Barry from MS

OK, so Hartley made the greatest kick in Saints history, but that right there wasn't the only thing that shined for the special teams against the Vikings. Look at the return yardage from both teams...Saints Kick-off returns averaged 30.5 yds with a long of 61 (Roby) with another one of 40 (Thomas). The Vikings kickoff returns? 2 returns for 16.5 yds with a long of 17 yds as Morstead spanked the ball for a few touch backs to only allow 2 returns. Speaking of my boy Morstead, how about that 51.3 yd average on 7 punts with a long of 63 yds...zero touchbacks with FOUR kicks inside the 20. The Vikings punt returns averaged 5 yards per return, so give credit to not only him but to the coverage teams on both the kickoffs and punts.

The Saints won the field position all night, which I believe was vital for the success of our defense; the Vikings had a long field to work with the entire night, which gave the defense more opportunity to come up with 4 of the 5 turnovers. Our only gaffe was obviously the Bush fumble on the punt return, but the defense (with help from the Favre/AP connection) bailed out the special teams on that instance as the special teams set the defense up for success the entire night.

I'm so proud of our boys and so proud of being a Saints fan.

RockyMountainSaint

Great point.

I was concerned about Harvin returning kicks.

Seems like Morstead was causing him to have a Migraine!

fansince73

Another example of how WE WON and not Them losing it We Made the plays when we had too and they didn't. Sometimes Games are Won ugly. Sometimes if you just look at stats you will be surprised who won. Special teams were huge for us. Making the plays at critical moments was huge. Not turning the ball over like they did was huge. and them not making the plays they had too was huge. It may be cliched, but the Only stat that really counts is the scoreboard.

Crusader

P Thomas Morstead averaged 51.3 yards on seven punts, falling just short of the NFC Championship Game record of 52.5 by Sammy Baugh of Washington against the Chicago Bears in 1942.

New Orleans Saints - NFC Championship Game Notes

Barry from MS

Yeah, when you think of it, the Vikings racked up all those yards because they had to go a loooong way on every possession. Say what you will, Vikings fans, about how you dominated with yards or etc, but when the special teams win the field position battle, it's tough for any offense (including ours) to consistently run the length of the field.

Offense edge goes to Minnesota (but just barely) considering they turned the ball over 5 times...defense edge goes to us considering we forced those 5 turnovers and their defense (although holding Brees & Co in check) didn't force a single one. Special teams? We blew them away, and when you tally it all up, we won in 2 of the 3 facets of the game.

hagan714

we are going to need another game like this one against the colts.

Danno

Morstead had a great game, but when your opponnet puts up 500 yards of offense on you, the extra 4 or 5 yards of field position is totally meaningless.

jn671

honestly our hartley and morestead was a great addition to our team.. i hope in years to come they will be the best tandem kickers/punters in the league.

Barry from MS

Looks like I still ain't selling Danno on Morstead...they put up 500 yards, but they had to drive the length of the field on all of their drive except for the short field Reggie gave them.

What I'm saying is that those long drives gave the defense more opportunities to get turnovers. I think starting inside the 20 yard line as opposed to starting at the 25-35 yard line makes a pretty significant difference. That's at least 3-5 extra plays for the defense to adjust to what the offense is bringing on a particular drive, and that is HUGE in a rather HUGE game like the NFC Championship game, where every little thing really does matter.

But Danno is still not liking giving up draft picks for a punter...no worries, man...agree to disagree. Maybe this year we'll trade up to pick a long snapper...

UK_WhoDat

No one has to sell the ST to me. They were stunning all night. We were getting put in a hole then the ST took over and gave us room. Absolutely. We are up against a formidable Colts team. ALL phases have o get it right for that one.