Road to Super Bowl looks set to run through New Orleans as Saints look to replicate 2009 success
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Saturday 22 December 2018 08:14, UK
"There was a lot of turmoil, a lot of sadness. But the Saints were able to bring that entire region together. The team is such a huge focal point, the centrepiece of the city, and so to bring that first championship back was huge."
Tracy Porter knows the importance of the New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl win in 2009 following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina through the Gulf Coast region only four years earlier. And Porter more than played his part, his 74-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter clinching a 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
It ended the Saints' 43-year wait for a first championship. The wait for their second could be much shorter, with the Saints currently holding the NFL's best record, at 12-2 with two weeks of the 2018 regular season to go.
"I definitely believe they can win it," Porter tells Sky Sports. "They're firing on all cylinders right now - offense, defense and special teams - and they will be a tough team to beat.
"They have a lot of similarities to the team we had when we won it."
Nine years on, head coach and quarterback apart, the Saints are a very different looking team, but there are indeed parallels to be drawn to their triumph back in 2009. Most notably, their current hold of the NFC No 1 seed. The road to the Super Bowl ran through New Orleans back then and is likely to again.
"Home-field advantage in the playoffs is such a huge deal for any team, but particularly for the Saints," Porter adds. "It was for us in 2009. First off, you get that first-round bye. While everyone else is still playing in the divisional round, you get to rest up. But also having that home-field atmosphere in the Superdome is unreal!
"I know numerous players that have said it is by far the toughest place to play as a visiting team, with that crowd and how driven and motivated they are against them. It will be difficult for anyone that has to travel through New Orleans to try to get to the Super Bowl."
On the evidence of the 2018 season so far, a postseason run through New Orleans certainly would be a daunting task. Barring an opening weekend aberration against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - a 48-40 defeat - the Saints have won every home game since, including leaving the No 2 seeded Los Angeles Rams and Super Bowl LII winners Philadelphia Eagles in their wake.
And they didn't just beat them. They embarrassed them. The Saints put up 45 points on the Rams, only to better that with 48 against the Eagles - the 48-7 win a record defeat for a defending Super Bowl champion.
Their offensive weapons at their disposal are numerous. Alvin Kamara is one of the best dual-threat running backs in the league - a combined 1,487 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season. Providing the perfect complement to him in the backfield is the more ground-and-pound stylings of Mark Ingram, averaging 4.8 yards a carry.
Plus, at receiver, the Saints boast the safest pair of hands in the league in Michael Thomas, who has an NFL-leading 109 catches this season to go with 1,267 yards and eight TDs. He is Pro Football Focus' second-best graded receiver (90.9), behind only DeAndre Hopkins (91.7)
And we haven't even mentioned Drew Brees yet. The 39-year old is putting up staggering numbers - 3,666 yards, to go with 31 passing TDs and only five interceptions, plus he leads the league in completion percentage (74.9) and passer rating (116.8) - both career-high marks - to see him talked up as the front-runner for league MVP honours.
"Hands down he should be the MVP," says former team-mate Porter. "I'm not taking away anything from the other guys, but the track record he has had, and the amount of success he has had in just this season alone - at the current age that he is - it just shows his value to the Saints.
"The way he carries that team, shoulders the burden for that team. The quarterback is such a huge piece in a football team and to have someone like him at that position is huge.
"For me, he made playing more fun. He made it easy. He made you want to go out and get the ball back for your offense as fast as you can. You would also want to go out and score yourself, just to try and compete with him.
"You just had the utmost confidence in him that, if you forced a turnover, you'd know that likely nine times out of 10 he'd come away with a touchdown, or at least a field goal, from it. That is a huge sigh of relief for any defense."
Brees appears to having a similar effect on this young Saints defense. While his personal numbers have tapered off slightly in recent weeks, the defense has kept the team competitive - following their Week Nine 45-35 win over the Rams, the most points they've given up in the six games since is 17.
"The wheels are really starting to turn for the defense," adds Porter. "They're forcing more turnovers and hitting their stride at the right point of the season."
December and January are certainly the months to be peaking as a defense. 'Defense wins championships' after all, and the Saints will need to lean heavily on that unit in the one-and-done environment of the playoffs should their offense have an off night.
Back in 2009, New Orleans possessed the NFL's No 1 scoring offense, yet the role played by their defense - as Porter's Super Bowl pick-six demonstrated - should not be underestimated, with the Saints securing a staggering 39 takeaways (second-most in the league).
This Sunday the Saints have the chance to follow in the footsteps of Porter and that much-beloved 2009 team by first clinching that all-important No 1 seed for the playoffs with a victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.
The road to the Super Bowl is set to run through New Orleans once more.
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