Could tonight have been any more perfect when you combine the importance, the opponent, the stakes, and the record? I picked a special one to go to and it was truly an honor to be in that number as Brees broke Dan Marino’s record and helped the Saints clobber division rival Atlanta 45-16 and clinch the NFC South title outright. That win also cemented a series sweep of the Falcons which frankly never gets old. Funny, because we’ll likely be seeing this same Atlanta Falcons team in a couple weeks in the wild card portion of the playoffs unless the Saints can sneak into the 2 seed slot. More on that later. This win will go down as one of the most special Saints memories I’ve ever had in person. The win over the Rams for the first playoff victory ever in 2000, the first game back from Katrina in 2006 where Steve Gleason blocked a punt for a touchdown against these same Falcons, the field goal by Garrett Hartley that sent the Saints to the Super Bowl in 2009, and now this: the time Drew Brees broke the passing yardage record for a season and clinched the NFC South in 2011. I could spend hours writing about Drew Brees the person, the leader, the player etc etc… the bottom line is if you’re a Saints fan and if you read this blog you are having those same feelings too. You know what I’m talking about. No player will ever transcend sports for his city and his fans more than Brees does every day. This win, and this accomplishment, as much as he tries to include everyone else, is a true testament to his ability, commitment, focus and heart. Today this win and this record belongs to no one more than Drew Brees, the best football player in New Orleans Saints history. Here are my bullets on the game:
- I want to congratulate the New Orleans Hornets, actually, too, for winning their season opener 85-84 in Phoenix tonight on a last second shot by recently acquired guard in the Chris Paul trade Eric Gordon. Shame on the Superdome staff for not recognizing the Hornets were playing their first game tonight and not giving them a little love. I thought that was poorly done and I would have liked to see the Saints support their own a little bit.
- The crowd was as loud as I’ve ever heard them. I’ve been to some really big Saints games in my life and this was up there. There wasn’t an empty seat at the end when Brees broke the record which was remarkable. Everyone wanted to witness history even though the game was clearly over.
- Matt Ryan really impressed me. His team lost by 29 points and his offense only produced 16, but his throws were out in a hurry, accurate, and damaging to the Saints’ defense. I’m still not sure how they were held to 16.
- The running game by the Saints was astonishingly good. This was against the #4 defense in the NFL, and the Saints ran through the Falcons like they were butter. 164 total yards on the ground at 7.1 yards per carry. It felt like the Saints were getting 10 yard+ runs at will. Sproles, Ivory and Thomas were all impressive. I know the Falcons were supposed to be one of the best coming in but the Saints made them look like they were a college football team.
- The defensive backfield continues to drop easy interceptions. Good grief. I have never seen more dropped INTs in my life. They definitely broke whatever the NFL record is in a season. I’m convinced of it. Jabari Greer, Malcolm Jenkins, Tracy Porter, Jo-Lonn Dunbar and others all took turns dropping very easy picks. Unreal.
- Roddy White and Julio Jones both were very hard to contain and they both gained a huge amount of yardage. While they were terrific in between the 20’s, the Falcons’ offense shut down once they got in the red zone.
- What was most amazing was Mike Smith’s reluctance to run the ball in any short yardage situation. Clearly the 4th and 1 stop from the overtime game is playing tricks on his mind. That said, the Saints held the Falcons to just 35 yards on 14 carries. Completely shut down the run and Michael Turner was a non factor.
- Jabari Greer had a pretty solid game overall and was good tackling in the open field and he challenged the Falcons’ receivers in the air.
- Darren Sproles FINALLY broke a kickoff return but he was caught from behind at the end of the 92 yard return. Too bad because the Saints ended up settling for a field goal on that drive.
- Thomas Morstead was blasting every single kickoff out of the end zone and he also murdered a punt 59 yards in the air. That guy’s leg is unbelievable.
- As good as Drew Brees has been this season, I actually thought this wasn’t his best game. Yes he threw for over 300 yards and 4 scores, but he forced some throws into traffic and while his 2 picks were tipped balls, he could easily have had 3 others. He also tried to call back to back timeouts, which you clearly can’t do. Still, hard to complain about a 45-16 win over the Falcons. I know, sorry.
- Lance Moore was able to go despite being questionable, but he re-tweaked his hamstring. Hopefully he’s ok. I noticed Patrick Robinson was missing for a good part of that second half too. Hopefully nothing serious.
- Based on this game and what we’ve seen the last 6 weeks or so, this team can win the Super Bowl. Even on the road, I feel good about their chances.
I hope you enjoyed the game as much as I did, it was awesome! Stay tuned for player grades.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
