America's Team? It's the Saints Now

NEW ORLEANS -- Go ahead, because this is the right thing to do: You should spend the rest of the NFL season hugging whatever team you traditionally love, but you should kiss the New Orleans Saints in the shadows.

If you prefer to do so in the sunshine, that's fine, too.

The Saints have replaced the folks with stars on their helmets as America's Team. In case you weren't paying attention, Hurricane Katrina blew this franchise into the hearts of all those who had them. That unofficially happened on Sept. 25, 2006, the team's first home game back in New Orleans -- a Monday night when, just like this Monday night, the roof of the Superdome threatened to explode because of the noise generated by inside, as opposed to the wind outside it.

A game that was also against the Falcons. And that, too, was a victory for the Saints, along the way to their first and only NFC championship game.

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Get the picture in black, old gold and white? When you cheer for the Saints, you're still cheering for this city, which has come a long ways since water nearly drowned its existence, but it remains a sometimes-ugly work in progress.

So the majority of the citizens do what they've done forever in New Orleans -- and that is, they live through their NFL franchise. Well, they mostly die with it. But after decades of gasping, it has a strong heartbeat seven games into this season.

In fact, given the Saints' rise to an unblemished record after a 35-27 victory over Atlanta, with the home team excelling before a deliriously loud gathering screaming "Who dat?," and with all of those watching on national television still recalling the death, destruction and despair that smothered these parts four years ago after that hurricane ...

Given all of that ...

Well, who knows what this team might accomplish this season?

Yeah, we know. These are the Saints. A gifted bunch of Saints, with explosive players throughout their offense and with a defense that terrorizes foes at crucial times, but the Saints nonetheless. In the end, they'll likely continue to sit with the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions as the only NFL teams never to reach a Super Bowl.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't pull for the Saints, because they are playing another season for themselves and everybody else.

Aren't they?

"I don't know. I mean, we're always playing for the city, because our fans are so great," said Saints safety Darren Sharper, in his 13th NFL season. Then he added, "A couple of years ago, it was a different situation, especially coming off of Katrina. There was a lot more emotion into it back then, but now, we're just trying to win."


They've done so in different ways. They've done the blowout thing more often than not, and that has included routs of the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants, both NFC East toughies. They've done the comeback thing, rallying from 21 points behind to upend the Miami Dolphins in Week 7.

And now they've done the survival thing.

On Monday night, the Saints were able to overcome the relentless Falcons (who had a chance at a game-tying touchdown in the final seconds) and themselves (four turnovers). Said Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who stayed on the other side of unbelievable by finishing the night with a passer rating of 111.7: "I'll be honest with you. I don't think we played that great today. I think our best is yet to come."

Sharper went a tad further. "We're looking to play the perfect game," he said, without blinking, enough to make you think that maybe these aren't those other Saints.

The Ain'ts are long gone. So are the fans who once attended Saints home games with bags over their heads. As a result, life, as far as football's concerned, is so wonderfully different around this part of the bayou right now that you can ask this legitimate question of the Saints without snickering: Are they the best team in the league at the moment?

Actually, the Saints are -- at the moment.

This is one of those Ginger-Mary Ann discussions, since the highly efficient Indianapolis Colts are the NFL's only other undefeated team.

Not only that, the Colts have their own Drew Brees in Peyton Manning. Entering Monday night's game, the Colts were ninth in total defense while the Saints were 11th, but the Saints were first in total offense while the Colts were fourth.

The Saints have the edge over Indianapolis -- and everybody else -- courtesy of their wealth of playmakers. New Orleans' receiving corps is a bottomless pit, ranging from Marques Colston to Devery Henderson to tight end Jeremy Shockey. At running back, well, let Saints coach Sean Payton tell you: "We try to rotate Pierre [Thomas] and Mike [Bell], and we have certain packages for Reggie [Bush]."

Thomas rushed for 91 yards against the Falcons, Bell added 49, and Bush was his typical, versatile self -- rushing, receiving and returning kicks.

Then there's the defense. The Saints sacked Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan three times, and picked off three of his passes -- the final one coming when Sharper nabbed a desperation Ryan toss in the game's closing seconds. With that interception, it was over.

The game, not the Saints' mission. "We're just focused on trying to get better," said Payton, which should please all of us -- you know, as partial Saints fans.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.