In a business where winning now is always the top priority,
the New Orleans Saints' road to the Super Bowl actually began in 2006.
That is the year the Saints made probably three of the biggest roster additions
in team history, a trio of moves that have put New Orleans into the title game
for the first time in club annals.
The first domino fell on January 18 of that year, when New Orleans hired Sean
Payton to replace Jim Haslett as head coach following a 3-13 season. Less than
two months later, Payton and the Saints struck gold by signing Drew Brees to a
five-year contract to be the starting quarterback, and the selection of former
Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush second overall in that year's
draft completed the transformation.
The moves paid off instantly for the rebuilding Saints. Brees threw for 4,418
yards with 26 touchdown passes in 2006, Bush led the club with 88 receptions
on top of eight total TDs, and the Saints went 10-6 en route to a NFC
Championship Game loss to the Chicago Bears.
Things were looking good in the Big Easy, but a 7-9 record the following year
and an 8-8 finish in 2008 had the seat getting warm for Payton. However, the
Saints stuck to their blueprint in 2009, resulting in a 13-3 finish.
"We felt in the offseason we had a chance to be good," said Payton. "You don't
know how injuries are going to treat you. You don't know how the schedule is
going to treat you. There were some challenging games when you looked at it
before the start of the year that you knew [were] going to be tough hurdles.
But I thought we handled that part of it pretty well."
Brees instantly put a block of ice on Payton's hot seat by matching a New
Orleans' franchise record with six touchdown passes in a 45-27 victory over
Detroit in Week 1, getting an offense up and running that would end the
regular season with a NFL-leading 510 points.
And while the Saints would score 45 points or more in four of their first six
games, the defense was there too. Safety Darren Sharper, added before this
season, took an interception 97 yards for a score in Week 2 versus
Philadelphia, a 48-22 win, and he would go on to set an NFL record with 376
INT return yards during the season.
Week 3 saw Brees go without a touchdown pass in a 27-7 win over Buffalo, but
the defense held Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens without a catch for the
first time since his rookie year in 1996. Two more interceptions by Sharper
the following week, one returned 99 yards for a score, helped New Orleans to a
24-10 win over the Jets and a 4-0 start.
New Orleans came out of the bye week refocused on offense, with Brees throwing
four touchdown passes in a 48-27 rout of the Giants. The Saints scored 34
points by the half.
Over their 5-0 start, the Saints never trailed in a game, but that would soon
change over the course of the next three weeks. Not only did New Orleans fall
behind, but it needed to rally in each game to claim a victory.
Versus Miami on October 25, New Orleans came back from 21 points down, as
Brees countered three interceptions with a throwing score and two rushing
touchdowns. The Saints won 46-34, then recovered the following week from four
turnovers to beat the Falcons, 35-27.
A third straight comeback over the Panthers (30-20) on November 8 gave the
Saints their first 8-0 start in club history.
"I couldn't tell you how many games we've played now this year in the regular
season, but you go back and look through," said Payton, "falling behind at
Carolina or playing Buffalo in a fourth quarter tight game or coming back
against Miami...It's a long season, but we played with leads, we've played with
deficits, and I thought that this team improved during the course of the year
and handled those spots pretty well."
While Brees and his passing attack gained most of the headlines, the running
back committee of Bush, Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell were solid week in and
week out. Though Bush was often the odd-man out, sometimes due to injury, he
erupted for two touchdowns in a 28-23 win over the Rams. Three touchdown
passes by Brees on November 22 versus Tampa Bay gave New Orleans a franchise-
record 10-game win streak.
That set up a monumental Monday night meeting with the Patriots, the only team
to ever go 16-0 in a regular season. But the game turned into a blowout in
favor of New Orleans, as Brees completed five touchdown passes to five
different receivers in a 38-17 triumph.
With talk of their own perfect season now getting louder and louder, the
Saints picked up two more wins by the skin of their teeth. First, Washington
kicker Shaun Suisham missed a 23-yard field goal with 1:52 left in the fourth
quarter that allowed the Saints to tie the game and force overtime, where they
won it 33-30 on Garrett Hartley's 18-yard field goal.
A 26-23 victory over Atlanta in Week 14 gave the Saints a 13-0 record, a new
club mark for most wins in a season that brought with it a first-round bye in
the postseason. Some began to wonder if the Saints would go for the perfect
season or begin to rest their starters, but that debate was put to rest the
following Saturday.
The Saints' run of perfection ended with a 24-17 loss to the Cowboys. Fate did
rear its head, as the Cowboys also missed a late field goal try that would
have iced the game, but this time Brees could not engineer a comeback.
New Orleans then turned its attentions to the playoffs, wrapping the season
with losses to Tampa Bay (20-17 OT) and Carolina (23-10) to carry a three-game
skid into the postseason.
No slump, nor rust, were present when the Saints hosted the Cardinals in an NFC
Divisional Playoff. While Brees threw a trio of touchdown passes, it was Bush
that stole the spotlight. The hybrid back, who accounted for eight total
touchdowns in the regular season, scored on an 83-yard punt return and a 46-
yard run to help New Orleans to a 45-14 victory.
That set up a meeting between seeds No. 1 and 2. The Vikings came to town with
future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre under center. And while the New
Orleans defense had trouble keeping Minnesota out of the end zone, it did
manage to force five turnovers.
The biggest came late in the game with the score tied, 28-28, as Minnesota
appeared to be on its way to attempting a go-ahead field try. However, Favre -
never one to shy away from taking a chance - was picked off in New Orleans
territory, the Saints won the coin toss in overtime, and Hartley booted his
team into the Super Bowl with a 40-yard field goal to gave New Orleans a
thrilling 31-28 victory.
Bourbon Street erupted. It had been a long time coming.
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