I’ve spent all year hating the Chicago Bears for denying the New Orleans Saints their first shot at a Super Bowl appearance. The 39-14 drubbing they laid on the Saints at Soldier Field during the conference championships back in January still stings. But now I’m starting to think the Bears did New Orleans a favor by sparing them an even more horrific beating at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts. 

Let’s face it: If last night’s NFL season opener offers any clue as to what a Colts/Saints Super Bowl matchup would have looked like, New Orleans’ feel-good story would have come to an even more ignominious end than it did on Jan. 21. Imagine – the Saints somehow best the Bears and make it to their first Bowl, only to receive a stomping like the ugly 41-10 beat-down they got last night. To have gone so far, only to have been whupped so thoroughly, would have doubtless stung the Crescent City’s hope-starved masses even more than the Chicago massacre did.

Yeah, I know, that’s a lot of ifs. And it’s certainly true that just making it to the Super Bowl would have been a huge vindication for a city so desperately in need of something to believe in. But last night showed that the Saints just aren’t in the Colts’ league – figuratively or literally.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m pulling for the Saints. They may very well make it to the big game this year, despite the fact that Sports Illustrated has picked them to do so. (Thanks for laying the curse on us, guys.) And if they do, it’ll still be sweet. Just not quite as sweet as it would’ve been last year. The feel-good story is over. The Saints are no longer the darlings of the sports media, the sports-watching public and the entire world. They’re just another football team now. And judging from last night, they’re not world championship material. Not while native son Peyton Manning still has his right arm, and Tony Dungy has a defense that can keep New Orleans from scoring during an entire second half.

Better we learn that now, at the start of a new season, than last January, at the end of a season of hope and optimism. As magic as last season was, a 41-10 ass-kicking in the Super Bowl would have been more painful than watching Ray Nagin’s most erroneous blunders on a continuous loop for all eternity.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 7th, 2007 at 5:21 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.