Six minutes. Two timeouts. One defensive stop. I'm not quite sure how that adds up to 15 unanswered points, but if the Saints proved anything yesterday it's that having a transcendent quarterback absolves you of having to do the math...
It's truly unbelievable how quickly the narrative can change when you have a player the caliber of Drew Brees penning the final chapter, because - make no mistake - the Saints' effort up until that point was the furthest thing from deserving a happy ending. Marshon Lattimore's early exit combined with the absences of both Kenny Vaccaro and A.J. Klein certainly played a part in the struggles of the Saints' defense. That said, it shouldn't have left them looking like they decided to pick up the phone and spend hours reminiscing when 2015 and the ghosts of broken coverage's past came-a-callin'. The run defense hasn't exactly been up to snuff all year, but - prior to yesterday's gashing - they have shown themselves capable of limiting the damage. They were obviously up against a desperate team (See: the Redskins fake punt while in the shadow of their own end zone) led by the best quarterback they've faced in over a month and half, but if they are as good as everyone is starting to believe they are then an injury to a rookie - albeit one with All-Pro potential - shouldn't leave them clutching and grabbing like they were fresh from a Brandon Browner coverage clinic. Perhaps it was only a matter of time (and health) before they got exposed, but it was a little concerning that every blitz seemed to leave their backend looking completely nude. As for the offense, a somewhat miraculous comeback saved Sean Payton from having to answer questions regarding Mark Ingram only getting 9 carries in regulation when he was averaging over 10 yards per carry. I know that play calling can be very circumstantial, but as I watched a dominant run game get passed over for possessions at a time I began to wonder whether or not the Saints head coach had short term memory loss. Especially since his offensive line was apparently so giddy from going on the offensive last week that they forgot how to pass protect this week. But enough with the negative, because even after summoning all the ways in which they sabotaged season's past, New Orleans still found a way to end up a net-positive. I'm not sure they needed to be reminded that their most dangerous weapon still resides under center, but I'll be damned if 11 straight completions, 164 yards, and two touchdowns in under 6 minutes didn't do just that. For all they did wrong, the resilience they showed the first time they were truly challenged throughout a win streak that has now spans a half a season felt oh-so-right. It would have been pretty easy for them to pack it in come garbage time, and instead they buckled down, played mistake-free football, and managed to recycle a lost cause into the most awe-inspiring of victories. I've been hesitant to compare this year's Saints' team to the one that will live on forever in the rafters of The SuperDome, as I find it to be a lazy way to look at a roster that has merely one starter in common. That being said, the similarities are starting to become to stark to ignore. Pulling a rabbit out of their ass to make history as the first team to reel off eight straight after an 0-2 start is special enough in it's own right. Doing so against the Washington Redskins as Robert Meachem looked on from the sidelines and fate appeared to have a hand in the outcome? In the best way possible, that's just weird...
The fact that they needed Kirk Cousins to intentionally ground the Redskins chances should probably be a cause for concern as the Saints' schedule only looks to increase in difficulty, but it's impossible to be anything less than optimistic about a team whose undying belief in itself oddly made overtime feel inevitable. I don't know if yesterday's game was some kind of destiny defining win, but it has plenty of similarities to those that were nearly a decade ago. At the very least the people who matter most seem to think it was, so who am I to argue with a team that just proved that - for better or worse - its confidence is unflappable?
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