Linebacker Chase Hansen said he learned Saturday in Cleveland that the New Orleans Saints are as mentally tough as a team comes.
The Saints (6-9) posted a 17-10 victory over the Browns at First-Energy Stadium that kept alive their playoff hopes. In order to win the NFC South Division and claim a spot in the playoffs, New Orleans needs to win its final two regular-season games (on the road against Philadelphia and home against Carolina), and have first-place Tampa Bay (7-8) lose its final two regular-season games (home against Carolina and on the road against Atlanta), or have Tampa Bay lose one and tie one.
New Orleans navigated sub-freezing conditions – the coldest game the franchise ever has played – and constructed its first two-game winning streak this season.
“I think what it says is we’ve got a bunch of really mentally tough guys,” said Hansen, who played his first defensive snaps of the season and had three tackles. “It’s something that Coach (Dennis) Allen preached all week and it’s one thing to talk about it, it’s another thing to see it come to fruition in a game like that.
“Football is a mental sport, but it’s clear that it’s also a very physical sport. If you have great physical tools there are some times where you can just overcome certain mental weaknesses, I guess you could say. But this was one those games where you just can’t. You’ve got to be able to do it for four quarters. You’ve got to keep going. You can get put on your butt and then, you’ve just got to get up and keep playing.
“Everyone’s playing in the cold. It was cool to be a part of. Just the mental toughness that I feel like it showed at this point in the season. I was impressed by a number of guys and I was just grateful to be a part of it.”
Offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton said it was the kind of game that his position group longs for.
“It’s one of those games that as an offensive lineman, you get excited about,” he said. “It was just fun. It’s one of those nasty, grueling kind of games where whoever is able to run the ball better and control the clock better is most likely going to come out on top. It was just one of those games that we were very excited about as a group and we were obviously elated to be able to get the victory.”
TALK TO ME: The two position groups that arguably require the most communication, offensive line and the secondary, are the two that arguably have experienced the most upheaval this season due to injuries.
Throckmorton started at right guard in…
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