Saints in Super Bowl? Brees, Improved Defense Have Shot

NEW ORLEANS -- You still slip-slide into a surreal daze upon entering the Superdome, recalling the horror it symbolized amid the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. No human being forgets how this "shelter of last resort'' reeked of stench from 30,000 refugees who had precious little water and food, how they reportedly were subjected to rape, violence, gang activity, drug dealing and the sight of a man committing suicide by jumping from the upper deck. But ever so quickly, the new excitement inside the Dome sweeps you right out of the past.

Refurbished and alive now, it's nothing but a den of delight in a city that still needs daily doses of hope and heart.

This is the home of Drew Brees and the Saints, a franchise once so awful that fans wore paper bags over their heads, but is suddenly resembling a team that could win a Super Bowl. Despair in the mushroom-shaped building has been replaced by raw delirium, an aura centered around a prolific and oddly underhyped quarterback, who has warmly embraced the city's recovery efforts and might not stop proving his former team, the Chargers, wrong until he reaches the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Who dat! Who dat, who dat! Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints!'' blared a rap song over the sound system Sunday evening, a modern rendition of a long-lost chant after the defense tormented rookie Mark Sanchez and Brees calmly managed the cause in a 24-10 silencing of the formidable New York Jets. In their fourth victory without a loss, success was more about the smothering, blitz-heavy pressure put on Sanchez, another long interception return for a score by the reborn Darren Sharper and a running game sparked by Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush, who finally is beginning to escape Kardashian hell and reassert himself as a gamebreaking weapon. For the second straight week, Brees went without a touchdown pass, which is like Pat O'Brien's running out of Hurricane mix or Cafe Du Monde offering no morning beignets. But Brees' big smile afterward confirmed that he has a championship on his mind this year -- and knows that the chances are better with balance between the offense and defense and a less explosive aerial show. Do I need to remind anyone how many Super Bowls were won by Dan Marino, to whom Brees sometimes is compared because of their prolific numbers?

When was the last time Cool Brees, who completed 20 of 39 passes for a "mere'' 190 yards, had to manage a game so efficiently without contributing his usual wow factor?

"Maybe not since the LaDainian Tomlinson days in San Diego,'' he said, referring to his early years when he handed off to L.T. and got out of his way. "I'm just so excited about the way we've come together as a team, the way we're playing, what we're doing on defense and special teams, the balance we have. My job is to lead that group of men, manage a game, take care of the ball and win games. The fact that the last two games I've thrown no touchdown passes and passed for a buck seventy, a buck ninety -- I think that type of complimentary football is good for the offense and good for all our players.

"It's winning us football games. In the end, it doesn't matter how we get it done, as long as we get it done. Our defense is just unbelievable.''

Said coach Sean Payton, the offensive guru and Bill Parcells disciple who has vowed to do more than turn Brees loose: "To win big in this league, you have to play a complementary game. This isn't about style points now. This is about the formula to win each game, and to get on to the next week. If we've got to run the ball more, play more coverage on defense, we ultimately have to be in concert with one another to win each week. All three phases are needed to win football games.''

But make no mistake, the New Orleans reclamation project, on the field and in the streets, is largely a Brees production. No NFL quarterback -- not Peyton Manning, not Tom Brady, certainly not Philip Rivers in San Diego -- has matched his staggering numbers since 2006. Since the Chargers gave the job to Rivers and prompted Brees to sign with New Orleans as a free agent, he leads the league derby in touchdown passes (97), 300-yard games (25), yards (14,941), completions (1,296) and completions of 25 yards or more (112). Last season, he fell 15 yards shy of breaking Dan Marino's single-season passing yards record. This season, he threw six touchdown passes in the season opener -- the first game attended by his son, nine-month-old Baylen -- and followed with three the next week. Yet because he plays deep in the Bayou and isn't one to crack jokes and marry supermodels, Brees doesn't receive the national reverence and love of Manning, Brady and even someone such as Eli Manning, whose statistics pale in comparison. For this oversight to be corrected, Brees will have to win a championship.

Do we dare suggest this is the year? Who dat, who dat?

"That's what we want to do. That's what we can do,'' he said. "To win it for this city after everything that has happened would be unbelievable. It's our mission to have that trophy.''

"He knows that your legacy is your wins and winning a Super Bowl,'' Payton said. "That's ultimately how quarterbacks and coaches are remembered.''

I would say it's almost criminal that Sanchez, because he's in New York and good-looking and went to USC and posed for a magazine pictorial with a model that he ended up dating, has received more buzz than Brees. That will stop now after Sanchez threw three interceptions, one that Sharper ran back 99 yards for seven points, and had a passer rating of 27.0. He also was sacked by Will Smith in the end zone and committed a fumble that was recovered by Remi Ayodele, making the hotshot responsible for two New Orleans defensive scores. He also drew a 15-yard penalty on Sharper's return by diving at the knees of former Jet Jonathan Vilma, which will be viewed as dirty by some and didn't make Sanchez a lot of friends around the league. His coach, Rex Ryan, has won admirers in New York for his hustle and big mouth: saying he didn't come to the Jets to "kiss (Bill) Belichick's rings,'' beating New England and Belichick in his first try, taping a phone message urging season-ticket holders to make noise and, somehow, turning the Jets into as big a deal in New York as the Giants. In suffering his first defeat, he was just as candid about about his quarterback.

"I thought Sanchez at times looked like a rookie today,'' Ryan said. "He made some mistakes, which I'm sure he wishes he had back. He wasn't the only one who had a rough day. We have to do a better job of protecting him.''
Maybe, but Sanchez fell victim to the all-out blitzes designed by the team's new defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams. During the week, Williams warned his players what Sanchez does when he's being swarmed.
"We noticed during certain protections that when he gets pressure, he steps back,'' said Smith, who had two sacks. "Most quarterbacks step to the side, so it's really not a good thing for a quarterback do to step back. It played to our advantage.''

The next Joe WIllie Namath? He wears white shoes, but for now, let's hold off on Sanchez mania. "My mistakes killed us,'' he said. "Our defense played well enough to win. That game is 10-10 without three interceptions and a fumble. So that's the game right there. You turn the ball over like that, you just aren't going to win. I made poor decisons. That's no excuse for that.''

As for the embarrassing pick for a touchdown -- Sharper is convinced the rookie "never saw me'' -- Sanchez said he was guilty of telegraphing. "That's a classic rookie quarterback looking at his receiver. Sharper read me the entire way,'' he said. "He saw my eyes and I threw it right to him. There's absolutely no excuse for that. It was a poor decision and poor use of my eyes.''

That quickly, the Jets might have a division within the ranks. The defense played well and held Brees without a touchdown pass, normally a recipe for a victory. "I thought our defense played well enough to win. But I'm not going to make a big deal and criticize what happened,'' said the always-opinionated linebacker, Bart Scott, who probably will pop off if Sanchez performs poorly in Miami a week from Monday. "Honestly, I thought we were going to come in here and leave with a victory and then go undefeated. We'll try to learn from the experience and go 15-1. We are behind that kid 100 percent. There's no need for panic. We are not going to go off course. You will not find this team getting off his bandwagon.''

Yet.

In fairness to the kid, he was facing a much-improved defense that leads the league in quarterback knockdowns. The stars of the line are Smith and Charles Grant, both of whom were expected to be suspended by now for violating the NFL's steroids policy. But commissioner Roger Goodell hasn't taken action yet after Minnesota's star defensive linemen, Kevin and Pat Williams, were cleared to play by the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals after the same court ruled against Smith, Grant and former Saints running back Deuce McAllister. All five turned up positive last season for a banned diuretic, bumentenide, that can be used as a steroids masking agent.

"The situation presents several unique and narrow aspects that I believe call for us to put the good of the game ahead of questions of discipline,'' Goodell explained. "Considerations of fairness, uniform application of our policies and competitive integrity all support deferring the suspension at this time. I am not prepared to treat players differently when the same conduct is involved.''

Said Smith: "It feels great to still be out there. As me and Charles said all along, we're happy with the decision and happy to support our team.''


You might suggest that Goodell issue four-game suspensions to all four linemen. But then, he'd be wrecking the chances of two elite NFC teams. We'll find out more about the Saints in two weeks, when they play the Giants after a bye week. All we know now is that they can win without Brees making history -- or doing much of anything, really, but hand off and hitting an occasional pass. "He didn't make the mistakes I made,'' said Sanchez, learning a lesson.

"I don't think he was the regular Drew Brees,'' Ryan said, "but he did make enough throws to win the game.''

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It will be interesting how this plays in the league MVP race. Peyton Manning is playing out of his mind. Brady is starting to shed rust, find Randy Moss and reestablish his eminence. Adrian Peterson, the regal running back, wins votes every time he busts through a tackler. Brees? Oh, he didn't throw six TD passes Sunday. Must be losing it, especially when the Saints missed out on three fourth-and-short situations, one at the Jets 1-yard line. "I'll focus on the win,'' Payton said to a questioner. "You can keep track of the fourth downs.''

Yes, they should be enjoying the Saints' first 4-0 start in 16 years, as most folks are in the Big Easy. Not far from the Superdome, you see abandoned, battered homes and homeless people, visible evidence that New Orleans isn't even close to breathing again. Brees knows this, too. "There's still a lot to be done,'' said the quarterback, whose foundation does magnificent work in the city. "A lot of people look at it as an opportunity to rebuild things better. It's getting better a little at a time.''

A Super Bowl won't bring back jobs, homes and lives. But it would bring joy and unite a community, which is what sports does best. No city ever has needed a sports lift more than New Orleans.

Make it happen, Drew Brees. Anyone with a heart is rooting for you.