Years later, after we realized what happened that day, and it became a central focus of one of the darkest (or strangest) scandals in NFL history. I still remember the day I heard of Bountygate. And that day, my mind immediately raced back to the Superdome, January, 2009, Saints vs. Vikings. Never was a stadium louder, never was a game more oppressive. In retrospect, never was a bounty scheme so obvious. But at the time, who knew about the bounties. All we saw was a mad rush defense trying to break the most unbreakable QB of his time, in front of a truly raucous crowd, playing out an epic.
Like many Greek epics, there was tragedy and comedy, and it mostly came down to a series of mistakes the Vikings made to take a game they thoroughly dominated on the statsheet (they outgained the Saints 475-257 - despite them never touching the ball in OT) into a tight game and ultimately a loss. The Vikings know heartbreak, be it the throttling the Giants or Eagles gave them in modern-day title games, or the Blair Walsh FG miss, but the only thing that compares would probably be the Gary Anderson FG miss. The Vikings spent so many years building a perfectly balanced team, and saw it all fall apart.
Some games have an outward energy that defines itself from the beginning. This was one of them, starting with it being so damn loud it was hard to hear Brad Childress during his pre-game interview. I still remember him saying that 'we're pretty good too', and why not? They went 12-4, outscored opponents by 180 points. Favre was the third best QB in the NFL (behind Manning and Brees), with Peterson, Sidney Rice (when he was good), Bernard Berrian (ditto), Percy Harvin (even more ditto), a great Visanthe Shiancoe, and great OL with future hall of famer Steve Hutchinson, two potential HOFers on the DL (Jared Allen, Kevin Williams), three good LBers and great players in teh secondary. That was one of the most talented rosters constructed.
So were the Saints, staring with Brees and his crew of Colston, Moore, Henderson, Meachem and Shockey, with Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush. The defense was still Will Smith and co, but Gregg Williams had them blitzing and burning in his usual mad scientist way. That was such a damn good matchup. The Colts may have ultimately been the favorite in the Super Bowl (smh), but these were the best two teams in teh NFL. And the wrong one won.
The first half was fairly even. The first three drives were all TDs, with two by the Vikings, both an imposing display of power. The whole game was for the Vikings. Their team was defined by their size and power, and on offense they bullied the Saints, and on defense they swallowed the Saints normally great OL and got Brees off hsi spot to the tune of a 17-31 day. The only way the Saints could get in? Well, the bounties had something to do with it.
I remember watching that game in my living room with my parents. I didn't meet friends that day because I nervously watched Peyton lead a comeback against Rex Ryan's Jets a few hours before. Nightfall descended. Martin Lurther King Day was the following day. It was us sitting in an increasingly pitch-black room with the superpower of the Superdome lightening the room.
That whole season for the Saints was a revelation. It will probably never get 'beetter' than the 2006 season, the first one back after Katrina. But they were better in 2009, starting 13-0, with so many memorable games in that dome. The first one probably was their dismantling of a 5-0 Giants team 48-27. But nothing was better than their 38-17 humiliation of the Patriots.
I could probably do my own piece on that game, maybe the worst game the Patriots have played in the Belichick era on National TV, letting Brees go nuclear against them. Belichick pulled his guys late. It was beautiful, it was special, it was 'the Saints in the Superdome'. The only team that seemed unnerved by that? The Vikings.
The Vikings took that game in a dominant manner I've never seen. Their second half is on one hand hte most dominant half I've seen a team play, and the most heartbreakingly stupid. Four turnovers, all big. One was on their own 15-yard line, setting up an easy Saints TD to take a 28-21 lead. One of the Saints 10-yard line, taking away at least a field goal (probably more, this was not a game for field goals until the final one). Two Favre interceptions, the first probably should have been negated by one of the many uncalled bounty-infused hits, and the second being that interception. In between that, the Vikings scored two TDs. Each play seemed angry, seemed annoyed that they had to drive and drive and drive. But they did.
The Saints unleashed hell with the pass rush because they couldn't match the Viikings physicality. It was so weird seeing the Saints so neutered in that game, so amazingly less physical. But on the whole, this game was about the bounties and the experience of that dome. The experience of that game was the hits, time and time again Favre pulling himself out of the turf. One time it took it so long that you could hear a Saints player later saying 'Favre is done, pay me!'.
Weirdly, the only person who thought something was off was my Mom, who becomes something of a football fan every playoffs (especially if the Giants are involved). Maybe after the first hit, she exclaimed 'they're being too rough with Favre.' That refrain was repeated time and time again... and she was right. But in the moment, taht added to the intensity of one of the most intense, emotional games I've ever seen.
It ended with a Field Goal - the last OT playoff game when a field goal on the first drive could win the game. But even that drive had drama - a 4th down where Pierre Thomas seemed to fumble on a HB_dive/jump; an easy dropped interception, a laughably bad DPI call on 3rd down. Even on that drive, the Vikings dominated; the Saints persisted.
The Saints persisted for years, through palying in San Antonio, to building something special in 2006, to two less-than seasons, and finally to their success. It was hard to feel too sorry given how great that strory was, but at the end, it was fun just to see another insane, epic, NFL playoff game. The amazing part is no one saw it more clearly than my Mom.
Like many Greek epics, there was tragedy and comedy, and it mostly came down to a series of mistakes the Vikings made to take a game they thoroughly dominated on the statsheet (they outgained the Saints 475-257 - despite them never touching the ball in OT) into a tight game and ultimately a loss. The Vikings know heartbreak, be it the throttling the Giants or Eagles gave them in modern-day title games, or the Blair Walsh FG miss, but the only thing that compares would probably be the Gary Anderson FG miss. The Vikings spent so many years building a perfectly balanced team, and saw it all fall apart.
Some games have an outward energy that defines itself from the beginning. This was one of them, starting with it being so damn loud it was hard to hear Brad Childress during his pre-game interview. I still remember him saying that 'we're pretty good too', and why not? They went 12-4, outscored opponents by 180 points. Favre was the third best QB in the NFL (behind Manning and Brees), with Peterson, Sidney Rice (when he was good), Bernard Berrian (ditto), Percy Harvin (even more ditto), a great Visanthe Shiancoe, and great OL with future hall of famer Steve Hutchinson, two potential HOFers on the DL (Jared Allen, Kevin Williams), three good LBers and great players in teh secondary. That was one of the most talented rosters constructed.
So were the Saints, staring with Brees and his crew of Colston, Moore, Henderson, Meachem and Shockey, with Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush. The defense was still Will Smith and co, but Gregg Williams had them blitzing and burning in his usual mad scientist way. That was such a damn good matchup. The Colts may have ultimately been the favorite in the Super Bowl (smh), but these were the best two teams in teh NFL. And the wrong one won.
The first half was fairly even. The first three drives were all TDs, with two by the Vikings, both an imposing display of power. The whole game was for the Vikings. Their team was defined by their size and power, and on offense they bullied the Saints, and on defense they swallowed the Saints normally great OL and got Brees off hsi spot to the tune of a 17-31 day. The only way the Saints could get in? Well, the bounties had something to do with it.
I remember watching that game in my living room with my parents. I didn't meet friends that day because I nervously watched Peyton lead a comeback against Rex Ryan's Jets a few hours before. Nightfall descended. Martin Lurther King Day was the following day. It was us sitting in an increasingly pitch-black room with the superpower of the Superdome lightening the room.
That whole season for the Saints was a revelation. It will probably never get 'beetter' than the 2006 season, the first one back after Katrina. But they were better in 2009, starting 13-0, with so many memorable games in that dome. The first one probably was their dismantling of a 5-0 Giants team 48-27. But nothing was better than their 38-17 humiliation of the Patriots.
I could probably do my own piece on that game, maybe the worst game the Patriots have played in the Belichick era on National TV, letting Brees go nuclear against them. Belichick pulled his guys late. It was beautiful, it was special, it was 'the Saints in the Superdome'. The only team that seemed unnerved by that? The Vikings.
The Vikings took that game in a dominant manner I've never seen. Their second half is on one hand hte most dominant half I've seen a team play, and the most heartbreakingly stupid. Four turnovers, all big. One was on their own 15-yard line, setting up an easy Saints TD to take a 28-21 lead. One of the Saints 10-yard line, taking away at least a field goal (probably more, this was not a game for field goals until the final one). Two Favre interceptions, the first probably should have been negated by one of the many uncalled bounty-infused hits, and the second being that interception. In between that, the Vikings scored two TDs. Each play seemed angry, seemed annoyed that they had to drive and drive and drive. But they did.
The Saints unleashed hell with the pass rush because they couldn't match the Viikings physicality. It was so weird seeing the Saints so neutered in that game, so amazingly less physical. But on the whole, this game was about the bounties and the experience of that dome. The experience of that game was the hits, time and time again Favre pulling himself out of the turf. One time it took it so long that you could hear a Saints player later saying 'Favre is done, pay me!'.
Weirdly, the only person who thought something was off was my Mom, who becomes something of a football fan every playoffs (especially if the Giants are involved). Maybe after the first hit, she exclaimed 'they're being too rough with Favre.' That refrain was repeated time and time again... and she was right. But in the moment, taht added to the intensity of one of the most intense, emotional games I've ever seen.
It ended with a Field Goal - the last OT playoff game when a field goal on the first drive could win the game. But even that drive had drama - a 4th down where Pierre Thomas seemed to fumble on a HB_dive/jump; an easy dropped interception, a laughably bad DPI call on 3rd down. Even on that drive, the Vikings dominated; the Saints persisted.
The Saints persisted for years, through palying in San Antonio, to building something special in 2006, to two less-than seasons, and finally to their success. It was hard to feel too sorry given how great that strory was, but at the end, it was fun just to see another insane, epic, NFL playoff game. The amazing part is no one saw it more clearly than my Mom.
