With ULM not participating in postseason football games, I couldn’t help but be dragged into the hype of LSU football and, of course, the New Orleans Saints, especially being from south Louisiana.
LSU had its best season in program history with an undefeated record, earned the number one rank and a defense that looked good enough to be remembered as one of the “bestevers.”
The Saints finished the regular season undefeated at home and had only three road losses. Quarterback Drew Brees broke NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino’s singleseason passing record of 5,084 that stood for over 25 years. Brees finished the season with an all-time high of 5,476 passing yards.
But in a week, two teams whose seasons were filled with much hope ended. Badly.
LSU went scoreless in the BCS National Championship game against conference-rival and second-ranked Alabama. The Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers 21-0 in New Orleans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The game was the worst offensive performance I have ever seen by any team. LSU failed to cross the 50-yard line until late in the fourth quarter. Senior quarterback Jordan Jefferson couldn’t put the Tigers in field-goalrange against Alabama’s top-ranked defense.
Alabama’s offense didn’t show to be much better against LSU’s defense, but head coach Nick Saban was able to scheme mis-matches in the secondary that put points on the board for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama’s defense dominated the game, which kept momentum in their favor, and they shut LSU out to break the hearts of many.
Once LSU lost, I was sure the Saints were destined for the Super Bowl. Karma has a strange way of working, so I figured we couldn’t have two championship teams in Louisiana. So LSU went down.
Brees and the Saints came off a dominant win against the Detroit Lions in the Wild-Card game at home. Next up, the 49ers in San Francisco. New Orleans was supposed to show there is no breeze in Cali like a Drew Brees.
Brees literally carried the Saints on his back with his arm, throwing the ball 63 times in the game for 463 yards and four touchdowns. Brees led the team on what was supposed to be a game-winning touchdown drive with less than two minutes left on the clock. He connected with tight end Jimmy Graham in the middle of the endzone over the heads of several defenders, sealing his legacy as a winning quarterback.
Brees did it. He won. I was wrong.
Saints defensive coordinator and play-caller Gregg Williams, the blitz guru, decided to go against setting the defense in a prevent scheme. He called for a man defense that left Saints defensive backs at a disadvantage.
I had a flashback to the previous week in the playoffs when the other black and gold team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, loss on a big pass down the field from Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomas.
Niners quarterback Alex Smith connected with his tight end Vernon Davis for a 47-yard completion that swung momentum to the hometeam. Smith would later connect with Davis again for a 14-yard touchdown pass to win the game.
Yet again, my heart was left splattered on the floor.
