Who Dat? Who Dat? Who Dat Say They Gonna Beat Dem Saints?! Who Dat? Who Dat?

The Saints spotted the Indianapolis Colts a 10-0 lead in the 1st quarter, then came back to win 31-17, tying the largest comeback in Super Bowl history(Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXII; trailed 10-0, won 42-10), becoming the first team since the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win in their Super Bowl debut.

Drew Brees was named Super Bowl MVP, throwing for 288 yards and 2 TDs, completing 32 of 39 attempts, tying Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII for the most completions in Super Bowl history, and the 82.1% was the 2nd highest completion percentage in Super Bowl history behind Phil Simms in Super Bowl XXI.

After the Colts took a 10-0 lead on a Peyton Manning TD pass to Pierre Garcon(the 96 yard drive tied the record for longest TD drive with the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX), the Saints outscored the Colts 31-7 the rest of the way.

The Saints dominated the time of possession and held the Colts to just 6 plays in the 2nd quarter, both 3 & outs, while the Saints scored a pair of Garrett Hartley field goals from 44 and 46 yards to cut the lead to 10-6 at halftime(the Colts stopped the Saints on 3rd and 4th & goal from the 1 yard line with about 2 minutes left in the 1st half).

They then opened the 2nd half with a bang, successfully recovering an onside kick(the 1st time ever in the Super Bowl that an onside kick was attempted before the 4th quarter), and driving the length of the field with Brees throwing a 16 yard TD pass to Pierre Thomas to give the Saints their lead of the game 13-10.

After the Colts answered with a Joseph Addai 4 yard TD run to retake the lead 17-13, Garrett Hartley booted his 3rd field goal from 47 yards out to cut the lead to 17-16, becoming the first kicker in Super Bowl history to make 3 field goals from 40 or more yards. Then after Colts kicker Matt Stover missed a 51 yard field goal, the Saints answer with a Brees 2 yard TD pass to Jeremy Shockey with 5:42 left, giving the Saints back the lead at 22-17. They go for 2, and the pass to Lance Moore was initially ruled incomplete but Sean Payton challenges and it's reversed on review, putting the Saints up 24-17.

Then the Saints pretty much sealed it with 3:12 left as Tracy Porter picks off a Peyton Manning pass and returns it 74 yards for the touchdown to give the Saints the 31-17 lead, and the Saints stopped the Colts' last-gasp drive at the 4 yard line with :44 left to ice it.

The Saints finally freaking did it. Hell's going to stay frozen over for quite a while, so we should soon be hearing about when the hockey game on the frozen lake of fire between the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers and the 9/11 hijackers will be.

-Today, more Saints history was made as former Saints linebacker Rickey Jackson, who was a part of the Dome Patrol(the greatest linebacking corps in NFL history according to the NFL Network), was elected for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Jackson becomes the first player that played the majority of his career with the Saints(1981-1993; he played for the 49ers in '94 and '95, winning Super Bowl XXIX with the Niners) to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He'll be inducted in August with Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Russ Grimm, Dick LeBeau, and Floyd Little.

-Danica Patrick made her stock car racing debut today in the ARCA Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona, starting 12th in a car sponsored by GoDaddy.com and owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and with Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief(Dale Jr.'s longtime crew chief). After spinning out and avoiding the wall with about 25 laps left, she rallied back to finish 6th, just ahead of AMA Motocross legend Ricky Carmichael. Danica was among 6 women to drive in the race today(the most ever), and was the top finisher of the six. Bobby Gerhardt won the race, his 6th win at Daytona in ARCA competition.

It's very possible that Danica will run the Nationwide Series race next Saturday at Daytona.

Found this gem on the WrestleCrap forums, and thought it was hilarious:

"In my area of the country, PETA is big anti-hunting. No one should be able to go out and shoot animals for food. So around deer hunting season (which is almost a way of life for some here), some members in the southern part of the state thought it would be a Jim Dandy idea to go out into the woods during deer hunting season and drive the deer out by making a s*** ton of noise. Well, in their zeal to do the right thing for animals, they ended up driving a huge buck within 100 yards of a hunter in a tree stand. By the time they made their way past the spot, he had it shot and field dressed. He thanked them for their help, as it was the biggest buck he had ever taken. So I guess they do serve a purpose ..."

As far as PeTA's whining about Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil goes, when they learn to practice what they preach and stop killing 80% of the animals they take in(Penn & Teller FTW), then the world will actually take more than a grain of salt in what they say.

-Posting has been light as computer problems popped up again, and we ended up having to get a new one, as my brother, nightflame1993 mentioned. (I had been posting from the Internet Channel on his Wii.)

-According to WrestleZone and Wrestling Observer, TNA is moving Impact to Monday nights permanently starting March 1st, and they'll follow Raw's old taping schedule(live Impact one week, then tape the next Impact on Tuesday night for the following week).

-I've been watching Human Target on Fox, and it's a pretty good show(Guerrero's an awesome character). Now watch Fox cancel it like they do every other good show, though it is airing after American Idol, so it should help.

Some quick random thoughts:

-I'm not taking sides in the whole Leno-Conan-NBC fiasco since I don't watch the late night shows(I usually watch SportsCenter or NFL Total Access or a DVD at that time depending on the day), but I will say this: I think Conan was doomed from the start when NBC gave Leno the 10pm ET/9pm CT timeslot. Leno tanked in that slot, hurting the affilates' local news after Leno, in turn hurting Conan.(I think Colin Cowherd said something similiar as well as saying that Conan's humor only works on either coast, while Leno's humor worked in the middle. You know, that saying about 'playing in Peoria'.)

-The Saints will be the designated road team against the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. That may favor the Saints a bit as the road team has won the last five Super Bowls and the Colts lost the only other time that they were the home team(Super Bowl III against the NY Jets). Though, they'll still have to find a way to contain Peyton Manning next Sunday.

-Some notes about the Saints' win Sunday night: It was the 4th most watched TV program that wasn't a Super Bowl behind the M*A*S*H finale, the Seinfeld finale, and the 1981 NFC Championship between San Francisco and Dallas("The Catch", Joe Montana's game-winning TD pass to Dwight Clark in the final minute). It was also the first time that a team made the Super Bowl after losing their final three games of the regular season.

Edit(8:25pm): Danica Patrick's schedule for the Nationwide Series this season has been announced. Danica is driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team in Nationwide to go along with her Andretti Green Racing car in the Izod Indycar Series.

1 California/Auto Club (Feb 20)
2 Las Vegas (Feb 27)
3 New Hampshire (June 26- following a 4 month hiatus to focus on IndyCar)
4 Chicagoland (July 9)
5 Michigan (Aug 14)
6 Dover (Sept 25)
7 California/Auto Club (Oct 9)
8 Charlotte (Oct 15)
9 Gateway (Oct 23)
10 Texas (Nov 6)
11 Phoenix (Nov 13)
12 Homestead (Nov 20)

There's a possibility that she could run at Daytona Feb. 13th, but it depends on how well she does in the ARCA race there next Saturday.

"Pigs have flown, Hell has frozen over, the Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl!" - Jim Henderson, WWL radio

Garrett Hartley kicked off the greatest party in New Orleans outside of Mardi Gras(in fact at about 5am, they still had people celebrating in the French Quarter) when he drilled a 40 yard field goal between the uprights 4:45 into overtime to win the NFC Championship for the Saints over the Minnesota Vikings 31-28, sending the Saints to the Super Bowl for the first time ever.

While it looked like the Vikings dominated the game, outgaining the Saints 475 yards to 257, but the Saints defense forced 5 Minnesota turnovers, including an interception of Brett Favre by Tracy Porter at the Saints' 22 with 19 seconds left in regulation to force overtime with the Vikings driving for the potential game-winning field goal. But the Vikings were called for too many men in the huddle, making a 3rd and 10 into a 3rd and 15, setting up the interception.

While the Saints offense was held in check for most of the game, Drew Brees still threw 3 TD passes(1 to Pierre Thomas, 1 to Devery Henderson, and 1 to Reggie Bush) and for 197 yards.

The turnovers killed Minnesota in the long run, as all 5 were huge momentum-swingers, keeping the Vikings from possibly retaking the lead or tying the game.

Besides the aforementioned Favre interception(2nd of 2), the Vikings caught a break with a minute to go in the 1st half when Reggie Bush muffed a punt and the Vikings recovered at the Saints' 10 yard line; but on 2nd and goal at the 4, Favre and Adrian Peterson(despite running for 122 yards on 25 carries and 3 TD's, he had problems holding on to the ball, fumbling 3 times, though he did recover one of them and a teammate recovered the other) botched a handoff and Scott Fujita recovered for the Saints at the 10, keeping the game tied at 14 and allowing the Saints to run out the final 50 seconds to go to halftime.

The second turnover, Favre(who was getting the crap beaten out of him by the Saints defense; in fact, the Saints were called for a couple 15 yard personal foul penalties) threw an interception to Jonathan Vilma as he was hit by Bobby McCray somewhat low and Remi Ayodele high, suffering an ankle injury in the process, though he returned on the next Vikings' possession after the Saints punted to end the 3rd quarter with the game tied at 21.

The 3rd turnover came on the 2nd play of the 4th quarter as Will Smith stripped Percy Harvin of the ball on a running play, and Ayodele recovered and ran it to the Viking 7 yard line, setting up the Reggie Bush touchdown catch(initially ruled down short of the goal line, the Saints challenged the call and won the reversal on the replay review) giving the Saints a 28-21 lead.

The fourth turnover occurred with the Vikings driving for the game-tying TD when Bernard Berrian was stripped by Tracy Porter at the Saint 10 yard line and Vilma recovered at the 5. The Saints went 3 and out, though, and had to punt, and Minnesota was able to tie the game at 28 with Peterson's 3rd TD 2 plays after a pass interference call against Porter in the end zone gave the Vikings the ball at the 1.

The Saints did manage to get 68 yards running the ball against the Vikings' #2 ranked run defense with Pierre Thomas getting 61 yards and a TD.

The Saints will play against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami Feb. 7th.

The New Orleans Saints took major advantage of their 1st round bye as the well-rested and healthy Saints blasted the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals 45-14 in the Superdome yesterday, advancing to their 2nd NFC title game in 4 years.

The Saints set or tied several franchise playoff records in the win:

Most points in a playoff game: 45(old record: 31 against the Rams in 2000)
Touchdowns: 6
margin of victory: 31(old: 3, twice)
First downs: 27(tied)
rushing touchdowns: 2
time of possession: 36:27

Reggie Bush had probably his best game ever as a Saint, with 6 carries for 84 yards and a 46 yard TD run(the longest in Saints playoff history) that made the score 21-7 with 2:31 left in the 1st quarter, and a 83 yard punt return for a TD(longest in Saints playoff history; tied for 3rd longest in NFL playoff history) with 6:45 left in the 3rd quarter that accounted for the final score. Bush became only the 2nd player in NFL history to have a rushing TD and a punt return TD in the same playoff game(Charley Trippi of the Chicago Cardinals in the 1947 NFL Championship game against Philadelphia).

Drew Brees threw for 247 yards and 3 TD's(all in the 1st half; 1 each to Jeremy Shockey, Devery Henderson, and Marques Colston).

The game looked destined to be a shootout early, as the Cardinals scored on a 70-yd TD run by Tim Hightower on the 1st play of the game to take an early 7-0 lead 19 seconds into the game. But the Saints answered back to tie the game at 7 on a Lynell Hamilton 1 yd TD run, then the Saints defense forced a fumble on the Cards' 2nd offensive play of the game, recovered by Darren Sharper(who also had an Interception called back on a roughing the passer penalty against Scott Shanle), which the Saints quickly scored a TD on to take the lead 14-7, which they'd never relinquish.

The Saints defense after that 70 yard TD run, held the Cardinals to just 31 yards rushing the rest of the game and 359 yards total.

The Saints showed that they needed that bye week more than the other 3 teams did(Indianapolis, Minnesota, and San Diego), as everyone was at full strength and they looked like they did at the beginning of the season than they did the last five weeks.

The Saints will host the NFC title game for the 1st time ever next Sunday at 5:40pm against the winner today between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings.

-The Saints will play the Arizona Cardinals Saturday afternoon at 3:30pm at the Superdome. The Cards beat the Green Bay Packers 51-45 in OT yesterday.

Should be a high-scoring game with the Saints rested even though the Cards are getting one less day to prepare.

The winner of the game Saturday will play the winner of the game Sunday between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings(if the Saints win, the game will also be at the Superdome; if the Cardinals win, they'll be going to either Dallas or Minnesota).

The Saints decided to mail in the regular season finale to the Carolina Panthers, choosing not to play Drew Brees at all as well as most of their main starters in a 23-10 loss to the Panthers, closing the regular season 13-3 and the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

So Mark Brunell got the start at QB and showed that if Brees gets hurt, the Saints are in big trouble. Brunell is not the same QB he was when he was with Jacksonville and Washington(this was his 1st start since 2006). Brunell went 15 of 29 for 102 yards and a interception.

For the first time under Sean Payton, the Saints lost when they had more rushing attempts(including kneeldowns) than passing attempts(excluding sacks). They even had more rushing yards(111 total between Lynell Hamilton, Reggie Bush, and Mike Bell) than passing yards.

Hopefully, the Saints will be healthy and ready for the battles against teams that have momentum going in the playoffs. As the #1 seed, they're looking at playing either Arizona, Green Bay, or Philadelphia on either Jan. 16th at 3:30pm or Jan. 17th at Noon or 3:30pm.

The Saints' opponents for 2010 are set:
Home: Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Seattle, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Minnesota
Away: Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Arizona, San Francisco, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas

The LSU Tigers lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions 19-17 at the Capital One Bowl in Orlando today, getting screwed over by the idiot referees from the Pac-10 conference that officiated the game.

The Tigers came back from a 16-3 deficit to take a 17-16 lead early in the 4th quarter. On Penn State's last drive, the idiots called LSU for pass interference that was anything but on the first play, and Penn State eventually drives down inside the LSU 5 yard line and kicks the go-ahead field goal from 21 yards to re-take the lead 19-17 with :57 left. After Trindon Holliday returned the kickoff to the LSU 41, the Tigers get into Penn State territory, though out of timeouts, with about :30 left. But after the play was over, a Penn State defender just sat on the ball to waste time, which is Delay of Game. But the cockbiting fucktards calls a personal foul against an LSU offensive lineman for pushing the Penn State player off the ball! Total bullshit call kills LSU's chances at a potential game-winning field goal and gives Penn State the game. And I thought that SEC officials were mentally challenged.

LSU finishes the season 9-4 on a shitty, muddy field in Orlando.

Happy New Year. Hope everyone on my friends list and everyone else have a safe and happy one.

I had computer issues Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and had to call McAfee to fix the problem, which they did.

Some Saints notes:

-Drew Brees, Darren Sharper, Jon Stinchcomb, Jonathan Vilma, and Jahri Evans were named to the NFC Pro Bowl roster Tuesday night. Brees, Sharper, and Evans will be starters(and all five will play) if the Saints don't end up in the Super Bowl(this year, the Pro Bowl is being played the week before the Super Bowl in Miami, rather than the week after in Hawaii).

-For the second straight season, Drew Brees has a shot to break a single-season NFL record in the last regular season game. Last season, he fell 15 yards short(5,069) of Dan Marino's passing yards record set in 1984(5,084). This season, according to ProFootballTalk, Brees could break the record for the highest completion percentage, currently held by Ken Anderson of the Cincinnati Bengals and set in 1982(70.55%). Brees is currently at 70.62%(363 of 514), ahead of the mark. As long as Brees completes at least 7 out of every 10 passes, he should stay above Anderson's record.

One last sad note: Former pro wrestler Dr. Death Steve Williams died Tuesday night after a lengthy bout with throat cancer at the age of 49.

-The Saints blew a 17-0 lead and lost to the then 2 win Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-17 in Overtime(Tampa won the coin toss and scored on the first possession, giving more ammo to the proponents of changing the NFL's overtime rules to allow for both teams to get at least one guaranteed possession like Bob Costas and Jim Nantz) today, blowing a golden opportunity to secure the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs, needing a Minnesota loss to Chicago tomorrow night to clinch home-field advantage this week.

How in the blue hell did they lose this game? I blame the retard referees for the totally bullshit false start call against the Saints(the Bucs' player clearly jumped offsides and touched the Saints' long snapper) right before the Bucs punt return for a TD that tied the game at 17 with 2:30 to play in the 4th quarter. I blame the same long snapper for the bad snap on the field goal Garrett Hartley missed with 5 seconds left that would have won the game, and the holder for not spiking the ball on the bad snap to give the Saints another shot at the game winning field goal.

Drew Brees threw for 258 yards on 32 of 37 attempts and 1 TD. Pierre Thomas had 60 yards rushing on 6 carries and 1 TD before leaving the game with bruised ribs and not returning. Robert Meachem had 5 catches for 66 yards and 1 TD, and Marques Colston had 8 catches for 77 yards.

Darren Sharper did get his 9th interception of the season(now tied for the league lead), returning it for 21 yards to set a new NFL record for most interception return yards in a season with 376 with one game left.

The Saints close out the regular season next Sunday against the 7-8 Carolina Panthers(who routed the NY Giants 41-9 in the G-Men's last game at Giants Stadium, basically eliminating them from playoff contention), now needing to win that game to secure the #1 seed if Minnesota wins tomorrow night.

All-Time Favorite Holiday movies: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Scrooged.

Every Christmas Day, I watch those two movies.

Merry Christmas.

Today, I got Pineapple Express, Role Models, Fanboys, and Heroes Season 3.

Yeah, I found this on another forum(Wrestlecrap) and thought it was hilarious, showed it to my brother nightflame1993, and he laughed his ass off, so this is a little Christmas present.

Apparently, it's a sibling rivalry taken to the next level: Dude's sister tells their parents that he has beer hidden in his room, he's grounded 3 months, so he finds a list in her closet of guys she hooked up with and he posted it on his Facebook as payback:




Karma and Payback - A World Championship Tag Team

-The New Orleans Saints' undefeated run ends at 13 games, losing to the Dallas Cowboys tonight 24-17, dropping the Saints to 13-1 and leaving the 14-0 Indianapolis Colts the only undefeated team left after they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars Thursday night.

Drew Brees threw for 298 yards, 1 TD(setting a franchise record with 121, breaking Aaron Brooks' mark) and 1 INT. Brees also lost two fumbles, including one with 6 seconds left in the game(after the Cowboys kicker missed a chip shot FG when it hit the upright with 2:15 left in the game) with the Saints needing a touchdown to tie a game that felt like Deja Vu(they never led against Washington until kicking the game winning FG in overtime), falling behind 24-3 after 3 quarters.

Defense must get back on track, that's all I have to say.

The Cowboys' win helped tighten their grip on the 2nd NFC wild card spot, eliminating Atlanta, Carolina, and Seattle from contention, while the Saints lost a bit of ground to Minnesota for home-field advantage.

It was annoying, frustrating, and disappointing watching the loss tonight, but still, that was a hell of a run, starting 13-0. Can't win them all, but it was still a lot of fun seeing the Saints try.

The Saints will try to bounce back next week at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The New Orleans Saints hung on to beat their archrival Atlanta Falcons 26-23 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta today to improve to 13-0, the first time in franchise history that they've won at least 13 games in a season. The Saints also clinched a 1st round bye with the win.

But they nearly blew this one, as the defense couldn't stop Atlanta until late in the game(Jonathan Vilma intercepted a pass with under 4 minutes left, then stopped Atlanta RB Jason Snelling for 1 yard at the Saint 45 yard line on 4th and 2 with 1:12 left in the game after Sean Payton questionably called for a fake field goal pass that was incomplete with 2:07 left), forcing the Falcons to punt only once. And the offense has not had the balance between passing and running plays(41 passes to 26 runs, including 2 kneeldowns; 90 passes to 50 rushes the last two games).

Drew Brees threw for 296 yards on 31 of 40 attempts and 3 TD passes(2 to Reggie Bush), tying Aaron Brooks for 1st place all-time in Saints history with 120 TD passes.

Pierre Thomas had 100 yards combined(13 carries for 47 yards; 6 catches for 53 yards), Reggie Bush added 102 all-purpose yards(33 rushing on 6 carries, 46 receiving on 6 catches with a career-high 2 receiving TDs, and a 23 yard punt return), Robert Meachem had 4 catches for 57 yards, Marques Colston had 6 catches for 54 yards and a TD, and Jeremy Shockey had 4 catches for 46 yards.

The Saints will try to make it 14-0 and get one step closer to the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs next Saturday on NFL Network against the Dallas Cowboys at the Superdome.

Can't do just one. So here's two:

-"What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”- The Knibb High principal in Billy Madison(I always end up quoting that one, mainly on GamePolitics about idiot politicans)

-"Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! Hallelujah! And Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?"- Clark W. Griswold, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the best Christmas movie of all-time in my humble opinion.

Honorable Mention: Randal's rant on the Lord of the Rings movies in Clerks 2, the opening of Super Troopers where Thorny and Rabbit pull over the college kids, etc. etc.

The LSU Tigers will be going to Orlando for a meeting against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Capital One Bowl New Year's Day.

This will be LSU's third ever appearance in the Capital One Bowl/Florida Citrus Bowl/Tangerine Bowl. They lost their last appearance 30-25 to Iowa on the last play of the game in 2005 in Nick Saban's last game as LSU coach before he went to the Miami Dolphins, and beat Wake Forest 34-10 in 1979.

This is only the 2nd time ever that LSU has played Penn State, with Penn State winning 16-9 in the 1974 Orange Bowl.

Speaking of Nick Saban, Alabama will play Texas in the BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, California Jan. 7th.

In bowl games being played in Louisiana:

The Sugar Bowl Jan. 1st will pit the Florida Gators against the undefeated Big East champ Cincinnati Bearcats.

The New Orleans Bowl Dec. 20th will be played between the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.

The Independence Bowl in Shreveport Dec. 28th will have the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas A&M Aggies squaring off.

Whew. That was very close.

The Saints never held the lead in the game until Garrett Hartley booted a short 18 yard field goal(his 4th of the game) with 8:40 left in overtime to give the Bless You Boys a 33-30 win over the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field today. With the win, the Saints improved to 12-0 and clinched the NFC South division title(although they actually won it an hour earlier when Atlanta got whipped 34-7 by Philadelphia). More importantly, the Saints remain at least one game up on Minnesota for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.(Edit: Minnesota lost to Arizona last night to give the Saints a two-game lead for home-field.)

Edit: This is the fourth division title the Saints have won(2006, 2000, 1991), and Sean Payton is the first head coach to lead the Saints to a division title twice.

The Saints were unable to establish the running game all day with just 55 yards rushing on 24 attempts(Mike Bell had 16 carries for 34 yards). So Drew Brees threw for 419 yards on 35 of 49 attempts, 2 TD passes, and 1 INT against the league's best pass defense.

Three plays showed how the Saints are getting the breaks this season:

-With :39 left in the 1st half, Brees is picked off by the Redskins' Kareem Moore at the Washington 30 yard line. Robert Meachem takes the ball away from Moore and returns the fumble 44 yards for a touchdown, which was upheld by replay review, tying the game at 17 at halftime.

-With 1:56 left in the game(following the 2 minute warning), Redskins kicker Shaun Suisham shanks a 23 yard field goal(Edit: According to the Times-Picayune, Suisham had never missed a field goal from 30 yards or less beefore yesterday) that would have given the 'Skins a 33-23 lead wide right, giving the Saints the ball back at the 20 yard line. Five plays later, Brees throws a 53 yard touchdown pass to Meachem to tie the game at 30 with about 1:20 left. They end up going to overtime when Jonathan Vilma intercepts a Jason Campbell pass, but Hartley's 58 yard field goal attempt falls short and Fred Smoot is tackled at the 14 yard line on the return.

-On the third play of overtime after Washington won the coin toss, Mike Sellars is ruled down by contact at the 'Skins 39, but the Saints call timeout and the replay booth orders a review as replays showed Sellars lost the ball just before he was down by contact, which the Saints' Chris McAlister recovered. The original ruling of down by contact is reversed and the Saints get the ball at the Washington 37, which the Saints drive to the Redskins 1 yard line and Hartley kicks the game winner.

Robert Meachem had 8 catches for 142 yards and a TD, Marques Colston had 2 catches for 46 yards and 1 TD, Pierre Thomas had 8 catches for 64 yards, and Devery Henderson had 6 for 61 yards.

The Saints tie the club record for most wins in a season(12-3 in 1987 and 12-4 in 1992), and will go for the first 13 win season in franchise history next Sunday at the Atlanta Falcons, 6-6 following their thumping by the Eagles. The Falcons, though, are without Matt Ryan and Michael Turner due to injuries.

Who Dat? Who Dat? Who Dat say they gonna beat dem Saints? Who Dat? Who Dat?

-Watched Terminator Salvation the other day. Good movie(better than Rise of the Machines) and I liked the shoutouts to the previous movies.

-Team USA got its assignments from FIFA for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa today. They were drawn into Group C with their first match June 12th against England, June 18th against Algeria, and June 23rd against Slovenia.

-Sad news to report: Former WWE wrestler Umaga(or You-Manga as William Regal always mispronounced his ring name) died of a heart attack today at the age of 36, days after wrestling on Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania tour of Australia.

Credit to samverick for the gif.

The Saints improve to 11-0 tonight, beating the New England Patriots 38-17 in a loud, raucous Superdome, in the Patriots' 1st game in New Orleans since winning Super Bowl XXXVI. It's the first time since 1992 that the Saints have won at least 11 games in a season.

Drew Brees outdueled Tom Brady, going 18 of 23 for 371 yards(the 5th straight Monday Night game he's thrown for 300+ yards) and 5 TD's, and having a perfect 158.3 passer rating(only the 3rd QB to do it on Monday Night Football, joining Bob Griese and Ben Rothelisberger). Brady went 21 of 36 for 237 yards and 2 INT's(1 to Mike McKenzie, who was just signed last week to shore up an ailing secondary, and 1 to Darren Sharper midway through the 4th quarter that pretty much sealed the game for the Saints; Sharper's 8th of the season, tying Buffalo's Jairus Byrd for the league lead), becoming the Patriots' all-time leading passer.

Brees threw TD passes to 5 different receivers: Pierre Thomas(18 yarder that gave the Saints the lead for good at 10-7; 3 catches, 23 yards; 11 carries, 64 yards rushing), Devery Henderson(75 yarder that made it 17-7; 3 catches, 116 yards), Robert Meachem(38 yarder that made it 24-10 with 1:50 to go before halftime; 5 catches, 69 yards), Darnell Dinkins(2 yarder, Saints led 31-17), and Marques Colston(20 yarder for the final score; 4 catches, 121 yards).

Mike Bell added 50 yards rushing on 13 carries, as the Saints had more rushing attempts than passing attempts, continuing to show the balanced offense. Will Smith had 1.5 of the Saints' two sacks(half on Brady with Bobby McCray and 1 on Pats backup QB Brian Hoyer).

The Saints are the first NFC team to beat the Patriots since the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII and the Carolina Panthers in the 2005 regular season.

The Saints are also the first NFC team since the 1991 Washington Redskins to start the season 11-0(Redskins went on to win Super Bowl XXVI over Buffalo).

It's also the 1st time in NFL history that two teams(Saints and the Indianapolis Colts) have started the season 11-0.

The Saints go back on the road this Sunday to take on the 3-8 Redskins. With a win or an Atlanta loss to Philadelphia, the Saints will win the NFC South.

The LSU Tigers beat the Arkansas Razorbacks 33-30 in overtime just now when the Arkansas kicker missed a 36 yard field goal just a bit wide right, after LSU kicker Josh Jasper booted the go-ahead field goal from the same distance in the same spot.

Some redemption for last week's time management debacle, as the Tigers fell behind 30-27 with 1:20 left, but drove down the field for Jasper to kick a 41 yard field goal with :04 left to tie the game and force overtime.

Trindon Holliday had a 87-yard punt return touchdown that gave LSU a 17-3 lead midway through the 2nd quarter.

LSU won the Golden Boot for the first time since 2006.

The Tigers finish the regular season 9-3, 5-3 in SEC play. Right now, it is being projected by the various sports websites(CollegeFootballTalk, FOX Sports, CBS Sports) that LSU will end up in the Cotton Bowl at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas Jan. 2nd against either Nebraska(coached by former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini) or Oklahoma State(LSU coach Les Miles was coach there before taking the LSU job when Nick Saban left for the Miami Dolphins job).

The Saints spotted Tampa Bay a 7-0 lead then scored 38 on the Bucs to win 38-7 to improve to 10-0, the first time ever that the Saints started 10-0, and the 10 wins in a row is the longest winning streak in franchise history.

Drew Brees had only 187 yards passing, but threw 3 TD passes[2 to Robert Meachem(his only 2 catches of the game for 10 yards) and 1 to David Thomas). He also wasn't sacked and didn't throw an interception for the first time in a month.

The Saints had 183 rushing yards, 92 by Pierre Thomas on just 11 carries, while Mike Bell had 2 TDs and 75 yards on 13 carries.

The defense harassed Bucs rookie QB Josh Freeman all day after the Bucs' 1st drive(95 yards for a TD), sacking him 3 times, forcing 1 fumble(which the Saints recovered), and intercepting 3 passes(Malcolm Jenkins, Jonathan Vilma, and Chris Reis).

The Saints host the 7-3 New England Patriots(beat the NY Jets 31-14) next Monday in what will be their biggest test this season, and a chance to potentially wrap up the NFC South if Atlanta loses to Tampa Bay next week(the Falcons lost 34-31 in overtime to the NY Giants).

LSU somehow blew an opportunity to kick a game-winning field goal against Ole Miss tonight in Oxford, Mississippi. They had 1st and 10 at the Rebels' 31 with about 50 seconds left.

After an incomplete pass on first down, Jordan Jefferson gets sacked at the 41 on 2nd down, so LSU calls timeout with 32 seconds left.

On 3rd down, Jefferson throws a pass to Stevan Ridley(who was in for an injured Keiland Williams) for a loss of 6 yards to the 47, but they inexplicably waited until there were 9 seconds left to call their last timeout.

A Hail Mary pass on 4th and 26 is complete for the first down at the 6 yard line, but the clock stops with just 1 second left(in college football, the clock stops when a team gets a 1st down to give officials time to reset the markers), not enough time to spike the ball to stop the clock when play resumed, let alone running the field goal unit out to set up for the field goal to win the game.

Worst. Clock management. Ever! LSU lost 25-23, keeping the Magnolia Bowl trophy in Oxford.

LSU had a 17-15 lead after three quarters, but Ole Miss scored a touchdown early in the 4th on Dexter McCluster's TD pass out of the Wild Rebel formation(Wildcat) to take a 22-17 lead, then later increased the lead to 25-17 with about 4:30 left.

LSU drove down the field and pulled within 25-23 with 1:17 left on Jordan Jefferson's TD pass to Ruben Randle(his 2nd of the game), but the 2-point conversion attempt failed. But LSU recovered the onside kick(after McCluster pulled his hand back when he had a shot at possibly deflecting the ball) to set up that bizarre final minute.

LSU falls to 8-3(4-3 SEC) will host Arkansas in the regular season finale next Saturday night(1st time that they haven't played the Friday after Thanksgiving).

Yeah, I turned 30 today.

I got Castle Season 1 today.

Not much to talk about lately.