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The New Orleans Saints find themselves trapped in some sort of football limbo from which there seems to be no end.

Not quite bad enough to be condemned to the kind of hell reserved for the truly dreadful teams — I’m thinking of you, Oakland Raiders, despite that win over Kansas City. Not good enough to be a team that is actually feared and respected as a championship threat.

The Saints came into Monday night’s game with the Baltimore Ravens needing this win if for no other reason than the death spiral of a three-game home losing streak at such a critical juncture of the season had to be avoided at all costs.

It was, for most of it, a great game.

There were huge plays, blasts from the past from old adversaries like Joe Morgan for the Saints and Steve Smith Sr. for the Ravens, the former Carolina Panther who showed the Saints that he is, apparently, some kind of immortal vampire. (No truth to the rumor Smith was staying at Anne Rice’s old mansion Sunday night.)

There were colossal mistakes like Mark Ingram’s fumble at the goal line and the ball Ravens fullback Kyle Juszczyk lost to Pierre Warren at the same spot on the field.

And there were eruptions of emotions, raw and overwhelming, from players like Smith and Kenny Vaccaro, who duked it out on the Ravens sideline after Smith caught yet another big pass against New Orleans.

It was, in a word, the kind of game that “Monday Night Football” is supposed to be but often never is.


Read more: Rabalais: Worst or first? Saints remain stuck in NFC South limbo | Saints | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

All little common sense goes a long way.