Saints trounce Cardinals in Divisional Round

It looked questionable in December, but the game everyone wanted to see is now a reality.

After limping into the playoffs having lost three straight games, the Saints silenced all of their critics on Saturday and scored early and often in a 45-14 dismantling of the Arizona Cardinals in front of a rowdy capacity crowd in the Superdome.

“So much for being rusty,” said Saints coach Sean Payton. “Obviously, I’m pleased with the way they played. I thought in all three phases that we did a good job.”

As a result, the team will now take on the Minnesota Vikings, who advanced to the NFC Championship game with a 34-3 trouncing of the Dallas Cowboys. The Vikings win paved the way for a showdown of the two teams who have paced the NFC all season.

For New Orleans, things didn’t exactly start on a high note as Cardinals’ halfback Tim Hightower took a handoff 70 yards for a touchdown on the opening play from scrimmage to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead.

But the wheels quickly fell off the wagon for the Cardinals following their quick start as the Saints scored 35 first half points.

Often maligned halfback Reggie Bush sparked the Saints throughout the night and had a pair of touchdowns, including an 83-yard punt return that closed the door on the Cardinals’ season.

Payton said the team’s bye week two weeks ago allowed Bush to heal injuries that had accumulated during the season.

“He’s as healthy as he’s been,” Payton said. “He was something today. You saw it now only on the punt return, but on the long touchdown run. He played real well today.”

Saints’ safety Darren Sharper agreed with his coach and praised Bush’s effort in the team’s biggest game of the season.

“That was vintage Reggie Bush that you saw out there today,” Sharper said. “He has the ability to make those big plays and he showed it today. It was something else to watch.”

The Saints will now move to the NFL Championship round for just the second time in franchise history.

There, they will meet the Vikings who take a similar path to the Championship Round as the Saints, having lost two of their final three regular season games.

But against the Cowboys, the Vikings defense was a force to be reckoned with and sacked Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo six times.

Achieving that level of success against the Saints will be difficult, however, as Brees has been sacked just 20 times on the season.

Vikings quarterback Brett Favre said he knows how difficult it will be to win in New Orleans.

“I’m concerned like I was going into this game, but the difference is we’re going into their house,” Favre said following Minnesota’s win. “They’re very explosive. We’ll have to play great football to win, but we’re in the game and I am pleased about that.”