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Early Sunday morning it seemed that everything in our football life was perfect. We were awaiting the annual Falcons rivalry home game and expecting a blowout. We were living every NFL fan’s dream. We were on Cloud Nine! A few hours later we learned that the “9” simply stood for the number of points we would score in a blowout loss that we simply didn’t expect… one to those despised Dirty Birds. 
Pardon me for saying this, but I wasn’t ready to wake from the dream quite yet.
I will admit that I had to fight the urge to make a write-up for this column on Sunday afternoon immediately after I watched that wretched performance by the boys in Black & Gold. If I had typed out the thoughts & phrases that were running through my head at that moment, the mods would have had no choice but to add another name to their ‘Very Banned’ list. It’s good that time tends to take some of the edge off of these kinds of crushing disappointments, but this is one debacle that’s going to linger for a while.
So rather than rehash in my mind (and in this column) all that went wrong against the Falcons, I thought it best to switch over into “What Should We Expect From Here” mode. I’m one of those fans who tries to keep in mind that the team is never as great as they look after a good performance day, and never as horrible as they look after a bad performance day. However, there is absolutely no doubt that we had dreams about our Saints that this team can no longer accomplish in every detail. (Bye Bye 15-1)
We ‘woke up’ to the hard reality that our team cannot always live up to our expectations each and every time they hit the gridiron. The cold lesson here is that the Saints aren’t guaranteed anything this season just because some of the media started singing their praises and the Saints’ schedule was being declared ‘easy’ for the remainder of the regular season by all. So, how should we view our team for the seven games that remain leading up to the postseason?
What happened on the Superdome turf was more than just a ‘wake-up call’ for the fans. We have to believe that the alarm clock is clanging very loudly on Airline Drive this week. Coach Payton calmly said in his presser that the coaches come to expect these kinds of lackluster performances from time to time. Will he be so calm after the team gets together to review the game video? If so, then he is probably a better man than me. But perhaps he will be able to find a way to resolutely re-light the team’s fire that obviously went out some time after the Cardinals game.
“Any Given Sunday” is the cry going around the media this week due to the sheer number of apparent upsets that took place around the league in Week 10. So reality tells us that the Saints aren’t the only team trying to find their true identity this coming weekend. I think that as fans we learned a valuable lesson about expectations. But as our team prepares for their contest in Tampa, all we can do is wonder whether this Sunday's game will be another ‘nightmare’… or the stuff that pleasant dreams are made of. We’ll soon know if our Saints woke up as well as we did.
Jets (2-7) at Redskins (1-8) – This pick literally means nothing with regard to this season. But if you are one of those Saints fans who just want to see all of the earliest draft picks go to the AFC, then by all means pull for the Redskins. And since Washington is still in the hunt for The Joe Burrow Award, it's all the more reason to hope the Redskins win and mess up a brighter future for themselves as well.
Cowboys (5-4) at Lions (3-5-1) – Just as we thought, the Saddle Sores are right back into their familiar realm of mediocrity. While they still have a chance to win the NFC East with a losing record, they will have to fight the Eaglets for that honor. It’s hard to say who may suck less in that sorry division, but a lot of the media types still want to believe that they can relive their childhood and see a Lone Star in the playoffs before they are pushing up daisies. And that is reason enough for me to want to pull for the Lions and watch the misery continue in Big D.
Falcons (2-7) at Panthers (5-4) – This will certainly be a marquee game for the Saints (and for us) from the standpoint of maintaining a substantial lead in the NFC South. It’s never enjoyable to have to rely on a Falcons victory to give us some help in the division, but this is what we are having to deal with in this important matchup. Let’s just hope Atlanta can pick up where they left off this past Sunday. If the Falcons lose, our game in Tampa just carries a whole lot more weight in the division race! Fail Panthers, Fail!
Broncos (3-6) at Vikings (7-3) – The Vikings have suddenly become one of those teams who can leapfrog us in the playoff race with a strong showing down the stretch. So the best thing we can do here is to pull for Denver and hope they bring some mojo with them to The Land of 10,000 Lakes and knock Minnesota down a notch for us. I’ll take all the help we can get at this point. Buck ‘Em Broncos!!!
Cardinals (3-6-1) at 49ers (8-1) – What a relief to be able to slap a “1” in the Niners’ loss column this week! While it certainly does help us greatly to have San Fran falter in that ‘instantly classic’ Monday Night game, another loss this weekend to the Canyon State Red Birds might send the 49ers into a tailspin with a lot of tough matchups ahead on their schedule. How fun it would be to watch another scrambling QB like Murray give those Golddiggers some déjà vu all over again. Let’s pull hawd for the Cardinals in this one!
Patriots (8-1) at Eagles (5-4) – I realize that we just talked about wanting the Pokes to fail in the East, but in the full context we want the winner of that division to be as broken as a 16 year old’s heart. The AFC race now looks to be between the Patriots and the Ravens anyway. So one more win by New England isn’t going to change a thing for us in our conference or for the league. Pull for the Minute Men.
Bears (4-5) at Rams (5-4) – There’s something that makes me feel quite giddy about the Rams squarely in third place in the NFC West. With each new loss in Shakey Town, last year’s SuperBowl imposters fall farther off the playoff map. And that should make Who Dats! everywhere grin like a Cheshire cat.
So, pull for Trubisky’s Cubs in this one to keep showing the world what a fraud L.A.’s already forgotten bogus champs really are.
Saints (7-2) at Buccaneers (3-6) – It wasn’t too long ago that the outcome of this game felt pretty close to a foregone conclusion. But the painful reminder that we got on Sunday has awaken us to a new reality. Our Saints must prove to everyone that the loss to the Falcons was nothing but a fluke. And it’s time for all of us to stay off of Cloud Nine for a while. Keep in mind that both of our losses were the result of scoring only 9 points! So let’s cheer our boys on to victory #8 this Sunday. Nothing else will fix this funk better than a win in Tampa. Let’s get that winning train rolling once again!
Pardon me for saying this, but I wasn’t ready to wake from the dream quite yet.I will admit that I had to fight the urge to make a write-up for this column on Sunday afternoon immediately after I watched that wretched performance by the boys in Black & Gold. If I had typed out the thoughts & phrases that were running through my head at that moment, the mods would have had no choice but to add another name to their ‘Very Banned’ list. It’s good that time tends to take some of the edge off of these kinds of crushing disappointments, but this is one debacle that’s going to linger for a while.
So rather than rehash in my mind (and in this column) all that went wrong against the Falcons, I thought it best to switch over into “What Should We Expect From Here” mode. I’m one of those fans who tries to keep in mind that the team is never as great as they look after a good performance day, and never as horrible as they look after a bad performance day. However, there is absolutely no doubt that we had dreams about our Saints that this team can no longer accomplish in every detail. (Bye Bye 15-1)
We ‘woke up’ to the hard reality that our team cannot always live up to our expectations each and every time they hit the gridiron. The cold lesson here is that the Saints aren’t guaranteed anything this season just because some of the media started singing their praises and the Saints’ schedule was being declared ‘easy’ for the remainder of the regular season by all. So, how should we view our team for the seven games that remain leading up to the postseason?
What happened on the Superdome turf was more than just a ‘wake-up call’ for the fans. We have to believe that the alarm clock is clanging very loudly on Airline Drive this week. Coach Payton calmly said in his presser that the coaches come to expect these kinds of lackluster performances from time to time. Will he be so calm after the team gets together to review the game video? If so, then he is probably a better man than me. But perhaps he will be able to find a way to resolutely re-light the team’s fire that obviously went out some time after the Cardinals game.
“Any Given Sunday” is the cry going around the media this week due to the sheer number of apparent upsets that took place around the league in Week 10. So reality tells us that the Saints aren’t the only team trying to find their true identity this coming weekend. I think that as fans we learned a valuable lesson about expectations. But as our team prepares for their contest in Tampa, all we can do is wonder whether this Sunday's game will be another ‘nightmare’… or the stuff that pleasant dreams are made of. We’ll soon know if our Saints woke up as well as we did.
Jets (2-7) at Redskins (1-8) – This pick literally means nothing with regard to this season. But if you are one of those Saints fans who just want to see all of the earliest draft picks go to the AFC, then by all means pull for the Redskins. And since Washington is still in the hunt for The Joe Burrow Award, it's all the more reason to hope the Redskins win and mess up a brighter future for themselves as well.
Cowboys (5-4) at Lions (3-5-1) – Just as we thought, the Saddle Sores are right back into their familiar realm of mediocrity. While they still have a chance to win the NFC East with a losing record, they will have to fight the Eaglets for that honor. It’s hard to say who may suck less in that sorry division, but a lot of the media types still want to believe that they can relive their childhood and see a Lone Star in the playoffs before they are pushing up daisies. And that is reason enough for me to want to pull for the Lions and watch the misery continue in Big D.
Falcons (2-7) at Panthers (5-4) – This will certainly be a marquee game for the Saints (and for us) from the standpoint of maintaining a substantial lead in the NFC South. It’s never enjoyable to have to rely on a Falcons victory to give us some help in the division, but this is what we are having to deal with in this important matchup. Let’s just hope Atlanta can pick up where they left off this past Sunday. If the Falcons lose, our game in Tampa just carries a whole lot more weight in the division race! Fail Panthers, Fail!
Broncos (3-6) at Vikings (7-3) – The Vikings have suddenly become one of those teams who can leapfrog us in the playoff race with a strong showing down the stretch. So the best thing we can do here is to pull for Denver and hope they bring some mojo with them to The Land of 10,000 Lakes and knock Minnesota down a notch for us. I’ll take all the help we can get at this point. Buck ‘Em Broncos!!!
Cardinals (3-6-1) at 49ers (8-1) – What a relief to be able to slap a “1” in the Niners’ loss column this week! While it certainly does help us greatly to have San Fran falter in that ‘instantly classic’ Monday Night game, another loss this weekend to the Canyon State Red Birds might send the 49ers into a tailspin with a lot of tough matchups ahead on their schedule. How fun it would be to watch another scrambling QB like Murray give those Golddiggers some déjà vu all over again. Let’s pull hawd for the Cardinals in this one!
Patriots (8-1) at Eagles (5-4) – I realize that we just talked about wanting the Pokes to fail in the East, but in the full context we want the winner of that division to be as broken as a 16 year old’s heart. The AFC race now looks to be between the Patriots and the Ravens anyway. So one more win by New England isn’t going to change a thing for us in our conference or for the league. Pull for the Minute Men.
Bears (4-5) at Rams (5-4) – There’s something that makes me feel quite giddy about the Rams squarely in third place in the NFC West. With each new loss in Shakey Town, last year’s SuperBowl imposters fall farther off the playoff map. And that should make Who Dats! everywhere grin like a Cheshire cat.
So, pull for Trubisky’s Cubs in this one to keep showing the world what a fraud L.A.’s already forgotten bogus champs really are.Saints (7-2) at Buccaneers (3-6) – It wasn’t too long ago that the outcome of this game felt pretty close to a foregone conclusion. But the painful reminder that we got on Sunday has awaken us to a new reality. Our Saints must prove to everyone that the loss to the Falcons was nothing but a fluke. And it’s time for all of us to stay off of Cloud Nine for a while. Keep in mind that both of our losses were the result of scoring only 9 points! So let’s cheer our boys on to victory #8 this Sunday. Nothing else will fix this funk better than a win in Tampa. Let’s get that winning train rolling once again!
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