Saturday night football in the Superdome had every member of the Who Dat Nation dreaming of an undefeated season with the Saints sporting a 13-0 record. Big Daddy’ s experiences have taught him how great expectations in sports can quickly crash and burn. Guiding the team through the emotional rollercoaster of an NFL campaign requires Coach Payton to juggle more than Tiger Woods managing his harem. Perhaps Tiger should make a guest appearance on HBO’ s series about Mormons, Big Love? People judge the way you handle adversity. As the Saints attempt to garner the top seed, journalists and Saints fans will document the effect of the Saints’ first loss of the season. In this week’ s edition of the Section 645 Saints Beat, Big Daddy tailgates outside the Superdome, delivers a live update from Section 645, recaps the Dallas game, evaluates recent team weaknesses, reports from the New Orleans Bowl, and releases his World Famous Pregame Information.
Big Daddy’ s posse were special guests of the New Orleans Tailgaters prior to Saturday night’s showdown against Jerry’ s kids— Wow! Those tailgaters are a dedicated bunch of characters. Their website, located at: www.neworleanstailgaters.com teaches bush-league pregame partiers what getting called up to the majors feels like. We felt honored to take part in such a wild affair before the big game. The New Orleans Tailgaters’ traditional spot sits under the Poydras off ramp from I-10 East at Bolivar Street. The extensive menu included: barbequed ribs, beef brisket, homemade chili, andouille sausage, bratwursts, hamburgers, hot dogs, and chocolate chip cookies, along with an unlimited amount of domestic and home-brewed beer to wash it down. Totally Awesome! Big Daddy was so ready to ambush the Cowboys, unfortunately the Saints weren’t. The organization’s over-the-top pregame blowout featured entertainer Randy Elvis performing with Mike Darby and the House of Cards, a DJ/MC, raffles, prizes, lights, innovative portable facilities, and countless Saints banners, signs, and flags to mark their territory. Big Daddy was overwhelmed!Section 645ers brought their “A” game for the Saturday night Big “D” party; however, Wade Phillips’ squad took it to the Saints from the get go. The Saints offense couldn’t sustain drives and the defense couldn’t get off the field. Obnoxious Dallas fans poured salt on our wounds, bragging how they quieted the league’s loudest stadium. Though Saints fans felt more helpless than Republicans trying to stop health care reform, the Cowboys couldn’t send them to the exits early. As the Saints fourth quarter rally ensued, fan noise approached ear-damaging levels, creating coffee stains in all the Cowboy fans’ britches. Since our rally fell short, Big Daddy tipped his cap to Jerry; but don’t worry— we’ll be ready for the rematch in late January. If they make it that far.
The Dallas game recap starts with the Cowboys’ sure-tackling defense setting the tone early. The Saints went 1-2-3-kick on their first possession, forcing a Thomas Morstead punt. Quarterback Tony Romo seized control, connecting on a 49-yard touchdown strike to Miles Austin, putting the visitors in front 7-0. Following the Saints second straight three-and-out, Romo engineered another scoring march, capped by Marion Barber’ s 3-yard run. Dallas led 14-0 after one. Garrett Hartley’ s 34-yard field goal got the Saints on the board, and they trailed 14-3. Nick Folk’ s 44-yard 3-pointer, setup by Anthony Spencer’ s recovery of Drew Brees’ fumble, sent the Saints to the break trailing 17-3. Dallas opened the third playing keep-away, their 7:00 drive finished off by Barber’s 2-yard TD run gave besieged Head Coach Wade Phillips a commanding 24-3 lead, heading to the fourth. Mike Bell’s 1-yard power run broke the plain, trimming the deficit to 24-10 with 12:35 remaining. Brees’ 7-yard TD pass to Lance Moore closed the gap to 24-17 with 8:00 to go. Cowboy kicker Nick Folk’s 24-yard attempt, clanged off the upright, giving the Saints a last-gasp effort to force overtime. Linebacker DeMarcus Ware sack of Drew Brees jarred the ball free, and nose guard Jay Ratliff pounced on the pigskin. The turnover ensured the 24-17 Dallas win.
Numerous chinks in the armor started mounting (no, not the Jefferson Parish Political Machine) as December began. Until now, the Saints managed to notch unimpressive wins against weaker opposition. Dallas stopped the Saints’ 13-game win streak by using a fierce pass rush on defense. Offensively, Tony Romo’ s accurate passing and illusive pocket awareness mixed with smash-mouth running combined to build a insurmountable 24-3 lead. Resolving the Saints’ offensive woes will only happen when Coach Payton decides to balance the attack by staying committed to the run. Creating more rushing attempts allows us to control the time of possession, which will also protect the injury-plagued defense. Now that dreams of crashing the ’ 72 Dolphins’ perfection party are dashed, garnering the NFC’s top seed and restoring the Saints’ roster back to full strength becomes the mission. Remember a healthy Saints line-up crushed NFL opposition quicker than U.S. Attorney Jim Letten indicts innovative local politicians. How great would it be if elected officials spent time in closed-doors meetings solving society’s problems instead of creating new ways to line their pockets?
French Quarter hotels, bars, and businesses shelled out that famous New Orleans hospitality to welcome the 30,000 visitors who swooped into the Crescent City to attend the 9th annual R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. If your university receives an invitation to a lower tier bowl, where would you want to go? Excited supporters answered that question emphatically, proudly displaying their school colors as they strolled through the beautiful Vieux Carre enjoying the freedom of legally toting tasty libations. Many younger fans took full advantage, double fisting their way to game time. Middle Tennessee State survived Southern Miss’ s first quarter dominance behind quarterback Dwight Dasher’ s record-setting performance and rallied from a 14-0 deficit to emerge victorious in a thrilling 42-32 shootout.
Tune in to the next edition of the Section 645 Saints Beat when Big Daddy recaps Tampa Bay game, provides the last regular season Section 645 update, reports the demise of the Mid-City Bonfire, attends the John Mooney and Galactic New Years’ Eve Bash at Tipitina’ s, and covers the Sugar Bowl. Hey folks, it’ s still the Holidays, so please don’ t forget to Click for Cans whenever you can. Simply log on to: www.chunky.com/ClickforCansLanding.aspx to cast your vote for the Saints. If you haven’ t learned enough about your favorite pro football team’ s early struggles, check out: www.NOSaintsHistory.com to impress all the ladies at your favorite Saints viewing watering holes. Now Big Daddy releases his World Famous Pregame Information: — Go Under 48.5 —
