Saints Fans get Last Laugh - An Article by Jim Gazzolo

All over Louisiana Saints fans are smiling.

Forget the loss to Green Bay on Sunday, their first defeat of the season. Losing a 17-point halftime lead hurts but later that day their smiles could wash away any tears.

That is because the Denver Broncos gave up 10 touchdowns and 70 points in their loss to Miami.

While Denver was losing by 50 points Saints followers could understand they were getting the last laugh.

The Broncos are led by a new coach, the man who guided the Saints to their greatest moment and lone Super Bowl championship. 

Sean Payton left the Saints two years ago in a surprise move. He had given the City of New Orleans a sense of pride after the dark days following Hurricane Katrina. And as the head football coach he led the team to a title and all sorts of records.

But many believe Payton abandoned the Saints and their fans just as times were getting rough, and even the city itself because he didn’t want to go through another rebuilding process. He may have even had his sights set on those very Dolphins who scored 70 points against him.

Instead, 

Payton sat out one year and joined the ranks of television talking head. He wasn’t bad at it either.

Still, the itch to coach was too great for Payton who decided one year was long enough to way despite still being under contract to the Saints. So a trade was made.

Denver got their coach, Payton got a huge new contract and the Saints picked up a first and second-round draft pick. Some Saints fans thought they should have gotten even more, but looking back on the weekend now it seems Denver overpaid.

The Broncos, who are 0-3 on the young season, got a coach who just got beat by a whopping 50 points. That’s half a hundred to be more creative.

That’s a lot of points.

And the Saints ended up getting a pair of top picks for a guy who not only got beat by 50 but wasn’t working for them anyway. That turns out to be an awful lot for nothing.

Payton told reporters after the loss that he was at “a loss for words”.

That was never the case when he was in New Orleans. Payton was always willing to talk, and always seemed to have something to say. 

Win or lose Payton was the voice of hope and reason for Saints fans.

"Obviously, that was embarrassing and tough to watch," Payton said when he finally found the right words.

Payton signed a five-year deal with Denver so a slow start isn’t going to get him kicked out of town. 

While he is still a good coach and could turn things around, you have to wonder if at least for one day he wasn’t missing New Orleans.

And for that same day Saints fans can be thankful they got two high picks for a coach who left them.

That will put a smile on any fanbase, even one that suffered a 1-point loss to the Packers.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer and is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles.