Year in Review - New Orleans Saints (15-3), NFC South and NFC Champions

The 2009 season was a make or break year for the New Orleans Saints. After back to back 8-8, playoff-less seasons, coach Sean Payton was on the hot seat to deliver another playoff berth to the Saints. Many thought the Saints could be a playoff team but many also had doubts about the Saints defense. Defensive guru Gregg Williams was brought in to improve the defense, so they could complement what was already an outstanding offense.

The Saints opened the season at home against the hapless Lions, and dominated, winning 45-27. QB Drew Brees threw for 358 yards, and 6 TDs. S Darren Sharper had 2 INTs, making it known early that he would be a fantastic free agent pickup. The Saints put the rest of the league on notice in Week 2, destroying the Philadelphia Eagles on the road 48-22. The Eagles were without QB Donovan McNabb but still the blowout win was very impressive. However, questions still remained about the defense which allowed Kevin Kolb to throw for 391 yards in his first career start. The defense showed up in a Week 3, 27-7 win at Buffalo. The defense forced two turnovers, and held WR Terrell Owens catch less for the first time since his rookie season. The Saints led just 10-7 going into the fourth quarter but then the defense took over, stopping the Bills from getting a first down on their final five possessions of the game. Week 4 saw the Saints hosting the upstart New York Jets, who were also 3-0. The Saints brought the Jets down to Earth, forcing three Mark Sanchez interceptions, two of which Sharper returned for touchdowns, in a 24-10 win. The Saints finished the quarter mark of the season 4-0 for the first time since 1993.

After their bye, Week 6 saw another undefeated New York team come to the Superdome. This time it was the New York Giants. The Giants defense was exposed as the Saints scored at will the entire game. Brees threw 4 TDs and threw for 369 yards in a 48-27 rout. The Saints faced their first real adversity of the season against the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins jumped out to a 24-3 lead, and the upset seemed assured. But in the second half, Brees and the offense got going, and the Saints outscored the Dolphins 22-0 in the fourth quarter, winning the game 46-34. On a Monday night against the Falcons, the Saints did everything possible to lose the game. They turned the ball over four times but thanks to their defense creating three turnovers, were able to hold on to a 35-27 win. The Saints continued their dominance over the NFC South in Week 9, handling the Panthers 30-20. The defense again forced three turnovers, while Brees threw for 330 yards and a TD. The Saints were 8-0 and thinking of possible perfection at the halfway point of the season.

Their Week 10 game at St. Louis was expected to be an easy win, but the Rams fought the Saints until the bitter end. The Rams had the ball at end of the game with a chance to win, but came up short, losing 28-23. In what had started to become a disturbing trend, the Saints offense turned it over 3 times. Facing another lousy team in Week 11, the Saints played as expected and blew away the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 38-7. The offense committed no turnovers, while the defense forced 4. Brees threw 3 TDs, and RB Pierre Thomas continued to serve notice to the NFL that he was the Saints newest weapon, running for 92 yards on just 11 carries. Week 12 saw the Saints back at home on a Monday night, facing the standard bearer of the NFL, the New England Patriots. Many people, including myself, thought this was the game where the Saints would show that they weren't ready to compete with the elite. Instead the Saints dominated the Patriots from start to finish. The defense harassed QB Tom Brady throughout, forcing him into 2 INTs. Brees continued his outstanding play, throwing for 371 yards and 5 TDs. The Saints were now 12-0, and just four wins from a perfect season.

Week 13 saw the Saints travel to Landover, MD to take on the hapless Washington Redskins. I attended that game and was expecting to see the Saints destroy the Skins. Instead, the Skins came to play and looked like they would head into halftime with a 17-10 lead. Kareem Moore intercepted Brees and began returning the ball, when WR Robert Meacham stripped the ball from Moore and returned it for a touchdown, tying the score at 17. The Skins would overcome it and led 30-23 late in the fourth quater. K Shaun Suisham then missed a chip shot, giving the Saints life. The offense went down the field with ease, tying the score at 30. Then in overtime, the Skins won the toss, but FB Mike Sellers fumbled, and the Saints would take advantage, winning the game on a Garrett Hartley field goal, 33-30. In Week 14, the Saints traveled to Atlanta to take on a depleted Falcons team that was missing QB Matt Ryan and RB Michael Turner. However, much like the Skins, the Falcons gave the Saints all they could handle. It took two huge defensive plays by LB Jonathan Vilma, and 3 TD passes by Drew Brees to allow the Saints to eke out a 26-23 win. Week 15 brought the Dallas Cowboys to the Superdome to play in prime time on Saturday night. The Cowboys had started December 0-2 and it was assumed their December swoon would continue against the 13-0 Saints. Instead, the Cowboys jumped out to a 24-3 lead, before eventually hanging on for a 24-17 victory, ending the Saints dreams of perfection. The defense struggled, giving up 439 total yards to the Cowboys. The next week the Saints shockingly lost at home to the awful Buccaneers, 20-17 in overtime. What was even more astounding about the loss was that the Saints blew a 17-0 lead. The defense struggled again, giving up 439 yards of total offense for the second straight week. Despite still having a 13-2 record and having clinched home-field advantage due to the Minnesota Vikings late season collapse, there were many questions surrounding the Saints. Their final game of the season provided no answers, as the Saints sat most of their starters, content to lose to the Panthers 23-10, finishing the regular season 13-3.

Having not played a truly competitive game in 3 weeks, people had no idea which Saints team would show up in the NFC Divisional Round against the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals. Things got off to a grim start as Cardinals RB Tim Hightower ran for a 70-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The Saints offense then retaliated right away tying the score at 7, and from there it was all Saints. The defense forced two turnovers and battered Cardinals QB Kurt Warner all day, causing him to miss the end of the second quarter. RB Reggie Bush had an outstanding game, returning a punt for a touchdown, and rushing for 84 yards and a TD on just 5 carries. The Saints cruised to a 45-14 victory and resoundingly told their critics that their late season swoon was not a precursor of things to come. They then hosted the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game. Both teams had clearly been the best teams in the NFC the entire season and it was expected that the game would be amazing. It lived up to those expectations and might have exceeded them. The teams went back and forth but it turned out to be the defense that would get the Saints into the Super Bowl. They forced 6 Vikings fumbles, three of which the Saints recovered. With the score tied at 28 late in the game, the Vikings were marching down the field for a game winning field goal. Then the Vikings got a ridiculous 12 men in the huddle penalty, followed up by QB Brett Favre once again throwing a back breaking interception in an NFC title game. The Saints won the toss in overtime, and helped by some questionable officiating were able to set up for a game winning 40-yard field goal. Hartley had missed a kick that would have won the game against Tampa Bay in Week 16 and hadn't had a chance since to redeem himself. He coolly sent the ball through the uprights, giving the Saints a 31-28 win and their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.

Check back in a couple days when I review the Indianapolis Colts road to Super Bowl XLIV.