, owners of a 12-0 record coming into the game were matched up against a Falcons team desperately needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive as they turned to journeyman and once retiree Chris Redman once again as the injured Matt Ryan was unavailable.

The Falcons were also without lead running back Michael Turner, a crucial offensive contributor in the Falcons offensive set.

With Redman behind centre for the Falcons the Saints defense should have had a field day, but the outcome was all but that.

The Falcons scored 23 points while Redman passed for 303 yards on 34 attempts.

Yes, I’ll say it again Chris Redman of all people lit up the Saints defense for over 300 yards passing.

The Saints had to rely on their potent offense as the defense allowed a ridiculous 392 yards of total offense to the undermanned Falcons.

The game seemed to resemble a Saints team of 2008 that relied far too heavily on the offensive attack and finished the year 8-8.

After a first quarter that was a field goal fest putting the Saints behind 6-3, the Saints used an outstanding second quarter that saw a rushing touchdown from Reggie Bush and a Marques Colston touchdown catch to jump out to a 17-6 lead.

The Saints continued with the offense as the second half began as Bush scored yet another touchdown on a pass from Brees.

With the score 23-6, the Saints seemed to have the game in tact.

What came next almost seemed shocking considering the state of the game at the time.

The Falcons used the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter to climb right back into the game with touchdowns courtesy of a huge 50 yard passing play from Redman to Michael Jenkins and a Jason Snelling four yard touchdown run.

Shock and awe are words that could only describe how many Saints fans must have been feeling at that exact moment as the streak of perfection seemed to be in jeopardy.

But the Saints, as they have done when faced with adversity all year marched down the field using a 16 play drive totaling 63 yards which eliminated 8:14 off the clock to get kicker Garrett Hartley in range for a field goal.

Hartley connected on 38 yard attempt giving the Saints a 3 point lead.

The Falcons still had plenty of time to do a march of their own down the field, but were stopped short when Saints line backer Jonathan Vilma made a huge defensive play on a fourth down attempt stopping the Falcons Roddy White a yard short of a possible first down.

The stop came at a perfect time as the Falcons could have moved closer and closer to a possible win or even tie with the Saints.

The big play from Vilma was his second of the game as he had intercepted a ball earlier.

The Saints were victorious yet again in Hot-Lanta at the Georgia Dome 26-23, but the game was certainly a brow sweating, heart pounding encounter.

Drew Brees came up big yet again for the Saints while the defense struggled as he completed 31 of 40 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns.

Reggie Bush might have had his best game of the season scoring two touchdowns of his own.

Even though the defense struggled Randall Gay and Jonathan Vilma had great days each recording seven tackles with Vilma also adding an interception.

With the win the Saints also clinched home field advantage throughout their first round of the playoffs.

The Saints will host the Dallas Cowboys in week 15 this Saturday December 19th 2009 at home in the Louisiana Superdome where they look to combat a Dallas team that is in a major playoff hunt of their own within a tough NFC East division.

The Cowboys are desperate for a win and will come with everything they have this Saturday against the Saints.

Hopefully for the sake of the perfect streak the Saints are ready