New Orleans Saints' opening win sets tone for 2010 season
 

The New Orleans Saints' 14-9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night at the Superdome was hardly the most thrilling performance in recent franchise history. But it can certainly be the kind of win that sets a tone for the rest of the season.

Michael DeMocker/The Times-Picayune
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said Friday, 'I feel like we’ve learned how to win in a lot of different ways.'
Consider the effect that some of these under-the-radar games had on the Saints in recent years:

A "ho-hum" 19-14 victory at Cleveland in the 2006 opener, which gave the rebuilt Saints confidence and eventually allowed them to head into the Superdome with a 2-0 record for that unforgettable Monday night Dome opener against Atlanta.
A disastrous 16-13 loss at home to Carolina in the fourth game of 2007, when the Saints missed countless opportunities, including two missed field-goal attempts by Olindo Mare. That dropped them into a deep 0-4 hole that they ultimately couldn't dig out of.
The 48-22 victory at Philadelphia in Week 2 last season and the 27-7 victory at Buffalo in Week 3, both of which were close at halftime before the Saints made the plays that broke the games open. Coach Sean Payton often referred to those two victories as important signs that the eventual Super Bowl champions had learned how to win.
"It's huge. It's huge, " Saints quarterback Drew Brees said of winning these kinds of close games early in the season. "Because at the end of a season where you don't make the playoffs, you miss it by one or two games, you look back and there's easily three or four games where you say, 'Man, one play here or there, maybe two plays affect the outcome.'
"And the good teams, the great teams, they find a way to win those. And I feel like we've learned how to win in a lot of different ways. And I think we continue to ... not surprise ourselves, but continue just to win in ways that maybe we haven't won in the past."
Offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb added that there's "no question" the Saints are in a much better place today than if they had started 0-1, especially considering they now have an 11-day stretch between games.
That would be an awful long time to dwell on a near-miss heading into a challenging Monday night game at San Francisco on Sept. 20.

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I don't know if you guys realize just how "big" it was to be able to run the ball like that in the 4th quarter. Every team in the league would do that if they could.

Yea LB but did you see how they couldn't pass on us either. They had ZERO points in the second half.

Looks like our defense may be playing at a top 10 level.
If that the case, TWO DAT.

Oh, I know, the defense is really looking good...and when you throw-in an offense that can dictate to you whatever they feel like...wow! I only wanted to mention what took place in the 4th quarter jic someone missed it, because it is something that every team would love to be able to do...and we did it to one of the most touted front 4's in football.

i feel the same way the players do. alot of people say we came out and didnt really look too good. i think thats the farthest from the truth. yeah we made some mistakes but like the players say...we played better than the score shows. i think we look like we are going to have some success this year

I agree, being able to run out the clock the way we did, picking up those crucial 1st downs by running the ball right down their throats was immpressive. The O line is awesome.

The O line definitely did an amazing job. Did you see some of those plays, especially around the goal line, where we just man handled their defensive line? It was awesome.

I was watching some of the high lights and our down field blocking was also very good. PT had some good holes but he also made some good runs when he satrted side stepping the closed hole and turning on the burners..

The one run that stood out to me from PT was the clincher, first off he recognized the cutback lane, then he hit an LB that was trying to stand him up, BUT PT's legs kept churning, Got about another 5 yards after that. The guy really is a competitor who can always be relied upon.
The offensive Line were beastly Thursday night