New Orleans 35, Atlanta 27.
The game that wouldn’t end. In what looked like a blowout in the last minutes of the 4th quarter the Saints managed to allow the Falcons to turn the last 3:00 minutes into a barnburner.
I had little hope for the Saints in early moments of last night, firstly because every talking head for ESPN picked them for the win. Rules of the general universe are that individuals who get paid millions of dollars to prognosticate sports outcomes are generally always wrong. Life’s a bitch that way, for you and your beloved team…ultimate kiss of death.
Kudos to the team from Cajun land especially goes to the WR corps…who made one acrobatic catch after another last night. Most impressive overall was Marques Colston, but a one handed grab by Jeremy Shockey during a critical fourth quarter scoring drive was definitely a highlight!
Side note: I am astonished by this rebirth of Jeremy Shockey, the Saints have managed to make him an almost likeable football player (take notice I did NOT say human being). He's also become a rather consistent and effective catcher, shocking, as with the Giants he only truly effective at catching Chlamydia or alcohol poisoning.
The Saints defense lead by Fresh Prince of the French Quarter (Will Smith), Darren Sharper, and Jabari Greer - managed to keep Matt Ryan on the ground and/or turning the ball over (19-24 with 3 sacks and 3 INT’s).
Surprises?
- Drew Brees struggled at times, and the Saints found ways to overcome
- The Saints 3rd down defense / Falcons horrific 3rd down completion rate, 3-11
- Falcons defense putting point on the board for the first time this season
- John Gruden’s omage to Heath Leger*
* Note- not a good surprise. Do not click unless you want to have your dreams haunted forever.
Not Surprises.
- Nasty New Orleans defensive secondary
- Obligatory Katrina references throughout ESPN’s broadcast (what? A hurricane? When did this happen?)
- Drunk, insane, yet heart warming Saints fans (yes that photo is probably the BEST and worst example!)
- John Gruden’s insanity and useless cliché diarrhea of the mouth
Although week 8 is in the books, it seems Michael Turner has realized that the NFL season has started- SO turn those frowns upside down!
Turner put forth his best stats of the season, but a far cry from the 17 touchdowns and almost 1700 yard he racked up in 2008.
At 4-3 overall, the banged up Falcons squad need Turner to have last night’s consistency (at the very least) going forth. Maybe try running on short yardage 3rd downs? Maybe?
The black and gold are 7-0. No matter who you are at this point, resisting the Saint’s charm is futile, its impossible really to NOT want to see them carry their city to a Super Bowl. I know, cheering for undefeated teams is for frontrunners, but it seems even the coolest ( read: douchiest) of fans are jumping on this bandwagon.
Why? Because unlike the 2007 Patriots, the Saints are ACTUALLY like able. Also I think the greater football fan society (outside of New England, so you know, the uneducated part of the country) would cheer for a team of terrorists before EVER cheering for the Pats.
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