Miracle in Landover
by Ace Venom on Dec 7, 2009 8:13 AM CST
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PrintThe Saints are 12-0. Let me repeat what I just said. The Saints are 12-0. They almost weren't and I was one of those who started saying 11-1 wouldn't be bad because we still won the division yesterday. With the Vikings loss to the Cardinals last night, the Saints would still have had the inside track to home field advantage even if they dropped yesterday's game. But isn't 12-0 much better? There's a lot of disrespect for the way the Saints won yesterday and now I think I can understand what Patriots fans went through in 2007 in terms of getting grief from other fans. Shaun Suishim missed a chip shot field goal from 23 yards out, giving the Saints an opportunity and the Saints won the game in OT.
There are a lot of myths floating around about yesterday's game. Some say the Saints were not the better team yesterday and did not deserve to win it. I'm not going to make excuses, but I will say that we were playing without our starting corners and the field conditions were sloppy. But let's get those myths out of the way.
1) The Saints were not the better team. You can easily call people out on this one. Jason Campbell may have put up 367 passing yards against a depleted Saints defense, but Drew Brees had 419 passing yards. Campbell had three touchdown passes, but Brees had only two. This is why football is a team sport. Your QB does not have to throw more touchdown passes for your team to win. You just have to score more points than the other team. The Saints also won the turnover game. They recorded one fumble (Roby fumbled a ball out of bounds) and Brees threw an interception. The interception ended up not costing us because Robert Meachem stripped the ball from Kareem Moore on that same play and returned it for a touchdown.
2) The Saints did not deserve to win. Tell Shaun Suisham to make his field goals. Tell Mike Sellers not to fumble the ball in overtime. Better yet, tell Washington's defense that they had an opportunity to put the game away in regulation. All they had to do was not give up a big play. We beat Washington in terms of total yards, passing yards , total plays and time of possession. They certainly deserved to win. They stayed in the game and did not give up. No matter how sloppy it looked, the Saints ended up winning the game they were supposed to win.
3) The Saints were exposed. Every team in the National Football League is beatable and I'd be the first to say that the Saints are beatable. But are they exposed just because of this game? I'd say the Saints are vulnerable due to a depleted defense and nothing more. I look at the Saints to do better in their next couple of games to silence all the doubters.
This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.
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"You are what your record says you are"
Right now, the Saints are the best team in the NFC…and it will stay that way at least until someone beats us. Anyone who says differently is only envious.
But you make an important point, one that Saints fans in the past should be well familiar with: the Redskins didn’t deserve to win that game, because they lost it due to their own mistakes. You can’t play like that and win, Skins fans. Trust us…we know. Oh how we know.
Super Bowl 44: "If you play in this league and it's not your goal, there's something wrong with you." -- Marques Colston
There's a reason the Redskins are 3-9
There aren’t very many other ways to spin it. When your QB has a career game and you still lose, there are some serious problems that need to be examined. Certainly you could say that the Redskins snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. What I don’t get is that people say the best team didn’t win. That’s not a point I would concede. If Washington was the best team yesterday, the defense would have contained Drew Brees on the game tying drive and practiced better ball security in overtime.
This is the sort of game that championship caliber teams win. The Saints, for all their faults yesterday, kept up with the Redskins. I told a friend yesterday that as long as you stay within 7 or 10 points of the opposing team, comebacks can be engineered. People who can recall the boxing match between Muhammed Ali and Chuck Wepner in 1975 can attest to the fact that getting the victory is a little more important than how you got there. Wepner was an underdog that nearly lasted the full 15 rounds with Ali before Ali knocked him out. This football game was similar. The Redskins were the underdogs, but the Saints were the ones to deliver the knockout blow and secure the win when it mattered.
And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight.
You're welcome
And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight.
I agree, Ace
After the game I was brow-beating myself on the substandard play by our boys. However, after actually seeing the highlights, it was just another victory for the Saints. The so called “fluke” plays were just heads up football. Except for Suisham’s flubbed field goal, the Saints made their own opportunities and capitalized on them. This is what a championship team does (or so I hear, not having the “experience” myself)!
NOTHING to be ashamed about for this game.
Fat, dumb, and happy. Hell, two out of three ain't bad!
I Want To Die In My Sleep Like My Grandpa – Not Screaming and Yelling Like His Passengers
by Just 'Nother Day on Dec 7, 2009 3:54 PM CST reply actions
And if I read another writer characterize Meachem's strip and score play as
Moore fumbled the ball after a 14-yard return…I’ll scream
"In the end, the bread was in the pudding." -- Bobby McCray
Shop as usual, and avoid panic buying.
Meach the BEAST made that play - plain and simple!
"In the end, the bread was in the pudding." -- Bobby McCray
Shop as usual, and avoid panic buying.
just check my new avatar
"In the end, the bread was in the pudding." -- Bobby McCray
Shop as usual, and avoid panic buying.
I had a couple of thoughts on the defensive backs play yesterday.
During the game yesterday on the open thread a lot fans got really down on McKenzie and McAlister. I felt they actually played okay. Not Great. You have to understand they each played so much last Monday (after having Gay go down) for the 1st time in a year and having to turn around on a short week and play on a sloppy field. You had to know their legs would have to be somewhat rubbery. Keeping in shape is one thing but being in playing shape is something else. There is only one way to get there and that is to play they did and at the end it was McAlister that caused the fumble. I feel a lot more at ease with the coming game in ATL inside a dome on a solid even surface. We also need to remember Fujita was a late scratch and Dunbar got hurt and left the game early.
Great TEAMS
Our Saints never gave up. They may have stuggled but they kept fighting. Great Teams find a way to out last their opponets. People can say what they want, but the saints showed HEART and COURAGE. Even when they where in a corner and some of us saints fans thought about a loss they didn’t. They reached down and found some more fight. Im proud to say our saints our humble heart and soul warriors. Lets get ready for Sunday.
It's a win!!!
Coach Payton has them doing what they need to do, 1: play hard for 4 (or more) quarters, 2: a player has to be ready to step in at any moment, 3: Keep the eye on the ball and the next game. And, yeah, once in a great while you get some breaks! There really were quite a few incredible plays. And, there is one thing we have to accept, even though it causes me a lot of heartburn, our defense is built to steal the ball (and our offense!). And, if you are going to go for the ball, you’re probably going to get some plays made on you.
WHODAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"out of reach"
I’ve got a real problem with the comment that I’ve heard so often about, “if the field goal was made the game would have been out of reach.” When the team made that touchdown, there was still quite a bit of time left on the clock (in relation to how long it took to score). The Saints were trashed for letting a team within 5 points late in the game!?!? No, it would not have been out of reach. Not for the Saints.
WHODAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
very interesing stat, it's not the yards...
Redskins kicker Shaun Suisham has missed only three field goals this season, but all of them have been crucial to defeats. He missed two in a 7-6 loss at Dallas in Week 11, and his miss from 23 yards in the fourth quarter cost the Redskins a chance to unseat the Saints from the undefeated ranks.
WHODAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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