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Can you say embarrassed?
12/23/02
By Dave Lagarde
Staff writer/The Times-Picayune
CINCINNATI -- "I'd be embarrassed! I'd be embarrassed! I'd be embarrassed!"
The derisive chant from a few delighted, disbelieving, diehard Bengals fans started as the Saints entered the tunnel leading to their locker room following the unthinkable.
"I'd be embarrassed! I'd be embarrassed! I'd be embarrassed!"
It reverberated in the Saints' helmets and echoed in their ears following the unfathomable.
"I'd be embarrassed! I'd be embarrassed! I'd be embarrassed!"
Cincinnati 20, New Orleans 13?
The Saints should be embarrassed! They should be embarrassed! They should be embarrassed!
What else is there to say after such a disgraceful collapse, after a choke job even the most forceful Heimlich maneuver couldn't prevent, after they raised Lazarus from the dead?
The Cardiac Kids suffered a Cincinnati coronary. While they still have a playoff pulse this morning, it's so faint a trained physician would need the highest of high-tech stethoscopes to detect it.
New Orleans, with its playoff destiny in its hands and everything to play for, took the gas -- big time. They lost to the Bungles for goodness sake, a team that had absolutely nothing on the line Sunday except its pride.
Score it Pride 1, Saints 0.
"It is embarrassing," Saints wide receiver Joe Horn said after the 2-13 Bengals, sparked by the running of third-string tailback Nicolas Luchey, came from behind with touchdown drives of 69 and 64 yards in the final quarter to score their only home victory of the 2002 season. "Everybody and their momma should know that."
Rest assured everyone and his or her mother does. And those belly laughs that resounded around the NFL late Sunday and the giggles that will continue throughout Christmas week can be attributed to the Saints' pitiful performance. So, yes, yes, a thousand times yes, they should be embarrassed.
More than that, though, the thoroughly humbled Saints will have their hands out in Week 17 of the NFL season, begging for some help from Philadelphia or Cleveland if they hope to qualify for the playoffs. That's provided the Saints can muster the courage and wherewithal to defeat Carolina.
"So what is the playoff scenario?" one Saints player asked afterward.
The player was told the New York Giants (they entertain Philadelphia on Saturday) or the Atlanta Falcons (they play at Cleveland on Sunday) have to lose and the Saints must win if New Orleans is to qualify.
"The Giants won't win," he said.
"They're probably saying the same thing about us," one of his teammates retorted.
Don't you know it. So, let's be honest. Based on Sunday's "effort," coupled with the last-minute loss to Minnesota last week, the Saints, who are 9-6 after a 6-1 start, have done nothing lately to prove they deserve a spot in the postseason. And they should be duly embarrassed about that fact as well.
Nothing else to say after Cincinnati runs for 240 yards on 39 carries. After the Saints go for 158 yards, eight first downs and 10 points in the first 15 minutes, and 52, 3 and 3 in the final 45. After New Orleans rushed for 36 big ones against the NFL's 30th-ranked run defense. After wildly erratic and incredibly butter-fingered Aaron Brooks, who twice fumbled without being hit, hangs up an oh-fer in his last 11 pass attempts that included, unfortunately, Boo Williams' drop of a potential 54-yard touchdown pass.
To think the Saints arrived at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday fully expecting to make an emphatic statement.
"We practiced well, and I thought we'd come into this game and play better than we did," Coach Jim Haslett said.
You know the drill. Dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. Kick a team when it's so far down bottom looks like up. Play a complete game for the first time in 15 outings. Exit with some much-needed confidence and begin the march into the postseason like you belong.
Silly them for ignoring the obvious. The Saints have done nothing this season if not develop a certain predictable profile.
Play dynamite against the NFL's good. Play like a disaster against the NFL's bad and ugly.
Past performances screamed the Saints would struggle Sunday on the road against the dregs of the NFL society. And New Orleans didn't break the mold.
And that is embarrassing. But you knew that. Think the Saints have a clue?
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