“Didn’t you ever cram for an exam before? I learned two semesters of geology in three hours. We can do this. We just have to practice.” — Russell Ziskey, Stripes
And, faced with the challenge of playing the unbeaten Atlanta Falcons four days after arguably their most miserable performance of the Sean Payton era, the Saints did just that.
They stuffed a week’s worth of preparation into two days, putting in new wrinkles on offense, defense and special teams that resulted in a 31-21 victory before a two-thirds-full but fully roused Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
“We knew how important this was,” cornerback Keenan Lewis said.