My Attitude going into Saturday Night

Just wanted to get some things off my chest since I have so much anxiety building up. I am a true Saints fan since birth. Live and die by them. But I am the type who is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. (Stole that line from another member.) For the first half of this season, I thought the Saints were smoke and mirrors and would eventually be exposed. It was only when the Saints beat the Falcons for the 2nd time to go 7-4 that I started to believe that the Saints were for real.

Anyway, since then my basic philosophy has been that the entire NFC is a toss up. Apart from a few teams at the bottom, every NFC match up is practically a toss up. Thats why I wasn't so upset that the Saints lost to the Redskins and I wasn't that surprised to see the Cowboys lose to the Lions. (Ok maybe a little surprised.)

With that background, I've felt that the Saints have had a chance to win just about any game. I still feel that way. The flip side is that I don't feel any game is a lock. And now, I think we're playing a top 3 NFC team. The Eagles D has been playing very well and they have a lot of momentum. And that scares me a little.

Typically, in the past I would go into a game like this and assume that we would lose. Being prepared for a loss makes it a little easier when it actually happens. And then a win is a very pleasant surprise. But the last few weeks, I've been struggling to shake this negative attitude. I want to be more upbeat. If for no other reason than the Saints deserve my respect at this point. They've worked hard for it.

So, on one side I want to fight my natural inclination to be negative. And on the other, I realistically feel like our chances are no better (or worse) than the Eagles. So how do I approach this game???

Besides screaming my head off at the game, I decided to just hope that Saints play hard and smart. I think the Saints can win the game, but I also think they can play well and lose. I recognize that the Saints don't have complete control of the outcome, but they do have control over how they play. I just want them to make me proud.

Honestly, I think there is at least an 80-85% chance of that. In 16 games this season, I can't think of one where I've been disappointed by the effort. (Even the Redskins game.) This team has played very hard whether winning or losing by a little or a lot. If they keep that up in a losing effort, I'll probably cry (see post on crying), but I'll hold my head high!

Of course, I'd accept an ugly win over a pretty loss 1 million times over....