Go Saints, part 1000

(I promise the sports posts will end eventually)

I’ve exchanged at least 47 emails with my friend Brad since December.

(Note: that number is actually way higher; every third day I receive an email from corporate telling me I’m over my mailbox limit and I know I’ve had to delete a number of ones in the “Man do I love gambling” thread.)

Most of these emails are about the Saints, with a few scattered bits of baseball commentary mixed in. This is one of the great things about male friendships: there’s no pressure to provide too much “life update” stuff. Just talking about sports and gambling is enough for me. Anyway, since mid-November I’ve been asking Brad (Packers fan) for the scouting report on the Vikings. I’ve been scared of them all season. Here are a few email excerpts:

From December 21st (after losing to the Cowboys): Really nervous about the Saints secondary. GB, Philly or Minnesota would all make me very concerned. Hopefully we pull Arizona second round. Still, they played awful and only lost by one score – despite Devery dropping an easy TD, Brees throwing that awful pick…Can’t imagine them playing a worse offensive game.

From January 3rd (describing the Saints defense): And honestly? They were disproportionately lucky for much of the season. They were getting a return TD a game for a long stretch. How many teams win consecutive games with four turnovers? Or four in a row while turning it over 13 times?

So now Pierre Thomas has three cracked ribs and is somehow going to play on that. Can’t say that makes me excited about the running game.

I still think they make the NFC championship game…hopefully not against Minnesota…


From January 4th: “We” will have trouble with any team that can both run and pass. I’ve been saying that all year. Minnesota is my primary concern – I can already see one of those screen shots where they have ADP’s “last six weeks” stats (where he’s averaging like 68 yards per game) versus “today” (when he’ll put up 130 or so).

Again on January 4th, describing their strength of schedule: That’s what’s concerned me all year. Only wins against playoffs teams were against New England and a McNabb-less Eagles (I don’t count the Jets as a playoff team).

On the plus side they showed they could win in a number of ways – winning via run, pass, defense, blow the other team out, come from way behind, win even when you’ve played poorly…

You get the picture. I’m nervous about this game. Honestly, the Vikings are the more complete team. I can see this being one of those awful games where the weaknesses on D are suddenly exposed: can’t stop the run, no one fast enough to keep pace with Percy Harvin or Sidney Rice, only do well against teams that turn it over…

Yeah, I can see it. But that’s not what I’m banking on. I’ve learned a lot about sports over the years. Amongst the most important lessons is this: when you’ve seen the team all year, know the weaknesses, know the players who make you cringe, it’s a lot easier to mentally make a case against your team winning. It’s probably the same part of the brain informing you that you’re not good enough for a job (or girl or whatever) when all your friends remind you how awesome you are.

Well, screw that. I’m not living in fear for the next two days. Not total fear anyway. The Saints offense is nasty, especially if Jeremy Shockey is healthy and we commit to running the ball. I know Shockey wasn’t great statistically but the offense just flowed better with him out there. We’ve got a gifted QB, four wide receivers who can burn you and three different RBs who can get the job done.

As for the defense…my first instinct is to say “let’s hope we get a lead and they stop running the ball.” I’m probably selling them short. They’ve been reasonably okay all year. If the offense does its job, that should be okay Sunday.

(Also, I refuse to believe a once washed-up QB who backstabbed an entire fan base and made no effort whatsoever to say thank you is going to the Super Bowl)

Go Saints. Let’s do this