Sold-out Saints entertain Atlanta—and the world

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, September 20, 2006  |  Comments( 4 )

New Orleans Saints
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This might be the most eagerly anticipated early-season football game in the history of the NFL.

And not because the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, who meet in the Sept. 25 edition of Monday Night Football, are the two dominant teams in the league -- although both are undefeated.

Rather, what makes this game special is its location. The last regular-season contest held in the Louisiana Superdome was on Dec. 26, 2004. The Saints beat the Falcons, 26-13, that day, long before Katrina was anything but a girl's name and the Superdome had become a sad synonym for man's inhumanity to man.

Now, the leaks have been fixed, the bad voodoo has been exorcised, and the Superdome is once again hosting football instead of suffering. Moreover, it's sold out for the rest of the season. Every seat.

Besides the usual Monday Night hoopla, the Saints-Falcons game will include performances by U2, Green Day and the Goo Goo Dolls.

"It's going to be like Mardi Gras," said owner Tom Benson.

Saints head coach Sean Payton, on the other hand, pointed out that all of this would be bittersweet if his team doesn't win -- sort of like the Bears losing years ago after dedicating a game to the dying Brian Piccolo.

"The main thing is to stay focused on the task at hand," Payton said.

No Saints team before 2006 had ever won its first two games on the road. True, the victims were Cleveland and Green Bay (which, at this point, might have trouble beating Green Day), but this Saints team was supposed to have more holes in it than a Ninth Ward levee.

Instead, they spotted the Pack a 13-0 lead -- in Lambeau -- and stormed (maybe not a good verb) back to win, 34-27.

Except for QB Drew Brees, RB Deuce McAllister and wunderkind draft pick Reggie Bush, this is essentially a no-name collection of (so far) overachievers. One of the early-season stars has been a rookie receiver (Marques Colston) picked in the seventh round from a Division 1-AA school (Hofstra). The three leading tacklers are Scott Fujita, Scott Shanle and Roman Harper. Who?

It doesn't matter to the people of New Orleans, because these Saints are more symbol than sports team. The very fact that Monday night's game is being held in the Superdome is a victory far more impressive than anything their team could do to Michael Vick & company.

Just don't tell that to Sean Payton. He'd like to have his home game and win it, too.

Get more original New Orleans Saints coverage at RealFootball365.com
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