Home Field Advantage for the Saints in New Orleans

Well, if you didn't believe it before, you have to be convinced now. The New Orleans Saints have a special thing going on in the Superdome of New Orleans, Louisiana.

After all of the destruction that ravished the Greater New Orleans Area, the Superdome was ready for Week 3 of the NFL Season, which was 3 weeks ago. While the renovation of the Superdome is not representative of how far along the rest of the area is towards being rebuilt, it is a sign of revival in the Big Easy. People are excited to be about being back in New Orleans, and the Superdome represents a lot about what was special about being in New Orleans pre-Hurricane Katrina.

So how excited are people about the return of their beloved Saints to the Superdome? Well, let's just say they are giving the Saints "much love." On October 15, after the Saints beat the Eagles with game ending field goal, some of the Saints walked into a local restaurant to get something to eat. As soon as they entered the establishment, the customers of the restaurant started cheering and applauding the 3 Saints' players who had walked in. They even began chanting "Saints! Saints! Saints! Saints!"

But the love inside the Superdome is what is going to have the biggest effect on this Saints squad. When they played the Philadelphia Eagles, the place was absolutely rocking. When the Eagles had the ball, the crowd was just 100% obnoxious. The yelled and screamed and the decibel level was off the charts. The fans seem to have the mindset that their cheering and faith can will their Saints to victory in the same way that their faith willed them to return home after Hurricane Katrina. And you know what? So far they are right. The Saints are 3-0 at home, and they beat a high octane Eagles' offense.

The amazing thing about the Saints play at home is that they play above their abilities. Not that they are not a good team with a coach. And I certainly do no want to come across as saying that the team is not a true contender, because they certainly have disproved that notion with their play. But it has to be admitted that their defense just isn't as talented as they seem to play at home. In fact, the team itself was so disappointed with their linebacking core that they traded a starting wide receiver for a back up linebacker during the off-season.

And so against the Eagles, the Saints held Donovan McNabb to 250 yards passing. It isn't a low number, but its well below McNabb's average, and is definitely considerably lower than what McNabb and the Eagles had expected to do against the secondary of the Saints.

The offensive line also stepped up huge against the Eagles at home. They stopped an Eagles defense that has been terrorizing quarterbacks this season from getting any sacks at all. If you went up to any body who knows anything about football and bet them one-hundred dollars that the Eagles would not get a sack against the Saints, they would have taken it immediately. Well, you would have been crazy to make that bet, but that indeed is what happened. The Saints held the Eagles' defense sackless.

But if you still don't believe that the Saints have something special going on at home, than all I can say is that you're probably right. They just have an exuberant crowd and play good at home, just like any other team, right? But before you come to that conclusion, consider this. The Saints not only are undefeated at home, but they have beaten the defending NFC South champs, the current NFC East leader and held a team averaging over 200 yards rushing to just half of their average, all while being predicted to finish last in their division. If that's not special, I don't know what is.