It was just their year. Ain't no stoppin' the Saints this season. Kurt Warner couldn't do it. Neither could Brett Favre. Not even the great Peyton Manning could deny them. Think about that. Not only did the Saints deliver New Orleans their first NFL championship, in the process they defeated three hall of fame quarterbacks in a row. Better yet, all three of them threw costly interceptions against the Saints' bend-but-don't break defense. The last of those - CB Tracy Porter's pick six against Manning - put the finishing touch on the Saints' 31-17 upset of the Colts in Super Bowl 44 at Miami two weeks ago.
In the three newspapers I looked at before the game, all but one (out of about 15) of the writers and experts who predicted the result had the Colts scoring at least 30 points. And the only one who didn't picked them to score 27. But after they jumped out to a 10-0 lead on their first two possessions, inexplicably the Colts scored only 7 points over the final three quarters. On the other hand, the Saints, after punting on their first two possessions, did almost nothing wrong the rest of the evening. Unable to get enough pressure on Drew Brees, the Colts' defense was picked apart by Drew Brees, who completed 30 of 32 passes during the final three quarters en route to being named the game's MVP. Although the Saints went just 3 for 7 on 3rd down conversions after the 1st quarter, K Garrett Hartley made sure they came away with points on 4th down, nailing 3 FG from long range. (The first I saw of Hartley was his ugly miss at the end of 4th quarter of the Saints' overtime loss to Tampa Bay during Week 16. So I had doubts about him for the playoffs. But he earned his salary, and then some, during the Saints' last two victories.) Trailing 10-6, the Saints attempted and recovered an onside kickoff to begin the 2nd half, a brilliant call that caught the Colts completely off guard (although it shouldn't have). Finally, after the Saints scored with 5:42 remaining to take a 24-17 lead, the defense made a play. Made the play. With the Colts at the New Orleans 31-yard line and driving for the tying TD, on 3rd and 5 Manning tried to hit WR Reggie Wayne on a short slant route, just as he has successfully done dozens (if not hundreds) of times before. But this time, with the Saints blitzing and forcing Manning to unload early, Porter jumped the route perfectly, easily got the INT, and took it 74 yards to the house (photo below). Man, I would love to have been in a New Orleans bar when that happened.
For the fourth year in a row a player with dreads scored a TD in the Super Bowl. RB Joseph Addai's 4-yard TD run (photo below), which put the Colts ahead 17-13 in the 3rd quarter, kept alive the streak started by Devin Hester in the Super Bowl following the '06 season and extended by Laurence Maroney and Larry Fitzgerald the last two years. Hmm. All four of them played on the losing team. We're going to have do do something about that next year. (You listening, Davone Bess? How 'bout you, Sidney Rice?) Addai had an outstanding game with 135 total yards. He was the only player to make the dread stars list.
Other players with dreads didn't do as well. It's very difficult for a starting LB to go through a whole game without getting any tackles, but the Colts' Philip Wheeler managed to pull off the feat. Actually, he did have one tackle - the one where he clobbered RB Reggie Bush out of bounds and picked up a personal foul penalty. Other than that, he couldn't gets his hands on the ball carrier. On the Saints' TD in the 3rd quarter, the screen pass to Pierre Thomas, Wheeler was the only Colt defender who had a chance to stop the play. But he didn't react quickly enough and ended up being blocked out of the play instead of dropping Thomas for a loss ..... Saints DB Usama Young, a 3rd round draft pick in '07, showed why he still hasn't made the starting lineup. On 3rd and 6 in the 1st quarter, on the third play after starting CB Jabari Greer had to leave the game due to injury, Young found himself in press coverage against WR Pierre Garcon. But when the ball was snapped, Young completely whiffed in his attempt to jam Garcon, giving Garcon a free release. That put Usama immediately into chase mode, but he never got close to Garcon, who was wide open as he caught Manning's perfect pass for the first TD of the game. Young finally got his hands on Garcon when he gave him that unfriendly little shove you always see DBs give to WRs after they've been beaten for a TD. Yo Usama, the idea is to shove him at the line of scrimmage, not after he's got the ball in the end zone. When Young returned to the sideline, he immediately had Coach Payton in his face, telling him what he already knew. "That's not good enough ... he ran right &#*% past you," Payton tersely said (but not yelled) to him. Fortunately for the Saints Greer was back in the game on the Colts' next possession ..... Colts DT Eric Foster had 2 tackles in the game and was in on the tackle when the Colts stopped Thomas on 4th and goal in the 2nd quarter .... CB Tim Jennings, DT Antonio Johnson, and KR Chad Simpson of the Colts didn't do anything noticeable.
In a previous report I mentioned that Saints DE Charles Grant was injured midway through the season. Actually, that happened last year. This season he suffered the exact same injury (torn triceps) but not until the final game of the regular season. Grant was part of a sick Saints sideline that also included Jermey Parnell, Reggie Jones, and I think I saw Mike McKenzie standing there too. Hopefully they'll all be playing football next season instead of watching it ..... For the game the Colts outgained the Saints 432-332 in total yards. But it didn't matter since the Colts couldn't cash in their chances, especially late. They scored 0 points in the 4th quarter despite gaining 169 yards ..... I was hoping the Colts would score on their final drive and make the final score 31-24 - because, as you may recall, my prediction was 33-28. Whatever the score, Saints fans will take it. And I hope you enjoyed your celebration, because it ain't going to happen again. Not next season, anyway.
Here are the honors for Week 17 and the playoffs.
WEEK 17
DREAD STARS
- Chris Johnson - Titans - carried 36 times for 134 yards to become the 6th player in NFL history to gain 2,000 yards rushing in a season; also caught 3 passes for 20 yards and scored both Titans TD in 17-13 road win over Seahawks
- Marion Barber - Cowboys - 105 total yards in NFC East clinching 24-0 victory over Eagles
- Sidney Rice - Vikings - 6 catches for 112 yards and 2 TD in easy 44-7 blowout of Giants
- Dannell Ellerbe - Ravens - rookie LB got his 1st career INT, which he returned 28 yards to set up a short TD drive, giving Ravens 21-13 lead late in 3rd quarter; then recovered a fumble at Ravens 23-yard line on the next drive as Ravens held on to beat Raiders 21-13 and clinch playoff spot
HOUSE OF DREAD
There's a four-way tie for the final regular season H.O.D. The end zone at Ford Field was the house of dread as Bears WR Devin Aromashodu had TD catches of 9 and 12 yards in a 37-23 win over the Lions. The end zone at Qwest Field was the house of dread thanks to Chris Johnson's TD runs of 1 and 6 yards in the Titans' win over Seattle. The end zone at the Metrodome also was the house of dread because Vikings WR Sidney Rice had TD catches of 4 and 12 yards in the 44-7 win over the Giants. And the end zone at Invesco Field in Denver was the house of dread due to 2 TD by the dreadest of Week 17 .....
DREADEST
Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles put an exclamation mark on his breakout season with an unforgettable performance in a 44-24 victory that ended the Broncos' playoff hopes. Or should I say breakout half-season. Charles (photo below) carried 25 times for a career high and new Chiefs' single-game record 259 yards rushing and scored on TD runs of 5 and 56 yards. Through 7 games this season Jamaal barely had 100 yards rushing total. But after Larry Johnson was released, he moved into the starting lineup and never looked back, finishing with over 1,000 yards rushing. Charles was the brightest spot for the Chiefs in a dismal 4-12 season, and this is only the beginning.
PLAYOFFS
DREAD STARS
- Joseph Addai - Colts - 77 yards rushing and 1 TD on 13 carries, and had 7 catches for 58 yards in 31-17 loss to Saints in Super Bowl
- Cedric Benson - Bengals - 169 yards rushing and 1 TD on just 21 carries in 24-14 loss to Jets in 1st round
- Steve Breaston - Cardinals - 7 catches for 125 yards and 1 TD and added 28 yards rushing in crazy 51-45 home win over Green Bay in 1st round
- Larry Fitzgerald - Cardinals - 6 catches for 82 yards and 2 TD in win over Packers
- Tim Hightower - Cardinals - 87 yards rushing, 27 yards receiving, and 1 TD in 45-14 loss to Saints in 2nd round
HOUSE OF DREAD
The playoff H.O.D. was the end zone at University of Phoenix Stadium during the 1st round. 4 TD were scored by players with dreads in the Cardinals' 51-45 victory over the Packers. Tim Hightower had a 1-yard TD run, Larry Fitzgerald had TD catches of 33 and 11 yards, and Steve Breaston had a 17-yard TD catch.
DREADEST
The best player with dreads in the playoffs was Vikings WR Sidney Rice (photo below). He scored 4 TD in two games as the Vikings barely missed getting to the Super Bowl. Sidney was the Vikings' offense in a 34-3 2nd round win over Dallas, catching 6 passes for 141 yards and 3 TD. He scored another TD the next week but was held to 4 catches for 43 yards in a tough 31-28 loss to the Saints in OT. Rice skipped the Pro Bowl, claiming he was too banged up to play. Hopefully he'll play well enough again next season to be selected for another Pro Bowl.
.
And now here's a list of the players who scored the 159 touchdowns by players with dreads during the 2009 regular season. (Notes: I didn't count Vernon Davis' TD in Week 17 because he didn't have dreads anymore, and I didn't count any of Steve Breaston's 3 TD because he didn't have his hair in dreads until the last couple of weeks of the season.)
- Chris Johnson (TEN) : 16
- Joseph Addai (IND), Larry Fitzgerald (ARIZ) : 13
- Vernon Davis (SF) : 12
- Roddy White (ATL) : 11
- Laurence Maroney (NE) (photo below), Jamaal Charles (KC) : 9
- Tim Hightower (ARIZ), Sidney Rice (MIN) : 8
- Marion Barber (DAL), DeAngelo Williams (CAR) : 7
- Joshua Cribbs (CLEV), Cedric Benson (CIN) : 6
- Steven Jackson (STL), Devin Aromashodu (CHI) : 4
- Devin Hester (CHI) : 3
- Chris Henry (CIN), Marshawn Lynch (BUF), Legedu Naanee (SD), Chad Simpson (IND), Davone Bess (MIA), Louis Delmas (DET) : 2
- Brandon Meriweather (NE), David Clowney (NYJ), Lardarius Webb (BAL), Tyrone Carter (PIT), Bernard Scott (CIN), Ernest Wilford (JAC), Ray McDonald (SF), Charles Tillman (CHI), Jerious Norwood (ATL), Eldra Buckley (PHIL), Dwayne Jarrett (CAR) : 1
Laurence Maroney scores the first of his 9 TD for the Patriots on a 45-yard run against the Titans in Week 6.
.
NEXT
Coming soon I'll do a report card for my preseason predictions, and I'll have a dreaded dozen list of the NFL's best players with dreads this season. If you're wondering why I stopped doing dread galleries after Week 12, it's because I got tired - literally. I decided I better start getting at least 5 hours of sleep every day, so I'm spending less time in front of the computer. I've got hundreds of photos saved from Week 13 to the end of the season. Eventually I will finish doing the DGs. Please stay tuned.
1
3
