Speech Won’t Erase Grudges Against Roger Goodell In New Orleans

Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, arrived in a hostile territory, took the stage and stood his ground. He’s not a likable person, at least not in New Orleans. He’s not welcomed in a town, where fans have a grudge against the commish. He likes the city and its fans as well — and they don’t like him.

The people of these festive, active streets aren’t over the infamous Bountygate scandal and could paint a mural of him with devil horns above his head to bring laughter to a community filled with anger, after leaving a population in a predicament. But the words, spoken by a humiliated man during Goodell’s State of the League Address, won’t rid grudges against him in New Orleans.

Eleven months ago, in this forgiving country, a despairing town turned its back on Goodell. They still won’t let it go, dwelling on the past and pointing the finger at nobody else but the commish who wrongly killed the Saints executional style, when he dropped the proverbial hammer on New Orleans for the bounty system. Sean Payton, the Saints head coach who led the team to a Super Bowl victory three years ago, was suspended for the entire 2012 season without pay. Rather than levying a light punishment, enough to put fear on players who dare to supervise a bounty program, he suspended Saints general manager Mickey Loomis for eight games.

Wait, there’s more.

Goodell, the NFL Sheriff who, to some, took a position to his head, fined the Saints $500,000 and suspended the ringmaster Gregg Williams indefinitely. In unprecedented cases, as with Roger Goodell, it ruined the Saints season and finally he realized that he crossed the line by abusing his authority to lose credibility and trust. Today, was a moment he tried to win back the vast majority of those folks in New Orleans giving him the evil eye and heckling him throughout the city. Today, was a moment he failed to gain stature among resentful New Orleans fans, as the most hated commissioner in the history of the NFL.

By now, you know that citizens are hoping he steps down as the head honcho and becomes so fatigued in a role of responsibilities and headaches. It’s a long time coming if he decides to escape the burdens and allow bitter fans to exhaust him with obscenities and personal attacks. Goodell’s speech is only the most recent assumption on how bad he’s trying to reduce the anger and make those people like him again, underscoring the reality that player’s safety is a top priority.

If and when the day comes that he’d seriously take the initiative to protect not only the brand but also the players, he would likely earn back respect and reconcile with the past. For once, he’s shown sensitivity to safety, coming up with a solution to minimize the significant amount of head injuries happening frequently in the league. He’s not, as of this moment, ignoring player’s safety, reiterating the importance of discipline — to eliminate some tackling and suggest that discipline will come down hard on players who violate rules.

“This is something that we have seen, an escalation in the discipline, because we are trying to take these techniques out of the game,” said Goodell. “I think it was about four years ago at this very press conference, I said, ‘We have to take these hits out of the game that we think have a higher risk of causing injuries.’ The focus was on defenseless players, and I stand by our record because I think we have made those changes and made the game safer. I think we’re going to have to continue to see discipline escalate, particularly on repeat offenders.”

It won’t matter to folks in New Orleans what measures he takes to enhance safety at this point. The damage has already been done, and a community is not very forgiving. By now, he knows that, he knows he’s not liked by most of the people who reside in the city.

“We’re going to continue to emphasize the importance of following those rules. When there are violations, we will escalate the discipline,” said Goodell.

The population of New Orleans won’t take the word discipline too kindly.

When he stepped on the glittery stage to address the media, it was an appearance of a manipulator looking for a change. As much as anything, Goodell wants his professional disgrace to dematerialize. For much of the week, while in New Orleans, he’s been busy and dealing with a flurry of lawsuits and a public backlash. Goodell, a very smart man, knows it all. A lot of people want him to disappear into the darkness forever, without ever showing his face publicly, now the perfect scapegoat for incompetence.

Not surprisingly, he’s responsible for the Saints plights in the 2012 season, and fans are not obligated to what his next step is as far as focusing on safety. Outside the convention center, infuriated fans, raging over the bounty scandal, heckled and harassed Goodell. He’s not welcomed to restaurants and bars. Inside the windows, signs are plastered that suggest service to Goodell would be refused. With a portrait of Goodell covering the bull’s eye on a dartboard at one lounge, he also has a float dedicated to him in the Mardi Gras parade and he’s even a voodoo doll.

The bitterness is still raw. The feeling of hate is still stronger than ever, perhaps because he’s in town for the Super Bowl festivities. Even amid his latest promises, fans are mad over Bountygate. A man that once helped rebuild the Superdome in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is seen on a banner that hangs from the Superdome ridiculing him. It’s clear that he’s not a saint in New Orleans, but a villain who needed extra security and a secret dungeon to lay his head at nights, without having to worry about death threats in a city where segments of the community despises him. While players have derided him, he’s had his suspensions overturned. He was joking around about New Orleans’ reaction to his arrival. The reality is that he was far more concerned about safety, which was his excuse for harshly penalizing the Saints last March.

“That is bad for the players, for the game, and I think the message is incredibly clear, and I don’t believe that bounties will be part of football going forward,” he said. “. . . As it relates to the regrets, I think my biggest regret is that we aren’t recognizing that this is a collective responsibility to get them out of the game, to make the game safer.”

There’s not a season that goes by without players suffering a concussion, which can trigger brain damage and can lead to dementia that often affects memory, thinking and behavior. All week, the NFL’s commissioner has stayed away from the crowd, barely showing his face in public, feeling a bit uneasy and nervous to step out of his hotel room. The hotel has a scattered, spacious lobby, which is perfect to surreptitiously escape and hide from the bitter crowd. When he does leave his secret suite, he’s quickly jumping into a flashy car with tinted windows and riding behind a line of police motorcycles. He’s publicly keeping his distance and he’s trying to avoid busy streets — Bourbon Street.

The important thing is that the NFL needs to protect its name and brand. The Saints paid greatly for their bounty program when it was uncovered. The growing number of lawsuits could prove costly for the league. But Goodell, as the person in charge, thinks he found a solution and suggested harsher penalties for hard hits.

When asked if he felt like he was behind enemy lines during the state of the league address, he smiled and had no comment.

It’s up to Goodell, not the fans.

Saints Come Alive In Time to Salvage Promising Pursuit

The moment the defending champs escaped futility, on a night inside the loud and energetic Superdome, the Saints embraced an imperative win to keep aspirations alive. On this night, the Saints’ faithful wore costumes celebrating Halloween, and saw the New Orleans Saints escape purgatory.

Just in the last year we witnessed the Saints win a title, the first in franchise history, and we all commended the well-respected franchise as if they had emerged as America’s team.

It clearly took an opponent like the invigorated Pittsburgh Steelers, the most critical game on the Saints schedule, to make it evident that they are still relevant and resilient. It will be games like this, not over-match meetings against inferior opponents that offer telling leads as to whether the Saints are tangible or a mirage, suffering from a pestering hangover.

In general, the sluggish beginning of another palatable drive to the biggest stage in football faded out of the spotlight, but suddenly the Saints resolved the lousy and bleak obstacles.

Simply, as we discovered a tenacious franchise with perseverance and persistence, the Saints increasingly mended woes and established its identity against a defensive-minded team. On paper, specifically, the Saints were worthy of exceeding standards and had the pieces to repeat glory.

But in reality, Drew Brees, who completed 34-of-44 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers, rediscovered his usual form in time to revive into convincing contenders.

Given all that we’ve noticed on Sunday night of the viable toughness from a high-powered offense and stalwart defense, it doesn’t seem like the Saints have stopped marching after a humiliating, ghastly home loss to Cleveland.


The good news is that the Saints are finally marching again, following a crucial 20-10 defeat in a Halloween party against the Steelers. It was a kind gesture, rightfully so. And basically, the Saints redeemed all misery at a time when the season becomes fierce and competitive, at a time when winning becomes meaningful and convenient.

“It was good for us to get a win,” coach Sean Payton said. “We’ll keep working. We’ll recognize that it is what it is and we’ve got a lot of things to work on.”

There is plenty to work on. Although the Saints haven’t looked flawless or frightening, regardless of falling short in close games this season, clearly the win happened against a good team with vital weapons. The national scene has been seized by the Steelers, a team that somehow survived without Ben Roethlisberger to begin the season, while the franchise quarterback served a four-game suspension.

Meanwhile, the standards are always high for a team seeking to win back-to-back championships, and it symbolizes a team of resiliency and diligence. Early on, no one anticipated the Saints to decrease from championship-caliber and suddenly turn lousy, awakening in a timely situation to bypass fiascoes and afflictions, clouded in a disastrous storm.

At last, Brees had shed the paltry, useless performance of this season and past a rigid test against arguably the stingiest defense in the league. The Saints, on the other hand, healed all sorrow and refused to flunk the stiffest assignment this season. Wipe away the losses to the Falcons, Cardinals and Browns.

Stunned heavily by the Browns at home, the Saints were forgotten at that point and had been ridicule for under-performing. With that, it was clearly a game that the Saints rejuvenated in, ending the dreadful memories of an early crisis.

This could have easily doomed a poised and cohesive team with a knack to steer a high-powered offense as well as manipulate opponents’ tactics on offense, basically because of the defensive guru Gregg Williams, who strongly emphasizes the methods of playing brilliantly on defense.

“We’ve got high expectations,” Brees said. “We’re disappointed with the 4-3 start, especially because of the way we lost some of those games. It was really about sticking together. Everybody outside the building was like, ‘What’s wrong with the Saints?’ But we knew in our locker room that we had to stick together. We played as complete a football game—offense, defense and special teams—as we have all year.”

He’s telling the truth.

“We knew that this was going to be a pound it game where the defenses were going to take over early and the offenses had better patient or they could lose it early,” Saints cornerback Malcom Jenkins said. “That’s how it went. The offenses were trying to find themselves for most of the night. The defenses were trying to keep them in that mode.”

Instead of it being a high-scoring game, it was a low-scoring game and by halftime the scoreboard had 3-3. As the Saints defense has been stout for much of the year, the convoluted schemes were troubling for the Steelers and Roethlisberger was harassed and shoved as if he was chew toy.

By the fourth quarter, the Saints were toying with the Steelers and took a 6-3 lead. Eventually, they won it. Most of all, this is a win that may have saved the Saints season.

By the time the fourth quarter arrived, the Saints removed their costumes and suddenly played like a championship-driven team. An even more telling and lasting scene is that the Saints elevated its intensity and effortlessly advanced to the end zone twice.

However, the difference might have been when linebacker Marvin Mitchell stripped the ball loose from Steelers tight end Heath Miller and the ball drifted right into Sharper’s hands.

For the rest of the way, Brees completed all five of his passes and connected with Marques Colston for a 16-yard touchdown pass and then wide receiver Lance Moore on an eight-yard pass with 2:37 left.

“It was huge,” Saints safety Darren Sharper said.

Certainly, it was a huge win.

And suddenly, all eyes are on the Saints.

Saints March Into Super Bowl, a Memorable Win For a Long-Suffering City

In what may have been the most heartfelt game in Super Bowl history, Who Dat Nation can finally celebrate on Bourbon Street. They can begin tossing black and gold beads, feast on gumbo and eat Emerald's prepared food dishes.


There’s a sense the New Orleans Saints are hometown heroes, giving the enthusiastic and authentic folks on Bourbon Street the sweetest win since the city dealt with a devastating crisis.

It was a moment to rejoice as a town and leave behind the dreadful memories of Hurricane Katarina—affliction that deprived and ravaged New Orleans. But finally, fans have something to cheer about, after the Saints rendered years of futility.

For once, it felt like an elite franchise, an experienced franchise prepared to seize its first title in franchise history on pro football’s biggest stage. For once, the Saints aren’t witnessing long-suffering calamity that placed misery and burdens within a community where the unfaithful fans booed, protested and wore paper bags over their heads calling them the Aints.

So the people of New Orleans, people who believes strongly in voodoo dolls and marching with the Saints, couldn’t be more elated to jive on the busiest street in town, listening to the beautiful jazz songs as its greatest victory flourished in South Florida to open a page in the history books.

Living in a country where the biggest game of the year should be declared a national holiday, the Super Bowl isn’t only viewed for the giddy commercial ads or gathering as a family to host a sizable party. It also embraces a storybook season. It seems a surreal season transformed into reality. The Saints proved unflappable in the greatest game of their 43-year existence. It seems the Saints were resilient, entering the game of roman numerals with a posture of perseverance and heart.

“Whoever thought that this could be happening?” Drew Brees said. “Eighty-five percent of the city was under water. People were evacuating to places all over the country. Most people left not knowing whether New Orleans would ever come back, or if the organization would ever come back.”

There you have it. The Saints are your Super Bowl champs. First time is a charm. This is exhilarating for a community that fought through adversity, a community that adores football and appreciates their sudden conquest to raise its first banner in the Superdome.

Not long ago, they were so hopeless and pathetic, to whereas ridiculing and lambasting the Saints was a yearly ritual. Today, of course, we’ve praised them, we’ve rooted them on, we’ve pampered them, and we’ve shared our sympathy. If there’s a cure for healing the tragedy that tore the spirit, the Saints marching to its first Lombardi Trophy is an antidote—a moment the town appeases a franchise that has long passed the lingering pain of failures, a predicament labeling the team for decades.


It took the second decade of the 21st century for the Saints to shake off hideous misadventures and dismay, finally reaching a crescendo in Super Bowl XLIV. But without debate the bigger story was Brees outshining Peyton Manning, forcing the greatest quarterback’s legacy to wait.

Much of the debate leading up to the big game dwelled on whether Manning could add a title to his resume and solidify his legacy. But a legacy materialized before our very eyes, along with a historic achievement. Not only was it revival within a dispirited town, but memories of joy and idolatry. The good people of New Orleans anoint and worship the Saints.

“We were on a mission,” said linebacker Scott Fujita. “For us, it was about much more than just football.”

Keep in mind, that’s how much the franchise means to a feverish crowd on Bourbon Street. They watched their Saints pull off the most impressive victory in Super Bowl history. Once it all ended, the Saints celebrated its first worthwhile championship, a memory that will always remain in the hearts of many.

All season, fans embraced their elite toughness, which revealed a renaissance age. With the resurgence of Brees, who most doubted after having surgery on his throwing arm in 2006, the Saints were an organization willing to allow him a chance.

Sure enough, he’s a true hero producing on a colossal stage when jitters play an effect on a first-timers performance level. The excitement and nervous reactions wasn’t a factor, able to master brilliancy after leaving behind images of a memorable quarterbacking performance.


For all the hype and constant debates of Manning’s legacy, Brees was a minority, and the Saints were still evaluated as an inferior team without enough experience. So much for Manning validating a legacy. Brees hijacked our consciousness on the most dignified night of his career, courtesy of the gutsy onside kick entering the second half that gave the Saints gained momentum.

It’s a rarity to witness trickeries when a championship is on the line, but Thomas Morstead kicked an undaunted onside kick that surprised the Colts and was recovered by Chris Reis. From there, the Saints maintained poise, dominated at will, and Brees continued delivering passes with incredible precision and awareness. That prompted 32- of-39 completed passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Amid Brees’ flawless performance, prolific cornerback Tracy Porter picked off Manning and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown.

“When I saw my blockers in front of me, and only Peyton and the offensive linemen left,” said Porter, “I cut back and ran it in.”

That put things out of reach, lifting premature celebrations and dance parties in the street. And lastly, the Saints danced as if they were children traveling from Sun Life Stadium to Disney World. Instead they were jubilating over an impressive 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, excited to be honored with their first memorabilia. While Manning’s legacy takes a downfall—missing intended receiver Reggie Wayne after Gregg Williams’ superb defense executed blitzes—we now realize how elite Brees really is.

“We play for so much more than ourselves," Brees said. “We played for our city. We played for the entire Gulf Coast region.

Without debate, he’ll go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks in Super Bowl history in a city where the population admires his humanitarian work, charitable work and involvement within a community that needs much rebuilding. But even greater, the Saints are mentioned in the Super Bowl category.

They now own a spot in history after dominating on the immense platform in sports. They marched until the intriguing contest ended, they marched against a team that had been there before, and they marched to come back from a 10-point deficit, proving title worthy.

There was Saints owner Tom Benson, the 80-year-old man who celebrated as the biggest fan, who stood on the midfield stage to receive the gleaming Lombardi Trophy and shouted to the heavens, “We’re back! We’re back!" He was filled with happiness as was Sean Payton, the best coach to ever lead the Saints. And Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees lifted his son, Baylen, and held him embracing the moment.

“I’ve just told our guys, you’ve got to make me look good on this,” Payton said. “We were going to be aggressive. When you do something like that, you just put it on the players, and they were able to execute. It turned out to be a big change of possession and ended with a score.”

Thousands gathered at Sun Life Stadium chanting “Who Dat! Who Dat!”

It was the Saints fulfilling a life-long dream for a grateful city. Finally, they can alleviate the horrid memories of long suffering.

Well, I guess Mardi Gras begins in the state of the fleur-de-lis.

Celebrate good times and twirl those fancy Saints’ umbrellas.

So What if He Arrives Late, Reggie Bush Emerges on Time for Saints

Like the loudest musical performance appearing in New Orleans, the place was clamorous as the Saints inched closer to a trip to Miami. There’s no venue crazier or wilder than the Superdome, mainly because there’s no team in the league as exciting or electrifying as the Saints.

It’s a franchise, greatly, cherished for charming performances and amplifies mystique with the ability to put fear on teams still alive. Fear their ability to execute on all levels, a dimensional franchise that brought hope to a despairing town after a calamity struck New Orleans.

Sadly, Hurricane Katarina pierced the hearts of a helpless community and much was deprived, until the Saints marched in and lifted sanity. But there’s more to a feel-good story, and not only have a tenacious team cured souls. Realizing nothing the Saints have done is a fluke, the nagging fortitude and energy are elements to fear.

So each moment in the Superdome feels invincible, like the home team cannot lose. Respectively, a loyal crowd is attached to football embracing the franchise with craziness and intense screams, hungrier than the players themselves.

The emotions of euphoria carried the Saints to a level of belief, purging all debates and pontification of immortalities. In case you’re wondering, Mardi Gras has initiated prematurely on Bourbon Street, where a huge block party anticipates sparking a rejoicing celebrations. The fervid crowd will pour onto the streets, soaking in the greatest victory and memorable moment.

In the regular season, timeless flaws evoked dubious notions that the Saints weren’t the boundless contenders individuals had in mind. Late in the season, each moment revealed scary rationalization of New Orleans as a one-and-done team, based on a three-game losing skid to topple regard. During a sudden collapse, the Saints clumsily averaged 14.7 points when it was known for compiling the scoreboards. Every team has strengths and weaknesses.

The spectators entertained at the Superdome, a popular place to witness the aerial extravaganza, saw an efficacious Drew Brees hurl incredible passes to a bottomless receiver core. He exploited plays, designed to torment defenses. He executed plays opponents were unsuccessful stifling. Nothing in the Big Breezy stopped the creativity of jaw-dropping drives, which usually resulted in touchdowns.


Once again, the Saints had the swagger, finding its high-powered offense in time for the NFC Divisional round to literally manhandled the Arizona Cardinals, who again was noticed as the team from the desert with the word miracle written all over. Last year, we were caught by surprise when the Cardinals stunned the world and advanced to the Super Bowl, thanks to veteran quarterback Kurt Warner and wideout Larry Fitzgerald.

Your final score: 45-14

That decisive win punched a ticket to the NFC Championship game. The Saints await the winner of Minnesota and Dallas. But until then, an entire community relishes a moment of greatness. For some time, everyone waited for this moment, a time to erupt with the heroes of the town. The Saints are saviors, popular after alleviating the disastrous perceptions of reality. This is their city, this is their team, and this is their antidote to erase memories of a terrible tragedy.

As of now, New Orleans are marching, not to the nearest restaurant for gumbo, not to the local convenient store, not even to Bourbon Street to hear the soothing sounds of jazz, but marching with the Saints. With the exception of Brees, Reggie Bush, Devery Henderson, Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey, the boys of New Orleans reached the point where fans are convinced this is the year to shine.

If they win the championship rounds, the Saints won’t have to worry about hearing the discouraging word. Remember, it was a franchise belittled and referred as to the Aint’s. Those were the days, when the organization had suffocated dearly and fans protested and wore paper bags over their heads, deeply ashamed of the failures. But these days, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Instead they’re worshiping the Saints, proud of how far the team has come.


This wasn’t envisioned until he proved to us that he still has the swagger, finally translating to the pros. Reggie Bush was the hero. He was the player of the game. He earned the chants, “Reggie”, “Reggie”, Reggie!” Those choruses echoed inside the Superdome, where he played like he was at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. The former mighty Trojan dusted Arizona’s porous defense, bringing back memories of his prevailing era at USC.

This may have been the greatest sprint he advertised of his flowering NFL career, with a 46-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to set the tone and increase momentum. For those unfamiliar with Bush’s incomparable style, he was supposed to make an impact when he earned spotlight in his rookie season. He was supposed to be the best running back, to awe pro football devotees.

So what if he’s late, but what matters he’s succeeding expectations suddenly, meeting the tangibles of a stud running back. All of us waited for this moment, the emergence of Bush. And it happened in no better place than New Orleans, where the people live and die to witness triumphant junctures. The ability to break tackles, outrun defenders, and sprint in open field is a special knack.

That has given a better description of Bush in recent memory. I’m going to admit this was a breakout game, amassing 70 yards on four carries midway in the second quarter. I’ll be generous to confide, this was the greatest game of his career, which happened to come in the postseason when winning is critical.

His two touchdowns, 84 yards performance was a beautiful display, snapping the Saints out of a funk and back into offensive overdrive against the Cardinals, who yielded 90 points in the postseason, the most ever surrendered in two straight postseason games in a single season.

“We had a plan the whole time”, said Brees, who had a flawless game and passed for 247 yards. “It was hard for anybody to understand that plan if you’re not a member of my team, but we trusted in that plan, that process. We executed throughout the week and it showed in the game.”

Indeed, it did.

The Saints mastermind offensively is coach Sean Payton. Ever since he was brought in to solidify an offensive powerhouse, he has designed an effective rush attack. Turns out, he’s responsible for the emergence of Bush.

So what if Bush is late, he arrived on time. He came to the Saints aid.

From Aint's to Saints: Suddenly Contenders, Not Pretenders

Among all things, no atmosphere in America is as lively as the Superdome, where a large and energetic population gathers to root for a franchise that has encountered misery in prior years. But now, for skeptics who are blinded by surrealism, disbelieving is underestimating a team that has suddenly awakened and established itself into a playoff contender.

In recent years, we were accustomed to observing a franchise shamelessly enduring inferiority. On Bourbon Street the fans wore frowns, jaded in a downcast era.

The New Orleans Saints were still pretenders at the time, in disarray and embarrassed when an irritable crowd wore paper bags covering their heads to severely ridicule a futile franchise, critical on fizzles staining prominence.

Oftentimes, cheers were unlikely heard inside the lively dome and seats were empty. But then, the Saints were known as the Aint’s amid troubles when heartwarming emotions weren’t shared within a franchise that strongly needed applause, rather than unpleasant chants.

But now, a surreal perception convinces a cynical community to believe. Before, the entire community disowned the Saints, failing to entertain sensibility and ignoring chaotic flaws. No longer is there a reason to have bitter feelings or ignore the emergence of the Saints.

Their astonishing season isn’t a mirage, but a reality for a franchise suddenly transforming into a Super Bowl contender, having the necessary ingredients to finally present splendor in a town that witnessed countless afflictions.

Today, the Saints are marching in, beating anyone stepping in front. That's good vibes given the poor history, which staged negligence when lacking in victories, a category describing New Orleans as a joke in a sport that has emerged into America’s premier sport.

But today, they’re recognized for their dominance. They possess a driven mindset aiming for perfection, which would label the Saints as interesting competitors. And surely, no one has forgotten the devastating disaster, when Hurricane Katrina destroyed spirit.

In a despairing crisis, battered in the most devastating calamity, the franchise clearly emerged as America’s team. Suddenly, a tragic occurrence turned into an inspirational storyline as the hearts of most people rooting for the Saints uplifted an entire city. What transpired in the 2006 season was an inspirational scene, becoming contagious and exhilarating while facing dismal issues.

The Saints enthralled residents with a delighted victory in the season-opener on a Monday night to detract from the agonizing disaster. That was the loudest it was in years, but again, the Superdome still generates noise, making it difficult to hear the plays called on the field. By virtue, this is the loudest Saints' faithful have been in a long time, truly believing it's the year to dance in Miami and rejoice as a cohesive unit.

Above all, the aspiration of the Saints is positive thus far, negating four decades of futility. So now, reaching Super Bowl XLIV isn’t out of the equation, but instead it is part of the plans.

Their intent is to book hotel reservations, call the travel agent and purchase a one-way flight to Miami, where winning will bring excitement back to Bourbon Street, perhaps for a premature celebration. Having a Saints parade is a dream in a town accustomed to feasting on gumbo and Cajun dishes, but also Mardi gras, which will normally take place a week following the Super Bowl.

Similar to the sounds of jazz music, the Saints are jazzing things up with a 7-0 start, the best start in franchise history. It’s the most interesting team, an unbeaten core defying the tangibles, entertaining us with a well-designed pass-and-catch spectacle. It’s the most arousing team, consisting of weapons that could literally outplay a defensive unit, because of their sense of awareness and poise. It’s the most underestimated team given a horrid track record in previous seasons.

But what people fail to realize is the Saints are marching on in, not intimidated or uncomfortable, designing and executing with an effective passing game that has tortured a number of defenses. We should be rooting for New Orleans, a team with tremendous heart and intrepidity. And it happens to be the Saints, black and gold pride, now earning a fair amount of respect because of their wonderful breakout season.

Suddenly, a dramatic night finished with the Saints pulling it off late and turned a tense night into a crazy atmosphere as the delirious crowd witnessed New Orleans rise to perfection with a 35-27 victory over Atlanta.

Most of the citizens are thrilled, embracing a dynamic quarterback, Drew Brees, who’s definitely MVP-worthy, by compiling statistics each week and finishing Monday night with an unbelievable passer rating of 111.7.

He is, indeed, emerging into a Brett Favre type and embodies a charismatic mindset. Then, there’s his potent arm strength, along with trusting in a profound receiving core. Nonetheless, eventually each team encounters a roadblock, obstacles that suddenly arrive. The Saints arrived when they had to survive late against the Falcons fierce defense.

So basically, it was a high-powered offense vs. an underrated defense as Mike Smith, head coach and defensive specialist, tested and studied the league’s most sterling offense. And also the muscular defensive end John Abraham bull-rushed Brees.

To some extent, however, the Falcons strategized a well-designed tactic to frustrate the gunslinger, clearly believing a sturdy defensive assignment was a primary factor in handing the Saints their first loss of the season.

But, of course, the Falcons weren’t as intimidating in seizing control over the most-talented team in the NFL. As time trickled away in the fourth quarter, the Saints weren’t as dominant, failing to romp in a typical fashion.

The scoreboard indicated a probable disappointment, Saints surprisingly leading 28-24,until the Saints prolific cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted a pass tipped by Jonathan Vilma. He returned it for a game-changing touchdown, getting a break after the versatile Pierre Thomas, who rushed for 91 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown, fumbled on the Saints 35.

Mostly, poor ball-security hindered New Orleans. During an intense game, there were moments in the contest that they could have blown it open. That’s when careless lapses must be downsized in contests if the Saints want to pursue a raised championship banner inside the dome at the beginning of next season. What’s most impressive, though, is their irresistible defense, an underrated unit who forced Atlanta’s sensational quarterback, Matt Ryan, to launch mediocre throws.

Sometimes, when a contest is on the line, desperate passes might be a misstep, but Ryan had limited options and plenty of time to heave a prayer. Notice there’s not a defensive back as lethal in the backfield as Darren Sharper, who secured his seventh interception on the season, when he picked off Ryan.

Make no mistake, the much-improved defense deserves credit. If the Saints weren’t as reliable on defense, obviously there wouldn’t be much buzz escalating. The powerful defense has at least an interception in each game and committed to blitzes frequently, a model installed and influenced by new defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams.

Without a doubt, coach Sean Payton is best known for his shrewd offensive play calling, and could plot schemes successfully. Since the Saints consist of an unbeaten record, I’ll suggest Brees and agile wideout Marques Colston is an intriguing quarterback-receiver tandem in the league.

For instance, a well-executed offensive scheme occurred when Brees connected with Colston on an 18-yard touchdown pass. You might even suggest tight-end Jeremy Shockey is mellowing, finally avoiding behavior issues and emerging into a second target in Brees’ offensive method.

It’s enough talent as the Saints continuously improve as contenders, rather than pretenders. So now, once again, New Orleans is alive. Citizens are now interested to see if the Saints could attain a Super Bowl victory. As it stands, they’re built with tremendous talent.

Remember, the Aint’s no longer exist.