Tag: New Orleans Saints (Page 17 of 55)

      It’s official: The wedding night and honeymoon are over for the Saints

      October 10, 2010 /
      NEW ORLEANS - AUGUST 27: Head coach Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints watches a play during the game against the San Diego Chargers at the Louisiana Superdome on August 27, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints defeated the Chargers 36-21. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

      The Saints are currently in post-Super Bowl hell.

      Every week, their opponent acts is if its their Super Bowl, which means New Orleans will get everyone’s best effort from here on out.

      Every week, defensive coordinators want to be the one that comes up with the game plan that beat Sean Payton’s offense.

      And that means that every week, teams like the Cardinals have an opportunity to pull off an upset.

      In Arizona on Sunday, the Cardinals recovered two fumbles for touchdowns and returned an interception for a touchdown to shock New Orleans, 30-20. It was exactly the type of defensive effort the Cards needed since they were starting an undrafted rookie quarterback in Max Hall, who made his fair share of mistakes but went on to complete 17-of-27 passes for 168 yards and an interception. He took way too many hits, but he targeted Larry Fitzgerald (7 catches, 93 yards) nine times, spread the ball around effectively and most importantly, he pulled off a win in his first career start.

      Not bad for a rookie considering whom his opponent was.

      At 3-2, it isn’t time to start making definitive statements about the Saints. But it’s safe to say that this isn’t the same team that hoisted the Lombardi Trophy back in February.

      Drew Brees threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, but he was also intercepted three times and has only thrown for over 300 yards once this year (365 vs. the Falcons in Week 3). It doesn’t help that both Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas were out again this week and that the Saints couldn’t run the ball, although it may not have mattered today. Arizona’s defense swarmed to the ball and put New Orleans back on its heels for most of the game.

      After the Saints lost to the Falcons, everyone figured they would get back on track quickly with the Panthers, Cardinals, Bucs and Browns on their upcoming schedule. But they barely beat the Panthers last Sunday, were soundly beaten today and will face a 3-1 Tampa team brimming with confidence next week. If they’re not careful, the Saints are going to dig themselves a hole heading towards the midway point in the season.

      But that’s life for a defending champ. Every week they have a target on their backs.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 4 MVP, COY and ROY power rankings

      October 10, 2010 /

      We are a quarter of the way through the NFL season, and there are lots of wacky things happening. The Chiefs are 3-0 and the only undefeated team. That’s a far cry from last year, when the Colts and Saints were unbeaten almost all the way to the end of the 2009 campaign. There are also some interesting candidates emerging for MVP consideration, as well as for Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year. And like last year, we’ll start to analyze them in power rankings fashion. For this week and maybe the next few, we’ll put this in one post and give three names for each category. Around the halfway point of the season, more candidates will emerge so we will separate things out. Sound good? Right. Let’s go……..

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—Do we even have to spell this out? He steps in for Kevin Kolb in Week 1 and almost leads the Eagles to victory against the Packers. Then he wins against Detroit and Jacksonville before having his ribs crushed on a meaningless play vs. Washington last Sunday, knocking him out of the game early. Kolb comes back in, and the Eagles lose. Vick is averaging 200 yards passing per game, has 6 TDs and no interceptions, and is also averaging 7.2 yards per rush on 26 carries and one TD on the ground. He has a QB rating of 108.8 while Kolb’s is 71.1. Simply put, this team is dangerous with Vick, and not scaring anyone without him. That’s the very definition of MVP.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Injuries are starting to catch up with the Saints

      October 3, 2010 /
      NEW ORLEANS - OCTOBER 03: Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints throws the ball against the Carolina Panthers at the Louisiana Superdome on October 3, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. of the Carolina Panthers (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

      How does a winless, hopeless and inferior Carolina Panther team take the defending Super Bowl champs to the brink before finally succumbing to defeat?

      Injuries – that’s how.

      There’s definitely something wrong with the Saints and while we could try to search for a deeper meaning to their recent struggles, I think the reason is simple. They’re just too banged up on the offensive side of the ball and we better get used to lackluster wins like their 16-14 victory today until they’re healthy again.

      Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas were both sidelined for New Orleans against Carolina and it showed. Drew Brees still managed to complete 33-of-48 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown, but the Panthers knew New Orleans couldn’t run the ball so they stayed back in coverage and allowed Brees to complete underneath passes. To Brees’ credit, he took what the defense gave him and led his team to a much-needed victory following last weekend’s overtime loss to the Falcons.

      But Brees isn’t 100% either. He wore a brace on his sprained knee and although it didn’t look like it affected him too much, he was still hampered. Brees’ injury coupled with Bush and Thomas being held out, and suddenly the Saints look incredibly vulnerable.

      Of course, this is the price that the defending champs pay. Every game is the opponent’s Super Bowl and when injuries pop up, you just have to deal with them and find ways to win. That’s what the Saints did on Sunday and while it wasn’t pretty, at the end of the day victories are all that matters.

      Speaking of injuries, Panthers’ receiver Steve Smith suffered a high ankle sprain today and at the moment, there’s no timetable for his return. This news must make rookie Jimmy Clausen incredibly happy, as Smith has lived in the rookie’s ear for the past two weeks. I thought Smith may murder Clausen and leave his body on the Superdome carpet after Clausen wasn’t paying attention to the playclock and the Panthers had to burn a timeout.

      External Sports, NFL

      Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas banged up for Saints

      September 30, 2010 /
      Sep 20, 2010; San Francisco, CA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) throws a pass during the Saints' 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park. Photo via Newscom

      Good thing the Saints take on the hapless Panthers this Sunday, because they’ve become the walking wounded.

      Reggie Bush (broken fibula) doesn’t need crutches anymore and is walking without pain. He believes he’ll be back sooner than expected, but that’s about the only injury news that favors the Saints right now.

      Drew Brees will play Sunday against Carolina, but he’s expected to wear a brace on his sore left knee. He suffered the injury late last week in an overtime loss to the Falcons and while he doesn’t think the knee will affect his performance, you never know how a player will respond to an injury until he gets on the field. The good thing is that Brees is a tremendous pocket passer and even if he had two good knees we wouldn’t be seeing his best Michael Vick impression.

      The other significant piece of injury news surrounding the Saints has to do with Pierre Thomas’ ankle. He’s going to be a game-time decision after missing practice the past two days, although the team has yet to active DeShawn Wynn from the practice squad so that’s a good sign. Head coach Sean Payton also said on Thursday that Thomas is a rare player in that he can miss practice and still be mentally ready to play on Sunday.

      The Saints struggled to run the ball last week against the Falcons and it hurt them late in the game. Their passing attack was still unstoppable, but come overtime their defense was worn down from being on the field all day and Atlanta took advantage. I don’t expect the Panthers to pull off an upset this week, but with Brees and Thomas hobbled the game could be tighter than anticipated.

      External Sports, NFL

      Saints’ issues go beyond Garrett Hartley

      September 27, 2010 /
      NEW ORLEANS - SEPTEMBER 09: Head coach Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints looks on against the Minnesota Vikings at Louisiana Superdome on September 9, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

      When a kicker misses what would have been a game-winning field goal and sets up his opponent for victory instead, it’s not hard to figure out where to point blame.

      Garrett Hartley should have made the 29-yard field goal that cost the Saints a victory over the Falcons yesterday in overtime. But the defending champs have more than just kicking issues to worry about.

      Hartley’s kicking woes are obvious, which is why the Saints are set to work out veteran John Carney today. If they decide to make a change, then hopefully Carney will help bring some stability to the position.

      But John Carney isn’t going to solve the Saints’ inability to stop power running games or help generate a pass rush. He’s not going to fix Reggie Bush’s leg injury or help a suddenly struggling interior offensive line either.

      The Falcons have consistently proven that they can run the football. They rushed for 221 yards against the Cardinals, so for them to produce another 200-yard effort (201 to be exact) against the Saints wasn’t necessarily surprising. But it’s obviously still a concern.

      The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the Saints’ defense couldn’t stop Michael Turner and Jason Snelling on the Falcons’ game-winning drive in overtime. On that drive, Turner and Snelling combined for 46 yards on 10 carries and picked up three first downs by keeping the ball on the ground. (Although one of those runs by Turner was negated because of a penalty.)

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      External Sports, NFL

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