And the Saints go marching to Miami

It was a sad day for me (Sunday), even as the Saints blogger. I had made plans to be in New Orleans for the game, but had to cancel my business trip during the last week. So I missed a historic night for the Saints and their fans, although I did watch every second on the boob tube.
The Quarter was in full swing after the game, and I was honestly surprised there wasn’t any real damage done around the SuperDome, as the fans tend to get rowdy, especially when you are one of the few NFL teams that has yet to see the promised land of an NFC Championship. It was interesting seeing images of a deserted Bourbon Street during the game, and the same area, filled with rowdy and packed fans of both teams after the game. Saints fans are overall great sports, and they welcomed Vikings fans into their bars and restaurants.

The game itself was a classic. It more than lived up to its lofty billing, and we saw two potent offenses show signs of why they were so highly regarded, but we also saw their underrated defenses making plays and putting pressure on both Quarterbacks.
Favre, was well, Favre. He had a gritty performance while being hammered all night, and it was actually somewhat surprising to see him get up time and time again. I had no doubt that his dings and dents were the main reason he tossed two interceptions in the game, and his aim was off just a little. The Favre of the first half looked different that the one in the second. Of course, you could say the same about Brees, After watching the Saints get manhandled in the second half, losing the time of possession battle 19:12 to 10:48. In their last six possessions of the second half, four came from turnovers.
Saints fans should be estatic their team is headed to Miami and the Colts, but they should also be thanking their lucky stars that the Vikings decided this was the game to get a bad case of fumbilitis.
Fingers were crossed in the Superdome hoping the Saints would win the toss for overtime, as it certainly looked like whoever had the ball would score, and that’s exactly how it went.
Play that mattered: You can look at dozens of game-changing plays, including the penalty on the Vikings that moved them out of FG range in the 4th quarter, or the ill-advised toss that was picked by Favre. But for me the biggest play of the game was Brees hitting Devery Henderson for 17 yards on 3rd down while looking at giving the Vikings a short field. That pass reception moved the ball out to the 27, and then Morestead popped a HUGE 58-yard punt to the Vikings 15. Without that play to Henderson, the Saints would have been lucky to keep the Vikings out of their territory to start the drive, and they would have had a much easier time getting in field goal range for the big leg of Ryan Longwell.

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Check back later this week, as I’ll look at some interesting points in regards to the Colts game, I for one don’t believe the hype that says the Colts will blow out the Saints in two weeks.