The Spirit of 12-0!

Before the New Orleans Saints game against the Redskins this last Sunday my family braved Walmart. Our plan was to grill hamburgers while we casually watched the Saints cruise to a win against a team whose record was 3-8. Plans change! First, at Wally World I had on my #9 Drew Brees jersey, my son “GC” had his cherished #88 Jeremy Shockey jersey on, and my hubbie wore his Sean Payton look with the black sweatshirt and black Saints visor. If only he was holding a clip board and had a challenge flag in his hand…hmmm. So, with our team spirit on display we went to Walmart and were greeted by fans chanting “Who Dat, Who Dat, Who Dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints!” (Spell check can have fun with that one!) One older gentlemen came up to my son and gave him a picture of Drew Brees while hi- fiving the little Shockey! Every aisle had a Saints fan with glee radiating on their faces.

Then the game started and it wasn’t pretty. The Saints high power offense struggled in the cold and on the sloppy turf. Our running game had no traction and our should be MVP quarterback Drew Brees was not hitting the normal show stopping plays. We were still hanging in there but there were way to many failed 3rd down conversions to feel as though the Saints were going to match the Colts 12-0 (who were beating the Titans by a good margin). Then came the Drew Bree’s uncharacteristic interception and wait…..Meachem just takes the ball away…what…and runs for a TOUCHDOWN. It was at that moment that the idea that we could come back and win it began to sink in. It was at that moment I came to the realization that this is a new team with a new drive and focus. They find ways to dig deep and make plays that should not be possible. Then when the Redskins missed a field goal that would have put them 10 points up the level of excitement was contagious! Give the ball to Brees with 1 min 30 seconds on the clock and you got your 7 points and tied game. Overtime baby! We lost the coin toss and it was time for our defense to step it up and they did! A fumble that wasn’t called a fumble…hold on! That is exactly what Sean Payton did when he called a timeout to make sure the booth had a chance to review the play. And review they did and it was a Saints ball! We drove down the field and our rookie kicker Hartley kicked an 18 yard field goal to win the game. Wouldn’t want to be in his shoes and thanks to an icing timeout by the Redskins he had to kick twice! In conclusion, the entire city had a free cardiac stress test care of the New Orleans Saints and now we all have a case of Superbowl fever!

I would also like to send out a huge thank you to the Arizona Cardinals for beating the Vikings and assisting in our bid for bringing our opponents to the Superdome!