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New Orleans Saints have made winning a given: John DeShazier
By John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune
December 15, 2009, 7:50AM
Another week.
Another win.


Pardon the brevity and succinctness. Heaven knows the 2009 New Orleans Saints have earned and deserve as many eloquent odes as can be conjured, reciprocity for the times when we've not failed to meticulously describe past seasons of futility.
Imaginative retrospectives never were lacking during the 3-13 and 6-10 seasons that seemed to become too frequent to count, as we worked overtime to unearth new and improved ways to chronicle the old and unimproved results.
But there's beauty in brevity, song in succinctness.
Another week.
Another win.
"That's the most important stat: Did you win," New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "That's always the most important stat, getting the W. That's the first thing people are going to ask: Did you win or lose?"
Thirteen times, the Saints have had the same answer this season, and if the sound is getting a tad stale, the listener hasn't had the privilege of owning a front-row seat to Saints history.
The individual hasn't seen what a Saints fan has seen, experienced what a Saints fan has experienced, lived the way a Saints fan has lived.
The franchise that has provided much negative repetition and football follies has regular-season perfection in a chokehold; only Dallas, New Orleans' opponent at the Superdome on Saturday night, has a winning record among the Saints' final three opponents, and only Carolina, 5-8 and with nothing left to fight for in terms of making the playoffs, will be played on the road.
Not that the Saints can't lose or haven't shown an ability to play down to the level of competition/draw the best effort from their opponents.
On Sunday, host Atlanta, minus its two best offensive players -- quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner -- played New Orleans to a 26-23 decision. On Dec. 6, host Washington, which had invented ways to lose this season, had to create a new one in a 33-30 overtime loss to the Saints on a day in which, for the most part, the Redskins appeared superior.
But as Vilma so accurately summarized, the scoreboard does all the talking at the end of the day. And if the scoreboard speaks in your favor, all other voices fall silent.
"Why would you be concerned?" he said after Sunday's escape at the Georgia Dome. "We're 13-0; we have a first-round bye. We've locked up at least a No. 2 seed right now. I don't see any reason for concern.
"You're not going to get many blowouts in the NFL. It just doesn't happen that way. We understand what we're going to get from teams. We're going to get their best. It's up to us to go out there and match it; not only match it, but get over the top so we can get the victory."
Only the Indianapolis Colts, also 13-0 this season, similarly have gotten over the top as often.
"We don't lose confidence," New Orleans safety Darren Sharper said. "We never drop our heads and think, 'OK, we're in a spot we can't get out of.' We always have the belief and the philosophy that we can come back.
"People better get their popcorn ready when they watch us. We're going to give you a full four quarters game. It's going to be like a roller coaster with a lot of ups and downs, but in the end, it's going to be quite entertaining."
Another week.
Another win.
For the Saints, it doesn't get more entertaining than that.

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