The New Orleans Saints’ powerful offense fueled a dominating 45–14 win over the visiting Arizona Cardinals in Saturday’s NFC Divisional Playoff at the Superdome. The Saints laid to rest any doubts surrounding their playoff readiness after dropping their last three games of the regular season.
“I felt like our guys were looking forward to playing. The way we practiced was a real good sign that we were ready. It was a good team effort,” said Saints head coach Sean Payton on www.NewOrleansSaints.com.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees looked much as he had during their 13-game win streak to start the season, completing 23 of 32 passes for 247 yards with three touchdowns.
Brees’s big performance was accompanied by the play of running back Reggie Bush who scored touchdowns off an 83-yard punt return and an incredible 46-yard run that left many Cardinals defenders faked out of their cleats.
Payton was especially pleased with the play of Bush. He commented on the star running back, “He’s a guy that has worked very hard. Each year he has matured and he’s very competitive and looks forward to these big moments and is someone who rises to these opportunities.”
Many analysts predicted a high scoring affair between both teams after the Cardinals scored 51 points against the Green Bay Packers in last week’s NFC wildcard game. But the Cards offense did very little after running back Tim Hightower’s 70-yard touchdown run to start the game.
After that score, the New Orleans turned up the heat on offense and did enough on defense to frustrate Cards veteran quarterback Kurt Warner. Arizona was unable to establish any kind of rhythm on offense.
Responding to Hightower’s touchdown run, Brees put together a scoring drive that was capped off with a 1-yard lunge into the end zone by running back Lynell Hamilton. Minutes later, Brees threw a 17-yard touchdown pass down the middle to former Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey.
After putting up two quick scores in the first quarter the Saints got things rolling in the second courtesy of a 46-yard scoring dash by Reggie Bush, increasing their lead to 21–7.
Bush’s score was followed by two more Drew Brees touchdown passes to receivers Devery Henderson and Marques Colston, for 44 yards and 2 yards respectively.
Before the Arizona defense knew what hit them, Brees and the Saints had scored 35 points in the first half.
The last big play of the game for the Saints came in the third quarter, as Reggie Bush returned a punt back for 83 yards and the score.
While the Saints seemed to score at will, Warner and the Cards offense could barely get anything going.
After bombing Green Bay’s defense a week prior, Warner was only able to complete 17 of 26 passes for 205 yards. He threw no touchdown passes and had one interception.
Warner was also knocked out of the game for a short time due to a devastating hit by New Orleans defensive end Bobby McCray after he threw an interception.
Along with Warner, several members of Arizona’s defense were also injured during the game—safety Antrel Rolle (head), talented cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (knee), and defensive tackle Gabe Watson (knee). The injuries on defense only made things worse for the Cards.
With Arizona’s offense unable to click and the defense banged up, Drew Brees and the Saints took advantage of the situation and willed themselves over the Cards both mentally and physically.
Vikings Blow Out Dallas
In the second NFC Divisional playoff game, the Minnesota Vikings destroyed the Dallas Cowboys 34–3 at the Metrodome on Sunday.The story of this game was the stellar play of Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and wide receiver Sidney Rice.
Rice caught six passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns. Among his outstanding plays was a 47-yard scoring catch in the first quarter and a 45-yarder midway through the fourth quarter.
Favre ended the game competing 15 of 24 passes for 234 yards, four touchdowns, and a 134.4 quarterback rating.
Minnesota, whose defense led the NFL during the regular season in sacks, was also impressive, sacking Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo six times and limiting the Cowboys offense to 248 total yards.
The victory was also a milestone for Brett Favre, giving him his first lifetime win over the Cowboys in the postseason.
With their crushing win over the Arizona Cardinals, the first seed New Orleans Saints will play the second seed Minnesota Vikings at the Superdome for the NFC Championship game next Sunday.
There will be extra motivation for the Saints in this game, as they are 0–2 lifetime against the Vikings in the postseason.
Also notable is the fact that it’s the first time the NFC’s championship game has ever been hosted in Louisiana’s historic stadium. A trip to Miami and the Super Bowl is on the line.
