Jan. 25, 2010

Saints Aint losers no more after NFC-winning kick in OT

By Pete Prisco | CBSSports.com Senior Writer
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NEW ORLEANS -- As The Kick, as it surely is known now in these parts, sailed toward the uprights late Sunday night, a nation of long-suffering fans followed its every turn, the visions of past failures surely running through the heads of every New Orleans Saints fan, their personal kaleidoscopes of misery.

It all had to be there. The Aints. The bags on the heads. The lost season to Hurricane Katrina. The possible permanent move to San Antonio, their beloved Saints high-tailing it out of town.

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Oh, and all the losing.

But as Garrett Hartley's 40-yard field goal sailed through the uprights 4:45 into overtime, giving the Saints a 31-28 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, putting them into Super Bowl XLIV in Miami in two weeks, something changed.

They were losers no more.

The New Orleans Saints are in the Super Bowl.

What's next, Jamaica winning a gold medal in ice hockey?

"Brett Favre is a great story," Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said. "But the New Orleans Saints are a better story."

For 43 years, the Saints have been a punch line. The losing ways tormented a region, but now they are 60 minutes away from a Super Bowl title. All that stands between them and shedding the loser label completely is the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning, who happens to be one of the city's favorite sons.

We have two weeks to break down this game. This is about getting there, as improbable as that may seem for anybody who has watched the Saints over the years.

For this game, it was the other team that fumbled and stumbled away a game it probably should have won but didn't. The Vikings fumbled six times, losing three of them, and Favre threw two interceptions, the last a costly one as the Vikings looked to be preparing to win it in regulation.

Favre was intercepted by Tracy Porter on a horrible throw across his body as the Vikings tried to get into field-goal range from the Saints' 38. The throw was something an eighth-grader knows not to make, but Favre made it anyway.

"He's a competitor," Porter said when asked why he thought Favre made the throw.

Said Favre: "I probably should have ran it."

Well, yeah. Porter said he peeked in at Favre as he made his break on the ball, saving the Saints' season and giving them the chance to win it in overtime. The Saints moved the ball to Hartley's game-winning kick thanks to a fourth-and-1 conversion

That decision was risky. But Saints coach Sean Payton, who was battling the flu throughout the game, has been an aggressive coach his entire time in New Orleans, so he opted to go for it. If Pierre Thomas doesn't pick up the first down, the Vikings get the ball at their own 44.

"We called everyone over and said, 'Hey, look we've come this far,'" Payton said.

Translation: Let's take a chance. They got the first down, putting Hartley into position to nail the kick, sending the Superdome into a frenzy as the kick sailed through the uprights. Lord knows what it did to Bourbon Street.

"Can't imagine," Saints tackle Jermon Bushrod said. "But I bet it's wild."

It's hard to believe a Superdome that saw so much sadness during Hurricane Katrina, the face of disaster, could be filled with such joy on this day.

"I have so many people coming up to me telling me what we mean to them," defensive end Bobby McCray said. "I have people coming up to the house to tell me. We just wanted to bring them something special. We have one more thing still left to bring them."

If they're to bring them the Lombardi Trophy, they need to play better than they did Sunday. The Vikings outgained the Saints 475 yards to 257 and the normally potent Saints offense was anything but that.

Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes, but threw for only 197 yards. The Saints used a different approach in this game, keeping more people in to block to counter the Minnesota pass rush. That took receivers out of routes and seemed to stunt the offense.

Coach Sean Payton and the Saints bring joy to the Big Easy. (US Presswire)

"We had no three-turnover games this year, so to have five against a good football team, it's very difficult to overcome," Vikings coach Brad Childress said.

Favre was good for much of the game, standing in tall against a fierce pass rush. He took several big shots and appeared done late in the third quarter, when he took a high-low shot on a pass that was intercepted by Jonathan Vilma.

Remy Ayodele hit Favre high and McCray hit him low. Favre stayed down, limped off the field, and appeared he might be done. But after a tape job he was back in without missing a play.

"He's a tough guy," McCray said.

Tough enough that it looked like he would fight through and win it. But his errant throw ruined that chance, just like his interception in overtime cost the Green Bay Packers a chance to get to the Super Bowl in losing to the New York Giants in 2007 in the NFC Championship Game.

"He is a risk taker and it usually works out well for him," Saints linebacker Scott Shanle said. "Tonight was our night."

It's yours, but it also belongs to an entire region that has used this team to bounce back from tragedy.

In the first game in New Orleans Saints history in 1967, John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. They thought it would be that easy.

They now know it wasn't even close to that. But the years of being laughed at, the years of agonizing seasons with no hope, the years of wondering if the team would even win half its games were wiped away as each rotation of The Kick sailed through.

So close your eyes, Saints fans. There's a new slide in your football kaleidoscope.

And, for once, this one will make you smile.