New Orleans Saints Review

Saints fans, we’ve seen more than our share of strange games over the years.  But I can’t remember the Saints winning a stranger one than the 33-30 overtime victory against the Washington Redskins.  For example, how often does a Drew Brees interception turn into a touchdown for the Saints?

Redskins safety Kareem Moore picked off a Drew Brees pass late in the 2nd quarter, was subsequently stripped by Saints receiver Robert Meachem, who returned the ball 44 yards to tie the score at 17.

This game was a statistical mismatch, as the Redskins (3-9) haven’t been doing much right of late.  But the Saints found themselves stunned at the offensive show put on by Washington.

Quarterback Jason Campbell (30/42, 367 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) was finally allowed to throw the ball down the field and didn’t disappoint.  The Saints struggled to create pressure, plus were without their top 3 cornerbacks.  Campbell found receivers Devin Thomas (7 catches, 100 yards, 2 TDs), Antwaan Randle El (4 catches, 73 yards) and Santana Moss (5 catches, 68 yards) for big plays throughout the game.

On offense, the Saints were a little flustered early on.  The Redskins held New Orleans to just 55 yards on the ground, and threw off the offensive balance that the Saints have achieved on a weekly basis in 2009.  But that didn’t stop Drew Brees from making an impact.

Brees followed up his perfect performance against New England with a 419 yard, 2 TD game despite a sloppy field in Washington.

But the player of the game had to be Meachem (8 catches, 142 yards, 1 TD), who not only scored on the crazy fumble recovery, but also scored on a 53 yard bomb from Brees with just 1:19 to go in the 4th quarter that tied the score at 30.

The play was setup after Redskins kicker Shaun Suisham missed a 23 yard field goal attempt that would have put Washington up by 10 points.  Instead, it left the door ajar for Brees and company, who drove 80 yards to tie the game.

Then in overtime, Saints kicker Garrett Hartley hit an 18 yard field goal to keep the team perfect at 12-0.  Oddly enough, this was Hartley’s first game of the season.  He replaced the shaky John Carney and went 4/5, only missing a 58 yard attempt.

Those who say the Saints have had some divine intervention this year just may be right.  Without going into every single detail, it’s safe to say that when a number of wild plays go your way, someone’s watching out for you.  It’s nice to say that after so many years of those type of plays going against the Saints.  They needed some breaks to beat a very resillient Redskins team.

And now, the Saints are the NFC South champions.  Atlanta’s loss to Philadelphia clinched the title, but the victory in Washington put an exclamation point on it all.

Buckle up, kids.  I think the wild ride we’re on still has a lot of twists and turns coming up.

Who Dat Awards:

• Sean Payton – Led his team to one of the craziest victories in team history.  Not to mention he is now the first Saints coach to win 2 division titles.  His decision to call a timeout in overtime allowed replay officials a chance to review a fumble by Redskins FB Mike Sellers.  The play was reviewed and it gave the Saints the ball and a chance to win the game.
• Robert Meachem - Was brilliant on offense, and, as it turns out, defense.  He’s becoming an integral part of this offense and teams are going to have to start paying attention.
• Drew Brees – Didn’t have a great running game helping out, but it didn’t matter.  He kept on making plays until the end.  MVP!
• Pierre Thomas – Only 18 yards on the ground, but he made up for it with 64 receiving yards.
• Jonathan Vilma – Not many defensive highlights for the Saints, but Vilma’s 4th quarter interception made sure the game got to overtime.
• Garrett Hartley – The guy must have ice in his veins.  He made some big kicks, despite not having played all year.

Rating:

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 8:26 pm and is filed under Opinion, Super Bowl Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.