Dec. 8, 2024.
It’d been almost a year since the New Orleans Saints last won a football game.
Three hundred days, to be exact, which probably felt like a lifetime for the players and coaches who’d suffered through the drought.
So when the Saints finally snapped the skid Sunday with a cathartic [26-14 victory](https://www.nola.com/tncms/asset/editorial/0f999735-303a-4052-85f3-36e7536098e6/) over the New York Giants, they celebrated with understandable relief and unbridled joy.
Club Dub, as the Saints call their amplified, high-tech postgame locker room celebration, has christened more important wins over the years. But few victories have been relished as much as this one was in the Superdome.
“It’d been a while since we’ve had the fog (machine) and the music playing,” third-year safety Jordan Howden said. “I almost forgot how that was.”
The Saints need not apologize for their ebullience. When you haven’t won a game in almost 10 months and are one of just three teams remaining in the winless ranks, any victory is cause for celebration.
And when it comes after falling into an early 14-3 deficit and as the result of the team’s first five-takeaway game in more than a year and a half, it’s certainly worthy of a little redemptive revelry.
“It feels great,” said rookie safety, Jonas Sanker, who kept the game ball from his fumble recovery to give to defensive backs coach Grady Brown. “That’s my first time seeing (the postgame locker room) like that.”
Added veteran tight end Foster Moreau, who started the party by leading an emotional pregame Who Dat chant with good buddy Taysom Hill: “It feels great. The whole team came together in this one.”
This is what ending a 300-day, eight-game losing skid looks like.
It’s safety Jordan Howden streaking 86 yards with a game-changing fumble return for his first touchdown since his high school days in Las Vegas and then being so winded from the effort he had to beg off his duties on the ensuing kickoff coverage.
It’s Tyler Shough picking up Blake Grupe in a bear hug after he gave up his 156-pound body to tackle Deonte Banks and save a potential touchdown on the ensuing kickoff return.
It’s Rattler sprinting the length of the field to celebrate with Rashid Shaheed after he outraced the entire New York secondary on his 87-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
“That’s probably the fastest I ran the whole game,” quipped Rattler.
The Saints kept six game balls from the victory — one for each of the five turnovers they produced and one for Shaheed's game-changing TD. The haul was so extensive, equipment manager Richard Killian barely had room left in the oversized duffle bag he uses to stash the keepsakes.
“It’s big,” said Rattler, who received a game ball from head coach Kellen Moore after recording his first win as a starter and completing 20 of 30 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown. “It’s hard to come across wins in this league. It’s good to get one.”
The Saints all the right things afterward. They talked about the 24-hour rule and about not forgetting that they’re still just 1-4 on the season. They know they’re not going to play a rookie quarterback every week or be the beneficiaries of a five-turnover windfall again anytime soon.
“It was an awesome win,” Moore said. “It hasn’t been an amazing month for our guys. Missing on four opportunities (to win), and for them to hang in there and compete for this entire game and find a way to win, I thought it was an awesome effort.”
The key for the Saints now will be how they handle success. Can they put the win behind them and regain their focus for the week ahead? They wouldn’t be the first New Orleanians to succumb to a hangover after a big celebration.
The revitalized New England Patriots visit the Superdome on Sunday. On paper, it’s another winnable game. But the Saints can’t take anything for granted, especially after experiencing so much losing and heartache.
“It feels amazing,” Shaheed said. “The locker room was electric. This is a feeling we chase every single week. This is why we work so hard. This game is about momentum, and this is definitely something we can build off of.”
Time will tell if Club Dub is about to become a weekly operation for the Saints. Or it will be out of commission again for awhile.