Saints Gab

We continue to highlight a few things the Saints said in Tuesday’s Media Day in preparation for Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Garrett Hartley

On his feelings before kicking the game-winning field goal against the Vikings:

“Just was telling myself, you know, I guess subtle things. I missed a kick versus Tampa, which I kind of rushed myself on. I didn’t get to follow through and so I was just going to kind of relax a little bit more and really just make sure I’m getting through the ball and things work out. John Carney has been such a tremendous attribute to me learning. I’m 23, I know I’m young. I have a lot of learning and maturing to do and he’s definitely helped me with that on an astronomical level. Just coming out there, just telling myself to come through the ball, slowing down my approach. Whenever it came off my foot, there was no question in my mind that that ball was going exactly where I wanted it to go.”

On his feelings about being in the Super Bowl:

“It’s just an amazing feeling to be out here, knowing that we’re competing for a chance to be world champions. Honestly, I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

Saints Owner Rita Benson-Leblanc

On being a female executive in the NFL:

“There are many women that orchestrate a lot of things behind the scenes and through ownership or support. I’m very proud of the other women that I’ve seen come before me and are young now. At the Super Bowl, I always get to speak to some of the other female relatives and some of the other owners and really encourage them to get involved, even if it’s just a short internship to get them familiar with the family business. I think that’s very strong in the NFL, as we encourage families to work. You see coaches and players and corporate executives come and go, but unless you really have that oral history and sense of family tradition, those are the values that you really need to stay strong. Then, you balance that with the other pieces. But I think that’s really, really important to the NFL. There’s always a long-term thought process and responsibility to our community and our country, but also to grow fans internationally.”

Jabari Greer

On facing the Colts offense:

“It’s a good offense. They have been able to be successful up to this point. They are one of the best offenses in the NFL. Fortunately we go up against a good offense every day in practice. We understand that in every game there is an opportunity to make a play. In these types of games, it amplifies. You have to step up and make a play. This is a good offense; a good quarterback, a good receiving core, a good offensive line. We realize it’s going to be a challenge.”

Marques Colston

On Brees’ confident in Colston since Day One:

“I felt exactly the opposite. I felt terrible coming out of minicamp. To be honest, I really didn’t think that I was going to be on the roster too much longer. I got into training camp and was able to do some good things. I’m sitting here now.”

On the turning point of the season:

“It might have to be right here in this stadium. We were down 24-3 to the Dolphins. Just to see the look of everyone’s eyes and the sideline and to really know what we had on the sideline. No one was wavering in their confidence that we were going to win that game.”

The battle over the use of the phrase Who Dat! has gone global. This time the Times of London weighs in on the debate and gives an emphatic Who Dat!

They put together a nice montage mixing Saints fans celebrating in New Orleans and Londoners in the street trying to say the popular Saints battle cry.Trust me, this video will have you at least smiling.

Click here for full video.

This is an article posted Dec. 19th before the Saints-Cowboys game..Again, I encourage all of you to post a comment below about what the Saints mean to you…

It’s Saturday here in New Orleans and downtown is fast filling with tailgaters and partygoers getting ready for tonight’s Saints game. It’s amazing to see so many happy people come together and celebrate sports and a team that is deeply New Orleans. In fact, Louisiana was recently named the happiest state in America in a recent CDC study.

The Saints story this year is much more than wins and losses. It’s the story of a celebration of all that is New Orleans. Hard to imagine, but the city almost lost the team after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Superdome was in such disrepair that it was going to be torn down.

With the wins comes a lot of media exposure. I don’t know about you, but I’ve read a lot of misconceptions about this team and this post-Katrina city and it’s relationship. ESPN did a wonderful article on this relationship. It’s well worth the read.

So my questions to you Saints fans, media members, Saintsgab readers, what do the Saints mean to you and to New Orleans? What do you think is their relationship to a post-Katrina New Orleans?

Please click the comments link at the bottom of this post to leave your comments. I’ll give you my take soon. Let the debate begin!

Attention all Who Dats who are gonna be in Miami..

We are looking for your Super Bowl adventure pics..It could be anything- a group of Saints fans, some Super Bowl festivities, player shots, etc. We want you to share your Super Bowl experience with other Who Dats, like me, who couldn’t go to Miami, but are with you otherwise in spirit!

We’ll be posting pics daily!

Please send your pics, along with some comments to gtorres15@hotmail.com.

Thanks! Who Dat! Who Dat! Who Dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?

Welcome to Miami!

Super Bowl week is now in full swing with the arrival of the Saints in Miami for this week’s big game.

The Saints arrived in Miaimi around noon EST into Miami International Airport to a light drizzle. They boarded the team buses where they found a nice surprise waiting for them- Coach Payton, Drew Brees, and the rest of the Pro Bowl players already in Miami dressed as bellhops waiting for the team’s arrival. The stunt, first done by Bill Walsh before the 1981 Super Bowl, was meant to relax the team and set the tone early.

After settling down, the team practiced at the Miami Dolphins’ practice facility, which is rare for a team upon arrival for the Super Bowl.

The Saints return to Sun Life Stadium for Media Day. The event was moved indoors to the club area of the stadium due to inclement weather.

Click here for the NFL Network’s Saints arrival coverage.

And the winner is…The New Orleans Saints!

President Barack Obama revealed his pick last night in an exclusive interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer

“You know, I think both teams are terrific,” Obama told Sawyer. “I guess I am rooting a little bit for the Saints as the underdog, partly just because when I think about what’s happened in New Orleans over the last several years and how much that team means to them. You know, I’m pretty sympathetic.”

I wonder if the Super Bowl betting odds makers agree with him.

Thanks for your vote of confidence Commander in Chief!

Our friend Adam at vikingsgab.com has graciously allowed us pick his brain for all things Vikings this week. We will have another blogger’s Q&A session this week as usual, with one exception..

You guys get to decide what to ask! Leave your questions in the comments section and we’ll pick the top ten to ask Adam.

Got a question about a certain Viking? Or what the Vikings hope to do against the Saints? Let’s ask Adam!

The Saints return to practice Wednesday morning in preparation for Sunday’s NFC Championship game. Coach Sean Payton decided to give his players extra time to rest and recover from Saturday’s game, hoping the team will return fresher and energized going into Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.

Afterwards, catch the post practice press conference live on NFL Network as part of five hours of continuous coverage of Conference Championship Week. The Saints segment will start around 1:45 PM Central Time from the Saints’ practice facility in Metairie. Coach Payton, Drew Brees, Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith will be available to the media for interviews.

(For anyone interested, the Colts press conference starts at 11 AM CT, followed by the Vikings at 11:45 AM, then the Saints and finally the Jets at 2:45 PM)

We sat down with Scott of the Arizona Cardinals fan blog raisingzona.com and discussed the upcoming NFC Divisional Matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints.

Scott discusses his keys to the game, the fatigue non factor this week..and a friendly reminder not to forget the kickers.

SaintsGab: The Cardinals gave up over 400 yards passing and 4 TD passes to Green Bay last week. What will the Cardinals do defensively to slow down the Saints offense?

RaisingZona: Good question. What can they do? They basically have five days to prepare for an offense that is, on paper, even better than Green Bay. Drew Brees, at least right now, is a better quarterback. I don’t think you should see New Orleans score 45, but I also don’t think the defense can keep them under 20. Brees has just as many, if not more weapons than Rodgers was able to utilize last Sunday.

SG: What will the Cardinals do on offense to exploit mismatches in the Saints’ defense?

RZ: Do what they’ve always done. No need to change the game plan. Quick releases by Warner in the passing game to avoid blitz’s, and keep a hard balance early on between the running game and passing game like they did last week. After 30 plays last week, they had the same number of running plays as they did passing plays. Look for more cross patterns from the receivers. New Orleans is at their best when they take the ball away from you. You can be sure Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower will be focused on holding onto the ball, something they had trouble with on a consistent basis throughout the regular season.

SG: Who or what is your X Factor for this game? (anything you think may affect the outcome of the game)

RZ: Believe it or not, the kicking game. In a game we expect to be a shootout, sometimes things you expect don’t always come to fruition. This could easily end up being a game like 23-20. In that case, field position is key. This is where the Cards punter Ben Graham comes in. He was a master at pinning opponents inside the 20 and the 10 yard lines all season. As for kicker Neil Rackers, a kick from him could ultimately be the difference. He had a tough game last week. How he rebounds could decide what the Cards plans are for next weekend.

SG: I have to agree with you on this one. Lost in all this talk of an offensive shootout is the kicking game. Thomas Morestead has become a solid punter for the Saints and has played better as the season wore on, winning the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week Award the last week of the regular season. Garrett Hartley has done well for the Saints for the most part. He had a key miss against the Bucs in Week 16. It will be interesting to see how the Saints’ kickers handle the playoff pressure, as both players have no playoff experience.

SG: How do you think having a bye week and resting players at the end of the season will affect the Saints? Is having momentum going into the playoffs true or overrated?

RZ: Hard to say. I say it depends on the team. For a team like the Cardinals, I think it was important they played last week. Sure they will have only five days of rest but having played recently will help this team. They have been inconsistent all season and they play better when they don’t have as much time off. For the Saints, I’m not sure the week off normally would have been an issue, however the starters didn’t play in week 17 and they didn’t play well at all the two weeks before that. Everyone is professional though and the Saints didn’t win 13 games on their good looks. They did something right and they are home. I don’t see either team having that great of an edge based on the bye for the Saints.

SG: How will playing an emotional overtime game and preparing for this game on a short week affect the Cardinals?

RZ: It only affects them in the sense they had one less day of practice and they had to cut their day off in half on Tuesday. They didn’t experience too many tough injuries in Sunday’s win, however linebacker Gerald Hayes is questionable. Again, these are professionals and they’ve dealt with shorter weeks in the past without much issue.

SG: I have to disagree. If this game turns into a shootout, advantage Saints. The Cardinals have not had a weekend off since Oct 11th..that’s 14 straight weeks. And the Cards were gassed after last week’s game.

Which players could have the biggest impact on Saturday’s NFC Divisional Playoff Game?

Saints CB Jabari Greer

Greer is back and healthy for the Saints after missing the second half of the regular season with a groin injury and sports hernia surgery. He played primarily as the nickel back in passing situations in the regular season finale against the Carolina Panthers.

He has a tall order ahead of him- keeping an eye on Anquan Boldin, if he plays, or Larry Fitzgerald, two of the most gifted receivers in the league in Arizona’s pass happy offense. While he doesn’t have the size to keep up with either receiver, he has the smarts and skill set to be effective against them. Greer must slow down either receiver and throw the timing of the passing game off to give the Saints time to come after Cardinals’ QB Kurt Warner, who has one of the quickest releases in the league.

Saints DE Bobby McCray

McCray will more than likely get the start at the DE spot vacated by Charles Grant’s injury. While arguably a better pass rusher than Grant, McCray is battling a back injury which has limited him in practice the past few weeks.

The Saints are going to count on McCray to help come after and pressure Kurt Warner all game. For the season, McCray has 12 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Cardinals CB Mike Adams

Adams had a rather forgettable performance Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, consistently getting picked on by Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. However, his well timed blitz forced a Rodger’s fumble, which was returned for the winning score in overtime. Will the Saint continue to pick on him this Saturday?

Adams is the Cardinals’ primary nickel back. He was used extensively last week as the Cardinals went to a prevent defense in the second half of the Packers game.

Saints RB Pierre Thomas

The Saints leading rusher this season is feeling good after breaking some ribs during the Saints second to last game of the season against the Tampa Bay Bucs. Having the last couple of weeks off has allowed Thomas to heal and be ready for this week’s game.

The Saints need Thomas to run the ball well to help the Saints control the tempo of the game and keep Arizona’s high scoring offense off the field. The Saints will also use screen passes to the RBs to keep the Cardinals pass rush on edge.

“I feel good,” Thomas told the local media. “I’m not worried about that at all. I can’t wait to Saturday. I am anxious and glad to be back. I’m not having any problems. I’m out there moving, running, lifting weights, sneezing, coughing, whatever it is I’m doing it all like I’ve been doing it. I feel fine.”