If these Steelers can’t beat the Saints in the Superdome, who can?

By Jeff Duncan
https://www.nola.com/saints/2018/12/if-these-steelers-cant-beat-the-saints-in-the-superdome-who-can.html
December 23, 2018


New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas (13) catches the game-winning 5-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter during the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints at the Superdome on Sunday, December 23, 2018. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

There’s nothing like being home for the holidays.

And in the NFL, there’s nothing like being home for the playoffs.

The Saints will be in New Orleans for both after their dramatic 31-28 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday (Dec. 23).

Thanks to their thrilling, heart-racing, last-minute victory, the road to Super Bowl 53 will go through the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in the NFC. And that’s ominous news for the Saints’ conference rivals.

The Saints have been the best team for most of this season. And now they’re assured of playing the rest of their games at home, where they are virtually unbeatable.

“I’m speechless,” safety Vonn Bell said. “We are going to run everything through the Dome. What a feeling.”

And what a game.

Regular-season games simply don’t get any better.

This one had it all. Star power. Big plays. Momentum swings. Late-game dramatics. Controversy. All played to the soundtrack of an incessant Superdome din.

This felt like a Super Bowl rather than Week 16 of the regular season. And when it finally ended, the Saints provided the exclamation point with an obligatory ice bath for Saints coach Sean Payton, the first one he’s experienced in years.

“These wins are something you get addicted to,” Payton said. "I’m proud of this team. Man, they showed a great resolve.”

The Steelers played desperate, like a proud team that needed a win to maintain its lead in the AFC North Division. They matched the Saints play for play and moment for moment.

The Steelers played the Saints exactly the way you have to play them to win in the hostile Superdome. They were aggressive, mentally tough and took the fight to the Saints on both sides of the ball. They blitzed Brees with abandon and attacked on offense through the air. They made huge plays on both sides of the ball, matched the Saints intensity and stood strong in the face of the withering din of the sellout home crowd.

The Steelers outgained the Saints and outplayed them for most of three quarters. Considering the circumstances, the opponent, the setting and the stakes, they played about as well as could be expected. And yet they still came up short.

That can’t be a comforting thought for the rest of the NFC. If this battle-tested Steelers team playing this well and with this much on the line can’t beat the Saints I’m not sure who can.

“We tip our caps to New Orleans,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “It was a tough-fought game. It was a tough environment. It was just not enough positive playmaking in the three phases to secure victory.”

It certainly wasn’t perfect for the Saints, who at times reverted to their early-season form in pass coverage. The communication issues and coverage breakdowns that haunted the Saints secondary earlier this season reared their head at times again Sunday. The Saints will need to straighten them out before the postseason because they won’t be facing Jameis Winston or a wounded Cam Newton once they get there.

“We felt like we could do what we wanted to do out there,” said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who riddled the Saints for 380 passing yards and three touchdowns.

New Orleans Saints defensive end Alex Okafor (57) comes up with a fumble in the fourth quarter during the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints at the Superdome on Sunday, December 23, 2018. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The Saints survived largely because of four plays: two Steelers fumbles in the fourth quarter and two fourth-down pass interference calls against Joe Haden. All went the Saints way. And in the end, they were just enough to pull out another dramatic hard-fought win.

The win was the Saints’ fifth this season that required a fourth-quarter comeback. It was their sixth in which they needed a game-winning drive by Brees to secure the W.

It’s not luck or coincidence when it happens this frequently.

“It shows a lot about the character of this team,” running back Mark Ingram said. “We’re battle-tested.”

The Saints played like a team motivated to secure the No. 1 overall playoff seed in the NFC for only the second time in franchise history.

While the rest of the NFC is banging their collective heads trying to survive and advance, the Saints have the advantage of resting, recuperating and refocusing for a playoff run, knowing they won’t have to play another game outdoors or outside the Deep South for the rest of this season.

For a team that has won six consecutive playoff games in New Orleans, including all five in the Payton-Drew Brees era, that’s gumbo for the soul.

“This is why you fight for that (No. 1 overall seed),” Brees said. “It’s great to have that week off, but it’s also nice to have that (No.) 1 seed and know that everybody is going to have to come to us. We like to be in that position.”

So take a break, New Orleans. Enjoy the holidays. As Aaron Rodgers once famously said: R-E-L-A-X. Breathe.

Rest your lungs. And your heart monitors.

You’re going to need both when the real playoffs begin.