"Apparently the New Orleans Saints needed to shake a little bit of rust off that sterling silver Lombardi Trophy to start this season. But that doesn't tarnish the fact that the reigning Super Bowl champions are off to another 1-0 start after a perfectly acceptable 14-9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night in the Superdome. "We're not used to 14-9 victories, but we're used to winning," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "We like the W." Indeed, the 14 points were the fewest the Saints have scored in a victory during the Sean Payton-Drew Brees time of offensive theatrics. Although they should have scored at least six more, had kicker Garret Hartley been able to convert his two missed field goal attempts, Payton was plenty pleased after getting superb efforts from his defense and special teams coverage units and winning the turnover battle 1-0. "Big win. A real good win for our team. I was proud of the way we came through and made enough plays to start the season 1-0," said Payton, who was quick to remind that he had insisted all week that this would be an entirely different game than last season's classic 30-27 overtime victory over Minnesota in the NFC championship game. If there was one carryover from last season, though, Payton said, "Regardless of how you win, we're in a spot now where our players expect to win. And that's important." Fortunately for the Saints, the squeakiest wheel on the field Thursday night belonged to Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, who looked every bit like a 40-year-old man who just came out of semi-retirement last month and is still nursing an ankle injury. Although Favre wasn't repeatedly battered as he was in the previous matchup, he was sacked once by defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis. And he was pressured into several errant throws, including an interception by linebacker Jonathan Vilma in the second quarter. Favre didn't complete a single pass in the third quarter, and he finished 15-of-27 for 171 yards with one touchdown. "He looked a little uncomfortable in the pocket, didn't look smooth in the pocket," said Saints defensive end Will Smith. "A couple plays he was way off target. We knew in the first half that he looked a little skittish, and we wanted to keep attacking, attacking." Smith admitted that the Saints defense grew tired of hearing about how the Vikings supposedly "lost" the NFC championship game by coughing up five turnovers. "We kind of took that personally," Smith said. "So we wanted to come out and make a statement." The night certainly began with plenty of drama -- with the Saints being led onto the field by a parade float carrying Owners Tom Benson, Gayle Benson and Rita Benson LeBlanc, along with singer Harry Connick Jr. belting out, "When the Saints Go Marching In." Then came the long-anticipated unveiling of the Saints' championship banner, followed by a rousing reaction from the sellout Superdome crowd. Soon after, the Saints offense provided even more theatrics -- receiving the opening kickoff then cruising down the field on a five-play touchdown drive: A 28-yard pass from Brees to Marques Colston on the first play of the night, then a 12-yard pass to Lance Moore, an incompletion, an 8-yard pass to Reggie Bush, then a 29-yard strike to Devery Henderson for the 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game." http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/09/new_orleans_saints_kick_off_se.html
