2006 New Orleans Saints season
In the fourth quarter, Green Bay tried to come back with quarterback Brett Favre throwing a 4-yard pass to WR Robert Ferguson.
Riding high from their two-straight road wins, the Saints returned home to the Louisiana Superdome for the first time since December 26, 2004 for a special Monday Night game against their fellow NFC South division rival, the Atlanta Falcons, in front of a jubilant sold-out crowd of 70,003 and ESPN's largest-ever audience, with about 10.8 million households viewing, at the time the second-largest cable audience in history[6] (behind the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) debate between Al Gore and Ross Perot on CNN).
From the get-go, the Saints trailed early, as quarterback Jake Delhomme completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to WR Steve Smith for the only score of the period.
That was the only time that the Saints saw the lead, as the Panthers slashed away, with Delhomme completing a 4-yard pass to WR Drew Carter and RB DeShaun Foster running 43 yards for a touchdown.
New Orleans tried to come back, as quarterback Drew Brees completed an 86-yard touchdown pass to WR Marques Colston, but that was as close as they got, as Carolina held on to win, while the Saints got their first loss of the year dropping to 3–1.
Prior to the play, Bush roused the notoriously raucous New Orleans audience to their feet; by the time the ball was snapped, the cheers had reached a tremendous level.
The noise only increased as Bush raced past the Bucs' special teams for 65 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown, his first as an NFL player.
at Louisiana Superdome Hoping to build on their win over Tampa Bay, the Saints stayed at home for a Week 6 fight with the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the first quarter, New Orleans jumped out to an early lead with kicker John Carney kicking a 39-yard field goal and quarterback Drew Brees completing a 14-yard touchdown pass to WR Joe Horn.
However, in the third quarter, the Eagles started to get back into the game, as quarterback Donovan McNabb completed two touchdown passes (a 60-yarder to WR Reggie Brown and a 4-yard to TE L.J.
After Brees completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to Horn, Carney helped give New Orleans the win as he kicked a 31-yard field goal as time ran out on the game.
In the third quarter, the Ravens got another 12-yard touchdown interception return with rookie Strong Safety Dawan Landry making the pick for the only score of the period.
In the second quarter, the Saints started to take command as kicker John Carney completed a 20-yard field goal, while rookie RB Reggie Bush got a 15-yard touchdown run on a reverse.
In the third quarter, the Steelers started to fight back as Roethlisberger completed a 38-yard touchdown pass to WR Cedrick Wilson for the only score of the period.
In the second quarter, Andersen made a 30-yard field goal, while on the final play of the half, Brees threw a spectacular 48-yard "Hail Mary" touchdown pass to WR Terrance Copper.
In the fourth quarter, New Orleans managed to put the game away with kicker John Carney completing a 25-yard field goal and McAllister getting a 9-yard touchdown run.
at Louisiana Superdome Attempting to capitalize on their decisive victory at Atlanta, a revitalized Saints team entered the game with high hopes.
After a John Carney field goal, Reggie Bush took hold of a five-yard shovel pass from Drew Brees and scored his third touchdown of the night.
A surprising Saints team stymied the Cowboys to a field goal by Gramatica, and Reggie Bush quickly answered with a 61-yard catch for a touchdown.
In the middle of the third quarter, Reggie Bush returned a punt, fell onto his knees (but because nobody touched him he was not down by contact), and he then ran the ball in for a touchdown.
Early in the fourth quarter, Deuce McAllister ran it in for the final touchdown of the day, and John Carney sealed it with a 38-yard field goal.
The following day, the Dallas Cowboys fell to the revitalized, Jeff Garcia-led Philadelphia Eagles, and the Saints secured the #2 spot in the NFC, and a first-round bye.
at Louisiana Superdome Being in the divisional round for only the second time in franchise history, the second-seeded Saints began their playoff run against the third-seeded Philadelphia Eagles.
Suddenly it looked grim for the Saints when, on the ensuing drive, a pitch-out from Brees to Bush bounced off the running back's hands and the Eagles recovered.
Additionally, this is one of the very rare occasions where a team beats another in the same matchup in both the regular season and the playoffs with exactly the same score both times, as they won against the Eagles at home 27–24 in Week 6.
With the win, New Orleans improved its overall record to 11–6 and advanced to its first NFC Championship Game appearance in the team's 40-year franchise history, where they took on the Chicago Bears.
In the second quarter, the Saints continued to trail as Gould gave Chicago a 43-yard and a 23-yard field goal, while RB Thomas Jones got a 2-yard touchdown run.
New Orleans managed to get some momentum for the second half as quarterback Drew Brees completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Marques Colston.
In the third quarter, the Saints started to get more momentum as Brees completed an 88-yard touchdown pass to rookie RB Reggie Bush to make the score 16–14.
Pundits felt that the New Orleans' loss was the fact that they were a "dome" team and were forced to play in snowy conditions while committing five turnovers (three lost fumbles, an interception, and one on downs).
