We’re in for the New Orleans Saints’ first cold-weather game of the year, and there’s already a narrative buzzing that the Saints can’t win in the wind and snow. It’s a lazy narrative built on their status as a dome team from a warm-weather locale, but on its face there’s some merit to it. They’ve only won 6 of their 17 games played at below-freezing temperatures, per Stathead via Pro Football Reference, but that’s more of a product of the Saints playing bad football for several decades.
The Saints went 4-7 in cold-weather games before Sean Payton was hired as head coach, a period in which they won just 237 of the 594 games they played from 1967 to 2005. New Orleans fielded bad teams often, regardless of the weather forecast.
But the narrative is the narrative, and we’re about to hear a lot of chatter on the Saints not being built for the wind and snow. Even though New Orleans has won each of its last two games played in freezing temperatures. Here’s their game-by-game history under 32 degrees:
Malcolm Emmons- USA TODAY Sports
Saints quarterback Billy Kilmer completed 19 of 32 pass attempts for 210 yards and a touchdown reception, also running 4 times for 19 yards and a touchdown carry in the loss. Eagles running back Tom Woodeshick put the game away with 18 carries for 122 yards and a 30-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
The Saints were 8-point underdogs in this matchup at Milwaukee County Stadium, but kicker Charlie Durkee set a franchise record with 5 successful field goals on 6 tries to steal an upset win, connecting from distances of 12, 12, 35, 26, and 11 yards on a cold, windy Wisconsin afternoon in late November. His record was later tied by Morten Andersen (4 times) and John Carney (3 times), but no Saints kicker has ever made more than 5 field goals in a single game since then.
Herb Weitman-USA TODAY Sports
The Saints kept this one close up to halftime, but Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton shut the door on them in the fourth quarter with two touchdown passes to (who else?) wide receiver John Gilliam, a member of the inaugural Saints squads in 1967 and 1968. Gilliam finished the day with 5 receptions for 109 yards, catching touchdown passes of 13 and 22 yards to put the game away against his old team.
Green Bay Press-Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK
This one was brutal. The Saints took an…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Saints Wire…