Watching The Saints Has Officially Become An Unfortunate Obligation

I got to be honest, watching that game felt like a chore and I don't mean that solely in the sense that it was something I felt a requirement to do. Don't get me wrong, as a Saints fan I have sentenced myself to what seems like a lifetime of treating meaningless December games like they are appointment television, but yesterday was different. The feelings I felt throughout those four quarters compared favorable to the feelings that I feel when dedicating an afternoon to cleaning. First there was the general apathy that comes with doing something that you don't want to do. Then it was the forced intrigue and self-motivation that makes you temporarily believe that what you are doing is actually enjoyable. Lastly, there was the long, meticulous period of boredom that is so forgettable that you can hardly remember being present for it. Truthfully, I may as well have been blindly pushing the vacuum for the entirety of the second half, because it would have been equally as memorable as the end of the Saints/Bucs game. 

Thirty minutes of NFL gameplay and all I know for certain is that it featured some field goals and turnovers. Other than that it was a complete blur, and I wasn't even drunk for it. I genuinely thought I conciously watched that game start to finish, but I'm starting to think my brain went in to 'Power Save' mode somewhere between the kick that made it 13-11 and the interception that eventually put every viewer out of their misery. Seriously, the fact that that coma inducing disgrace for a divisional matchup was 'America's Game Of The Week' is a bigger indictment of this country than it's incoming leader's past as a reality star.

I don't really think there is too much to take away from that game either. I don't think the Saints displayed a lack of effort, but there did seem to be a touch of indifference that is characteristic of a team whose playoffs hopes had been all but shattered a week prior. It may seem alarming that Drew Brees now has two straight weeks with zero touchdowns and three interceptions, but I am much more inclined to chalk that up to the unpredictable WTF-ness of this season rather than a sign of some disastrous decline in his performance. Who knows? Maybe he has just grown tired of watching this team play out the end of their seasons with nothing but their pride on the line. As someone who felt like that game drugged me into a stupified, robotic state that is reminscent of a man doing dishes I can comfortably say that I wouldn't blame him.  

P.S. Jesus wasn't enough, and neither was Brandin Cooks performance with Michael Thomas sidelined. If you're going to whine for targets then catch touchdowns when they hit you in the hands.