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KICKOFF EXTRA: New Orleans finally begins long-awaited season
By Nick Deriso

This is what they do to you when you do well. They send you on the road, to face the defending Super Bowl champions.

Welcome to center stage, Saints fans. The Indianapolis Colts are already there, waiting in the spotlight’s bright circle.

“You aspire to be one of those contenders every year,” said New Orleans coach Sean Payton. “These are the types of games you look forward to playing in. They won the Super Bowl a year ago. Everyone else is measured against a team like that. We have our work cut out for us. I think our players understand that.”

Add this to the storyline: The Colts are 14-2 in September under coach Tony Dungy and also 7-2 in openers with Peyton Manning at quarterback — a number made even more impressive since the past seven have been on the road.

This time, the Saints invade the Friendly Confines.

“It will be a first for me,” said New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees. “I’ve opened up on the road quite a few times, but playing the defending world champs is a first for me. But you can’t ask for a better challenge.”

Brees’ numbers make their own argument for the Saints tonight, if barely.

Last season, he passed for 4,418 yards, a total that topped the NFL — besting Manning by 21 yards.

Brees also has a personal memory of success at Indianapolis, having ended the Colts’ 13-0 undefeated run in 2005 as the quarterback at San Diego. He was 22-of-33 for 255 yards and a score that day.

So, expect fireworks before the game, and during. We have two teams that can stop scoring — and can’t stop anybody — meeting in front of a national audience.

Who would have put New Orleans — last year’s Cinderella NFC runnersup — to appear on this marquee?

If anything, the times this team historically has managed a playoff run, the opposite was true. The Dome Patrol stopped them, and Saints fans hoped for a few field goals to get the win.

Further back, of course, there was somebody else named Manning involved.

But he never won like his son.

“Obviously people think that we can hang with these guys and even if they didn’t it wouldn’t matter to us,” Brees said. “As a team, we’re very confident. We know what we can do. We’re not satisfied with where we finished the season last year and we’ve been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time.”

Only a Super Bowl banner unveiling is planned, and it’s got somebody else’s name on it.

So, we await one of those instant classics, the battle between two quarterbacks passing through their prime.

“They are two of the best right now,” Payton said. “Obviously both of these guys are accomplished in what they’re doing. Peyton’s been a Pro Bowl player for a while now and he’s coming off of a Super Bowl win. Drew’s come back from his injury and performed at a high level.”

There’s a sense of impatience. Understandable, since most of the team’s starters have got bench butt from a too-long preseason.

“Obviously we’ve known that this game has been on the schedule for a long time,” Payton said. “I feel like we’ve had a good preseason, but we’ve been waiting to start playing for keeps. We’re very excited and this game can’t come around fast enough.”
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"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

iceshack149

Another good article, hagan. Thanks for gathering all this information for us.

When I found out that the Saints were playing the season opener in Indianapolis I shook my head in disappointment. But now that I think about it, I'm glad that they are.

I believe that the Saints will win. How great it would be to start the season with a win over the superbowl champions.
It would stink if the Saints lost but it would be easier to swallow being against the defending champions than it would if it they lost against, say, the Cardinals for example.

"...it's good to have friends, no matter where they are."--JOESAM2002