Saints performance demands 2009 comparisons

NEW ORLEANS — The Saints’ seven-game winning streak entering their game against Washington on Sunday attracted comparisons to their 2009 Super Bowl season.

But much of the game served as a reminder of just how premature it is to talk of Super Bowl success in November.

New Orleans was playing as well as any team in the NFL, starting its winning streak after an 0-2 start to grab first place in the NFC South. But obstacles such as injuries and the inevitable ebb and flow of the parity-driven NFL can disrupt things dramatically.

The Saints began the game without two injured defensive starters in safety Kenny Vaccaro and linebacker A.J. Klein. They lost rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore, probably the defensive MVP so far, to an ankle injury in the first half.

Washington exploited the short-handed defense and its defense pressured Drew Brees and slowed down the Saints running game for much of the afternoon. As a result, the Redskins seemed in command after taking a 31-16 lead with less than six minutes remaining.

But after that the game kept dragging memories of 2009 back into play.

When it was all said and done, the Saints had completed the biggest fourth-quarter comeback to win in franchise history, prevailing 34-31 in overtime in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The developments were reminiscent not only of one of the signature regular-season wins that season — against the same opponent — but also of the NFC Championship game that sent New Orleans to the Super Bowl.

In 2009, the Saints rolled into Washington D.C. with an 11-0 record and for much of the game it looked like their winning streak would end. That Redskins team led that Saints team, 30-20, in the fourth quarter but New Orleans fought back to force overtime.

This Saints team overcame an even bigger deficit as Drew Brees completed all 11 of his passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns on the final two possessions of the fourth quarter. New Orleans still needed Alvin Kamara’s two-point conversion run to tie the score with 1:05 left in regulation.

But as much as this game against Washington resembled that game against Washington, which New Orleans won 33-30, the NFC Championship game against Minnesota in the Superdome demands equal billing in this Super Bowl season rerun.

Remember that game being tied late in the fourth quarter? Remember Brett Favre driving the Vikings to the cusp of field-goal range in the final moments of the fourth quarter?

Remember Favre rolling out on a bum ankle and inexplicably making a rookie mistake, throwing the ball across his body, into the defense’s pursuit, where Tracy Porter made an interception, keeping the Saints alive for an overtime period?

Now fast forward to Sunday. Scored tied. Late in the fourth quarter. Kirk Cousins, who had outplayed Brees for 54 minutes but not 60, moved the Redskins into field-goal range in the final moments of the fourth quarter at very near the identical spot from which Favre launched his ill-advised pass.

Then Cousins, with his team already in position to try a 52-yard field goal, inexplicably fired the ball out of the bounds to the East sideline with no receiver in the area. Grounding. Five-yard penalty.

With the degree of difficulty on a potential field goal now greatly enhanced, the Saints sold out on the blitz, which had led to several big gains for Washington earlier in the game. This time it worked. Sack. Fumble. Time expires. Overtime.

The shell-shocked Redskins won the coin toss and got the ball first in overtime, but their possession went dropped pass-sack-dropped pass and New Orleans started at its 39 after a punt.

Mark Ingram II ran for 20 yards, then he ran for 31 and the Saints were in chip-shot field-goal range at the Washington 10.

Wil Lutz took aim at the same South end zone goal posts that Garrett Hartley aimed at against the Vikings, albeit from 12 yards closer.

During a timeout before Hartley’s kick, coach Sean Payton told his kicker, “hit the (bleeping) fleur-de-lis,” referencing the team logo painted on the facade behind the midpoint between the goal posts.

Hartley obliged and the Saints were off to the Miami, where they beat Indianapolis two weeks later for the Super Bowl title.

This team — thanks to Lutz’s 28-yard field goal — is still rolling as it heads to Los Angeles to play the Rams next Sunday.

“You win games like this,” Brees said, “and you feel like you can win anywhere, any time and any way.”

There are six regular-season games left and we’re not sure of the status of Vaccaro, Klein, Lattimore or defensive end Alex Okafor, who limped out of the game late in the fourth quarter.

But we do know that this team’s streak of three consecutive seasons with a 7-9 record will not reach four.

And we know that its worst performance during this eight-game win streak produced the most thought-provoking win among the eight.

Yes, Super Bowl talk is premature in November and even December.

But sometimes a team’s performance demands it.