Will party end on Bourbon Street?
 

Lifetimes are spent dreaming about winning a Super Bowl. Not two Super Bowls.

So what happens after it happens? What's the motivation? The urgency? What, pray tell, happens now?

"You know, that's a great question," said Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield. "I would have loved to find out."

Winfield and the Vikings will have to wait. The challenge that has felled many a past champion now belongs to the New Orleans Saints, who begin defense of their Super Bowl XLIV title against the Vikings on Thursday night at the Superdome.

"I think at first you just want to make sure everybody feels motivated, nobody is relaxed and that there is still a sense of urgency," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "What has been awesome about this offseason and preseason is it's been as competitive as any I have ever been a part of. Nobody around here is relaxing. Everybody still feels like we have so much to prove."

The Saints open the season with 19 returning starters active, including all 11 from the highest-scoring offense in the league last year. But ironically it's the Saints' Super Bowl triumph seven months ago that has most analysts believing they won't win another one five months from now.

Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, who won Super Bowl XLI, cited that very reason when he picked the Dallas Cowboys to win the NFC this year.

"Even though New Orleans has great players, I just hesitate in picking a team to repeat," Dungy said. "I just think it's too hard."

Only 10 of the first 43 Super Bowl winners returned. Eight of them won it again. Meanwhile, 13 of those 43 champions missed the playoffs altogether the following season. That includes Pittsburgh twice in the past five years. The last team to repeat was New England six years ago.

Will party end on Bourbon Street? | StarTribune.com