Saints Nation: The Saints have too many Haters

There's been an awful lot of whining lately, and quite frankly it's starting to anger me. I wrote THIS ARTICLE, which was a rant on how Vikings fans, the national media and others are trying to take the buzz out of our beloved Saints' SuperBowl run. Shame on them.

Oh, and next time you start getting grief from a whiner Brett Favre apologist (and trust me these people are everywhere), feel free to send them to the video below.

Saints Nation: Does the NFL Own Who Dat?

This ESPN article documents the current trendy topic of who owns the phrase "Who Dat"? As the article points out, the NFL has sent local New Orleans stores cease and desist notices claiming the "Who Dat" trademark as their own, at least as it related to the New Orleans Saints. Simply put, the NFL is claiming they own the New Orleans Saints, therefore they own the term so often used to describe them. The timing of these letters being sent, right before the SuperBowl, couldn't be more infuriating. Clearly the NFL is out to capitalize on the current merchandise gold mine that is the Saints, and greedily make a buck that doesn't belong to them. Laying claim to Who Dat is a shameful ploy by the league, and I'm glad to hear that we're out there fighting to place the term where it belongs: in the ownership of the fans.

Here's another great take on the topic by a Saints fan: Washington Post online article

Saints Nation: A View of the Saints' Locker Room after Beating the Vikings

Saints Nation: Go To Heath Evans' Site for a Chance to Win SuperBowl Tickets!

By going to the Heath Evans Foundation site, you can enter into a raffle for a chance to win tickets to the SuperBowl. If you're like me and you didn't win the season ticket holder lottery, or you're just a fan hoping to go to the big game - this is your chance! Raffle tickets are only $2 a piece and the proceeds go to both the Heath Evans Foundation and the Brees Dream Foundation. The prize, should you win, is 4 SuperBowl tickets, $5000 cash, and 2 hotel rooms at the team hotel in Miami! Sounds like a pretty awesome prize to me. I know I'll be buying raffle tickets. Go get yours now! More information can be found HERE.

Saints Nation: Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades vs. Vikings

The amount of big plays were so abundant in this game, it was hard to give most of these defensive players a bad grade, despite giving up over 450 yards and 28 points. Many of them alternated with good with the bad. Still they deserve to be credited for being mostly responsible for the win. Special teams, on the other hand, was a thing of beauty.

Vikings vs Saints coverage
Vikings vs Saints recap
Vikings vs Saints boxscore

Will Smith: B- (2.80) Smith was a very tough player to grade because the offensive line focused their efforts on making sure he was blocked on passing downs. He was chipped and double teamed, adding to that the fact that Brett Favre was getting the ball out of his hands in a hurry. Still, Smith showed tremendous effort, tackling ability and pursuit on running plays. He didn't get any hits on Favre and he wasn't much of a factor rushing the passer, but he did end with an impressive 6 tackles and forced a fumble.

Bobby McCray: C+ (2.04) McCray was mostly on the sidelines during running plays, and the Saints brought him in in instances where he could pin his ears back and go after Favre. He finished with 2 tackles, used his frame and wingspan to deflect a pass, and he was able to hit Favre once. He also got flagged for a 15 yard penalty for blowing up Favre after he handed the ball off on an end around. Part of me wanted to penalize his grade severely for getting flagged, and part of me wanted to give him a pass for roughing up the opposing quarterback for the second straight week.

Jeff Charleston: C (2.33) Charleston was mediocre despite a good amount of playing time, especially on running downs. He finished with one tackle, and was able to put a nice little lick on Favre at one point. He's a passable situational end and nothing more.

Remi Ayodele: B- (2.37) He was involved in the running game and showed more effort that he did earlier in the season. As the games have progressed, I have to applaud Ayodele for his effort. He finished with 5 tackles and was involved in the tackling piles. Still, too many times did he get pushed around allowing Adrian Peterson to get into open space. Give him credit for recovering a fumble that the Saints desperately needed inside the Vikings' 20.

Sedrick Ellis: B (2.72) With the heavy rotation happening on the defensive line, I think Ellis was on the sidelines way too often. When he was in, he didn't make a big play, but he was aggressive. He finished with 6 tackles, most of them a result of finishing plays and helping his teammates. He never gave up on plays and he was quick to finish things off when Peterson was thrown off balance. He also got a decent amount of push up the middle.

Anthony Hargrove: B- (2.39) Hargrove was easily noticed on the plays he did make, but he was also responsible for some major running lanes that Peterson benefited from.  He did get great pressure on passing plays, and once almost broke Favre in half. He finished with 2 tackles, including one for a loss.

Scott Shanle: B+ (2.67) Shanle was all over the field. He was decent in pass coverage, though he was victimized a handful of times, but his strength absorbing blocks, his pursuit on running plays and his tackling was top notch. He finished with 10 tackles.

Jonathan Vilma: B (2.92) Vilma wasn't as involved in stopping the run as Shanle. Peterson made him look silly a few times, slipping through his tackles or blowing past him completely. Vilma was most effective with his pass coverage on this day. He defended two passes and intercepted another. He was mostly responsible for covering Visanthe Shiancoe and he did a good job for the most part. Despite his occasional woes against the run, he did finish with 5 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Scott Fujita: B- (2.75) Fujita was so effective blitzing against the Cardinals, I was disappointed he wasn't sent more often against Favre. He still managed to get one pretty physical knock down, though. He finished with 5 tackles but he wasn't overly impressive. Too many of his tackles were broken. Give Fujita for coming up with a fumble recovery on a bobbled handoff between Favre and Peterson inside the Saints' 10 right before halftime. The Saints dodged the bullet despite a costly Reggie Bush fumble thanks to that.

Jabari Greer: B- (3.33) He had 8 tackles and 2 defended passes. Favre attacked him early and often. In fact, Favre was never afraid to go after him. The results were mixed. His high tackle total is a function of how much action Greer got. It certainly wasn't his best game. He made some terrific open field tackles and completely whiffed on others. He was beaten on a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice, but he also neutralized him overall.

Tracy Porter: B+ (3.09) Porter was arguably the toughest player to grade for the Saints because he was responsible for the biggest plays and the biggest breakdowns. His interception at the end of the game was almost as big as Hartley's make. The Saints were up against it and he came up with a huge pick at the most crucial of times. That play alone gets him the defensive MVP, in my eyes. He also had a very head's up strip from behind catching up to Adrian Peterson inside the Saints' 10 yard line, resulting in another absolutely crucial red zone turnover. So you could argue he saved the Saints from 7 points there, and the game winning field goal at the end. He finished with 8 tackles and a defended pass. Like Greer, he was attacked often and had mixed results. His biggest mistake was a justified pass interference call in the end zone on Bernard Berrian that gave the Vikings the ball at the Saints' 1 yard line. He had his hands full with Berrian and he was giving up way to much underneath. Still, you just can't ignore the big plays he came up with.

Randall Gay: C+ (2.64) Gay had terrific coverage a number of times that still got victimized. It was weird because at least 2 or 3 times, I thought to myself "wow, that's pretty solid coverage by Gay", only for a Minnesota receiver to come up with a sick catch in traffic. Hard to blame Gay for those, but the bottom line is it apparently wasn't good enough. He finished with 3 tackles.

Darren Sharper: B+ (2.90) Sharper was the most steady and consistent Saint on the night. He never allowed a big play over the top, he was physical, he was sure in his tackles, and he played smart. Sharper never made the big play like Vilma or Porter did, but he was the most solid defender on the night. Twice he was sent in on safety blitzes that he timed perfectly, and he pulverized Favre. Talk about laying the wood. I'm surprised Favre actually got up from one of them. He led the Saints with 11 tackles and was all over the field. Quite frankly, Peterson would've potentially had a 200 yard rushing day if he didn't make solid back end tackles.

Roman Harper: B- (2.70) It was a mixed effort for Harper, too. Per usual, his pass coverage was a little suspect. Specifically, he allowed a big third down conversion at an important stage when he was completely burned by Shiancoe. It's a bad sign, if you ask me, when your strong safety can't run with a tight end. Still, he was physical in the box. He missed a couple tackles, but Peterson was extremely slippery. Harper still managed 7 tackles and a forced fumble.

Garrett Hartley: A (3.09) Hartley was perfect on his 4 extra points, and he hit the game winning 40 yard kick in overtime that sent the Saints to the SuperBowl. The kick would've been good from 60, as it was right down the middle and cleared the crossbar by a mile. Kickers don't get put in a higher pressure situation, and that was a big kick to make. As many kicks as we've seen missed this year at the pro and college level, I have to admit I was bracing myself. That's a big time kick under the more dire of situations. Hartley forever placed himself in Saints history with that make. Make no mistake about it, that was a SuperBowl kick.

Thomas Morstead: A (3.00) As much credit as Hartley is getting and deserves, perhaps the most overlooked player on the Saints in this game was Thomas Morstead. Forget special teams player of the game, I think Thomas Morstead has a case for the Saints' PLAYER OF THE GAME. He was that good. Did anyone see that 63 yard punt he completely obliterated? Not only is his leg strength unique, he also gets tremendous hang time. He set up his coverage units nicely, and the Vikings' return units never threatened remotely. He averaged 51.3 yards per punt off of 7 punts, with 4 ending up inside the Vikings' 20 and no touchbacks. Those stats are unbelievable. That's crazy good. His net average was 49.16. 49.16 for crying out loud!!! Off 7 punts!!! It takes players an entire career to punt a game like that together, and Morstead did it in his rookie season, in the NFC Championship. I can't speak highly enough about this guy or the difference he's made. He's without question the Saints' rookie of the year. No one else is even close. The scary part is that he's gotten better and better as the season progressed. Hopefully he'll be the Saints' punter and kickoff man for a very long time. Speaking of kickoffs, they were mostly good and deep, but he did have a couple of short squib/line drives. Luckily none of those turned into a disaster, but I wonder if they were on purpose? That costs him the A+, but make no mistake when I say that he's my Saints' player of the game.

Courtney Roby: A- (2.84) Special teams on the whole were fantastic. Take away Bush's fumble and the whole unit deserves an A+ for the production they came up with. Not much is being made out of their performance in the media, but I really thought it was the difference in the game (arguably more so than the turnovers). Roby was rock solid on coverage, forcing both fair catches and Percy Harvin / Darius Reynaud into redirecting their returns to lanes that led to nowhere. On his returns, Roby never went down to the first hit. He showed good speed and tackle breaking ability. He was able to rip one 61 yard return, and he averaged 28.6 yards per return off 5 tries. He got banged up, but hopefully he'll be ok for the SuperBowl because he's an integral part of what the Saints do. I'm glad we have him. What were we thinking cutting him prior to week 1? We're extremely fortunate no one snatched him up.

My Defensive Player of the Game: Tracy Porter
My Special Teams Player of the Game: Thomas Morstead

Saints Nation: Offensive Player Grades vs. Vikings

I still can't fully believe the Saints are going to the SuperBowl. What a game. I've rooted my whole life for this, and like many of you words can't describe the emotions I went through in the Dome on Sunday. Anyway, on to the grades.

Vikings vs Saints coverage
Vikings vs Saints recap
Vikings vs Saints boxscore

Drew Brees: B (3.22) Brees got the job done, but it wasn't a flawless performance. Statistically, you'd see his 106.5 rating and think he had a very solid performance, but it wasn't always terrific. Brees was less accurate than usual, perhaps due to the tremendous amount of pressure he saw. Brees was credited with two fumbles, once on a bobbled snap and once on a sack/strip by Ray Edwards. Luckily neither was lost by the Saints. Give Brees credit though, he did enough to get his team the W. He finished 17-31 for 197 yards, 3 Touchdowns and no interceptions. It's rare to see him under 200 yards passing.

Reggie Bush: C+ (2.77) The one item that I thought was unforgivable for Bush was the fumble late in the first half on a punt return inside the Saints' 10. Fortunately for the Saints the Vikings came away with no points, but why Bush didn't just settle for a fair catch was beyond me. That was just a very stupid move. Running the ball was equally bad, as Bush too often tried to bounce things outside. In his defense there wasn't much to be done on most of the carries he saw. Just 7 carries for 8 yards. So why does he get a C+? Well, he made two big plays in the passing game. First, he converted a big third down with a beautiful 25 yard crossing route where he beat his man badly, then he caught a crucial 5 yard touchdown on a 3rd in goal. Reggie Bush, in my opinion, is the absolute best in the NFL at using his athleticism to get in the end zone. If he's close, he's going to find a way to contort his body and get six points. Once again, he found the pylon and showed incredible skill. I just don't think there's many players in the NFL, if any, that can turn some of the plays Reggie turns in TD's. That was something special, and the Saints needed it badly.

Pierre Thomas: A- (3.13) Thomas started out with a bang, taking a screen pass 38 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7. He looked fast, shifty, strong and balanced on that play as he broke a couple tackles and raced to paydirt. I really wish the Saints had made the effort to run the football more with Thomas, but maybe his ribs wouldn't allow. Why he never saw the carries on the 3rd and shorts that the Saints continually failed to convert is beyond me. His dive for a first down on 4th and 1 in overtime was, without question, the biggest conversion of the season. He's stopped short and the Saints likely lose. He also got the overtime period started on the right tone with a tough 40 yard return. He had just 14 carries, but 61 yards and another touchdown to show there. The only negative was his sometimes spotty pass protection.

Devery Henderson: B (2.83) With just 4 catches for 39 yards, Henderson was sadly the Saints' most productive receiver on the night. He had a 15 yards reception on a 3rd and 17, and he had another reception just short of the first down right before Pierre Thomas' 4th and 1 plunge. He would've had a 1st down if not for bobbling the football on that play. He also dropped a pass. All that said, he made a very tough catch in the end zone for a 9 yard touchdown. That catch was set up thanks to Brees getting out of the pocket and buying time. Henderson was initially covered, but did a great job of staying with the play and making one of the biggest catches of his career.

Marques Colston: C- (2.90) Colston had a drop in overtime over the seam that nearly led to a very costly interception. Brees looked his way often but couldn't really come up with completions. It was an off day for the big target and a forgettable performance. Just 2 catches for 22 yards.

Robert Meachem: C+ (2.90) Give Meachem a lot of credit, he was basically running on one leg out there and he showed a lot of toughness. I don't think I've ever seen a player play the same week he had his ankle in a walking boot. He was having trouble running out there and gaining any real separation. He still managed 2 catches for 19 yards, though, including a catch in overtime which set up Garrett Hartley's field goal.

Lance Moore: C- (2.43) What happened to him? He caught the first pass of the game for 5 yards and was never heard from again. Hopefully he can bounce back and show us something in the SuperBowl. It's been a really disappointing year from him. I know he's been frustrated with the number of injuries that have plagued him all year long.

Jeremy Shockey: C- (2.82) Like Meachem, Shockey showed a lot of guts and courage getting out there when clearly less than 100%. I thought Shockey was a liability overall, though. He wasn't getting open, he wasn't doing a good job of blocking off the edge, and he just wasn't contributing much positive. I'll give his grit and intensity the credit it always deserves, but I just didn't feel like Shockey was helping the Saints in this game. He finished with 1 catch for 9 yards.

David Thomas: B+ (2.47) Unlike Shockey, Thomas was basically the jack of all trades out there. He lined up as a receiver in the slot, he lined up at fullback, and he was the primary tight end and lead blocker for the majority of the game. He made one of the best catches he's had all season showing very soft hands, and finished with 3 catches for 32 yards. He also drew a lethal pass interference call downfield in overtime. He did all the little things well and was a big part of the victory. Thomas hasn't had it easy and the Saints are asking a lot out of him, so I applaud him for coming through with flying colors.

Zach Strief: B-  (2.38) It was a tale of two halves for the big man, who was the third tight end for the majority of the game. I graded him out extremely high in the first half. He did a tremendous job in both pass protection and blocking off the edge. He was a major help to both Stinchcomb and Bushrod  who were dealing with very tough assignments. The second half saw a major decline in his run blocking. I think the Saints were encouraged with what they saw early so they went off the edge in Strief's direction with very little success in the second half.

Jermon Bushrod: B+ (2.63) Jared Allen had 2 tackles and 1 hit on Brees all day. That's it. I said that Bushrod's production was the key to the game, and he performed great. Granted he had a lot of help with Strief, David & Pierre Thomas, as well as many designed roll outs away from his side. It was clear the Saints knew they needed to neutralize Allen, and they were very aware of his whereabouts throughout. Still, give Bushrod credit, this was his toughest test of the season and he played about as well as anyone could have asked for.

Carl Nicks: B- (2.96) Average performance for Nicks. The Saints ran behind him and got average push. In short yardage situations especially, he was pushed around way more than normal. Pat Williams was a handful for him. Still he managed to make some nice blocks on Pierre Thomas runs.

Jonathan Goodwin: C (2.98) Hard to say whether it was Goodwin's fault or Brees' for the fumbled snap, but they sure picked a weird time to botch what is in my recollection the only time all year that's happened. On a 3rd and 1 Reggie Bush cut back, Goodwin made a poor block and the play went nowhere. Pierre Thomas' 4th down conversion was made despite significant pressure up the middle. He made some decent plays, too, but it was far from his best game.

Jahri Evans: C+ (3.15) Evans was only slightly better than Goodwin getting push on the interior. Kevin Williams gave him everything he could handle. Evans was overall more dominant than Goodwin and Nicks, but he was also guilty of more critical errors. Lynell Hamilton's only carry was blown up on a 3rd and short thanks to a poor block by Evans.

Jon Stinchcomb: C (2.78) I predicted that due to the help Bushrod would need that Stinchcomb would be isolated one on one with Edwards a lot, and I was right. Stichcomb handled himself fine on running plays, but struggled mightily on passing downs. Edwards was beating him off the edge repeatedly, and even managed a sack. A number of times Edwards was very close to making more plays if not for Brees' uncanny pocket awareness.

My Saints' Offensive Player of the Game: Pierre Thomas

Saints Nation: Saints To The SuperBowl

What a season it has been for the New Orleans Saints, and it's not over yet. For the time being, this 31-28 overtime win over the Vikings will qualify as the crowning sports experience of my lifetime. We'll see if that can be topped in two weeks in Miami against the Indianapolis Colts.

Vikings @ Saints: box score

Favre was bruised, battered, and beat up by the end of the game. While the defense gave up yardarge, they created 5 turnovers and played with an intensity that made for the difference in the game. Give a big tip of the hat to Saints' special teams, too. Hartley made the game winning field goal, but the kickoff return unit, kick coverage unit and last but certainly not least Thomas Morstead made a major impact. I would argue that the Saints special teams were the difference, aside from the defense creating turnovers, with the plays they made. I never thought I'd be able to say this in my lifetime, but the Saints are SuperBowl bound. The experience of going to the game was like none other, and of course it was too close for comfort. It's something I will never forget, and the moment Hartley hit that field goal was the best cheer I have ever heard. We'll next see our boys in Miami in two weeks!!

It's been a great ride, and thank you to all the loyal Saints Nation supporters out there. The experience of this season has been ever more satisfying for me, as a Saints fan, than you can ever imagine with the support you have given me and Saints Nation!