lord, how i want to be in that number when the sun refuse to shine.

Since their inaugural season in 1967, the New Orleans Saints have been unparalleled at one thing. Unlike the Pittsburgh Steelers, it hasn't been excellent defense. Unlike the Indianapolis Colts, it hasn't been for quarterbacks who have defined entire eras. Few Saints have been placed in the pantheon of great players, and no one has ever referred to the Superdome in the same hushed tones as Lambeau.

This is because the one thing that the Saints have been known for throughout their history is a thorough mastery of the art of losing. They have lost in humiliating fashion in important games. They have lost agonizingly close heartbreakers to inferior competition. Out of 42 seasons, only nine have been winning; out of eight playoff games, there have only been two wins. It goes without saying that the Saints have not appeared in a Super Bowl, one of five teams with membership in that exclusive club.

This is not to say that the Saints have been completely unsuccessful as a franchise. They still hold the record (shared with Denver) for the longest field goal ever made, and fielded for half a decade the best linebacking corps of all time, the Dome Patrol. Through a not inconsequential amount of luck, they managed their first playoff win ever in 2001 over a heavily-favored Rams team. And despite an inauspicious beginning, they won Sean Payton's first playoff game through franchise touchdown leader Deuce McAllister's heroics.

This year, however, is different. For the first time since the dissolution of the Dome Patrol, the Saints may be the best team in the league. Their defense, when healthy, is not to be trifled with; free-agent acquisition Darren Sharper is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, and is only ninety yards shy of resetting the interception return yardage record for a single season. The offense, as Saints fans have grown accustomed to seeing under Sean Payton, is the most varied and efficient in the league, with potential Pro Bowlers littering the offensive line, wide receiving corps, and backfield. In addition, the Saints have unprecedented depth on both sides of the ball, and are undefeated despite key injuries and a difficult schedule.

The 2009 Saints, while possibly contending for the meaningless mantle of "America's Team," are not simply a feel-good story, as the 2006 team was, not a flash in the pan. This team is a wrecking force on both sides of the ball, the culmination of years of intelligent draft moves and free agent pickups. The close calls the Saints have suffered this season can be chalked up to injury and fluke turnovers--the hallmark of a great team is resilience in the face of both. Their greatest challenge looming before the playoffs is a home game against the New England Patriots, who remain one of the elite teams in the league.

My sentiments against the Patriots are well-documented. I believe that, despite being the team of the decade, they are a thoroughly unlikeable bunch who won their titles through underhanded tactics (read: cheating), dirty defense, and unwatchable, risk-averse offense. The one year that their offense lived up to its hallowed quarterback's reputation, the Patriots assumed the sneering persona of their head coach, and were vindicated for it by a media hype machine the likes of which we haven't seen since Reggie Bush played at USC. After sleepwalking through the second half of a season seemingly predestined for 19 victories, the Patriots struggled in the playoffs and suffered the greatest upset in Super Bowl history to the Giants, a victim of their own insufferable smugness.

Now the Saints have a good chance to match the record of that Patriots team, and in a poetic twist of fate, have to go through the Patriots themselves to do so. This may well be the most important regular season game in Saints history, and it's on national television tonight at 7:30. Whodat?