I honestly didn't have a rooting interest at the start of the game. Both of these teams seemed pretty likable to me. Somewhere in the second half I started pulling for the Saints. Seeing a tortured franchise and fan base finally break through gives me hope for the future. Maybe that can be us one day.
The way they did it gives me even more hope. They found a brilliant coach who convinced his team and fans the past meant nothing. This coach was an expert using X's and O's on one side of the ball. They also found a franchise quarterback.
I know we'll hear a lot about Hurricane Katrina in the coming days. A lot of people will play Devil's Advocate and say football is meaningless compared to that event. They're right, but nobody is saying otherwise. This game gives a lot of people who have had a disproportionate amount of pain in their lives over the past few years a brief shining moment to feel good about something. It won't heal a city.
PS Eric Mangini looks brilliant for running Jonathan Vilma out of town.
PPS Nobody ever questions them on this, but can anybody honesty tell me at this point the Chargers kept the right quarterback four years ago?