chicksinthehuddle.com

Those aren’t our words. They’re the words of a fired up Coach Sean Payton in the post game pep talk with his Saints team after they successfully made Kurt Warner cry back to his bird’s nest. “We’re right there boys. We’re right there. Get your mind right.”

“There” would be in the pack of NFC teams still clinging to hopes of a postseason berth. The win over the Cardinals didn’t just keep our dreams alive, but effectively ended Arizona’s. The Lions also saw their playoff hopes go bye-bye this week, courtesy of a 51-14 ass tapping by the San Diego Chargers. Once the Giants take care of business against the Redskins tonight, the Saints will find themselves alone, breathing down the neck of the 7-6 Vikings. (Anybody else hoping the Bears will be “who we thought they were” when they take on Minnesota come Monday night?)

What makes us think the Saints can win another two in a row? They’re playing with poise. They’re shooting themselves in the foot as usual, but finding ways to rebound. Aaron Stecker fumbled the ball on the opening drive, setting the Cardinals up for an easy touchdown. But instead of folding, panicking, or just plain old sucking, the Saints responded with not one, but two convincing and solid touchdown drives of their own.

In the final minutes of the fourth quarter when David Patten fumbled the ball by holding it out like a smelly diaper, the Saints’ defense didn’t opt for their typical collapse. They did what it took to get the ball back into the hands of the offense. With 3 minutes left in the game, we braced ourselves for Coach Payton to call a Halfback Direct Snap, End- Around Reverse Flea Flicker. Instead, he just let Stecker eat clock and let Drew Brees do what he’d been doing all day long: find open receivers.

While we’re die-hard Saints fans, we’re football fans too, so we realize there are still some glaring holes in this Saints team. At times, it seemed like Kurt Warner had enough time in the pocket to let his barber take the field and make sense of that bogus buzz cut before he even considered passing the ball. Then there were the wide open receivers breezing down the field, past the first down markers, and into the end zone. We held our collective breath, more than ready for another Jason David f*ck up. But instead of complete obliteration, the defense seemed to be adapting to the “bend, don’t break” mentality.

Wanna know what else scared us? Martin “Rusty Legs” Gramatica. We’re just not convinced he’s that clutch kicker we need him to be. But, we’ve been playing without a clutch kicker all season long, so at least we’re in familiar territory.

Now back to the positive news, these weren’t your daddy’s Cardinals we beat today. This is a Cardinals team that’s won some big games, including a shocker against the soaring Steelers earlier this season. This is a team with legitimate talent, not a league laughing stock like the Falclowns, who we beat handily last week. With that said, this is a win that should motivate the Saints heading into next Sunday’s game against another tough team with a losing record, the Philadelphia Eagles.

We’re in for another dog fight. No room for mistakes. “We’re right they’re boys. We’re right there. Get your mind right.”

Filed under: nfl week 15, saints vs cardinals