Saints Gab

Tonight’s game will definitely be chock full of players who you won’t see playing this season. Tonight may not seem important to the fans but it is the most important game in some of these players’ lives. Miami Head Coach Cam Cameron told the Associated Press, “…there is going to be a group of guys in Dolphin uniforms that this is the biggest game of their life. It really is. No one looks at it that way, but the guys playing are because this is their opportunity.” So if you do choose to watch tonight at least you will get to see guys playing as if their life depended on it, because for a lot of these players it sort of does. Football is their life, and until they get cut, it is also their livelihood. After tonight’s game 20 or so players form both teams will be out of work and looking for jobs and most of them aren’t going to find them in the NFL.

The only Saints starters expected to play tonight are WR Marques Colston and WR Devery Henderson. After missing the past two pre-season games these two players have a bit more work to do before the season starts and some game experience will help. QB Jamie Martin will get the start while starting QB Drew Brees watches from the sidelines. 3rd string QB Tyler Palko will take the snaps in the 2nd half. Palko’s situation is an interesting one, he has played well this pre-season but last season there were only two QB’s on the roster. But Coach Payton says he’s willing to keep Palko as the third QB based on his performance thus far.

The game starts at 7:00pm and will be broadcast on WNOL-TV, the CW. Their pre-game show starts at 6:30pm.

The New Orleans Saints have never appeared in a Super Bowl but entering this season they have a better chance than they ever have before. The Saints are 1 of 6 NFL franchises that haven’t appeared in a Super Bowl. The other 5 teams are the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Saints are definitely among the top in the NFC. Their main competition will most likely be the Bears and the Eagles. Ironically enough, the Saints will finish the season hosting Philadelphia and then in the final week they will travel to Chicago to face the Bears. Those two games will likely determine the NFC playoff seeding. Right now it appears that the Saints have the edge over Chicago and Philadelphia. The Bears might have taken a step back this season, but we will obviously find out when the season starts. The Eagles have added some talent but they haven’t made enough improvements to lead one to believe they will be better than the Saints. All of this is speculation as the Season has not started yet and that is the only way to tell if the Saints really are the premier team in the NFC. But New Orleans fans definitely have something to be excited about because their team is definitely a favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

The Saints released LB Desmond Sims, CB Joe Porter, WR Aaron Hosack and QB Jason Fife. New Orleans must cut four more players by Tuesday in order reduce their roster size to 53, the maximum number of players allowed on an NFL roster.

Drew Brees torched the Chiefs, completing 17-of-19 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown, as the New Orleans Saints routed Kansas City, 30-7. The Saints quarterback had a sizzling rating of 124.1 in almost two quarters of play, leading New Orleans to three scoring drives against Kansas City’s first-team defense.

The Chiefs offense, led by Brodie Croyle, had an awful night. Croyle completed only 5-of-17 passes for 45 yards and an interception for a Chiefs team that did not score until a garbage-time touchdown by Marcus O’Keith. David Patten had eight grabs for 75 yards and a score, and Lance Moore had six catches for 88 yards. Reggie Bush gained 51 yards on six carries, and Deuce McCallister had six attempts for 14 yards. Pierre Thomas, an undrafted rookie out of Illinois, gained 90 yards on 11 carries and scored two late touchdowns for the Saints.

Running back Larry Johnson, who recently ended his 25-day holdout, did not play for Kansas City. Olindo Mare booted three field goals, two in the first half before Brees found Patten on a four-yard score with 2:27 left in the second quarter that gave the Saints a 13-0 halftime lead. Mare’s third field goal opened the fourth quarter, and Thomas took over on the ground. He ran in from six yards out at 9:40, and scored again from 19 yards out to put the Saints up 30-0 with 4:51 left.

The Saints wil play the Cheifs in a pre-season matchup tonight in kansas City. The starters are slated to play a good portion of the game tonight. Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and the boys should play the entire first half and Head Coach Sean Payton hopes that the starters will even take at least one possession in the third quarter. He told the Associated Press, “We’ll probably get through the half and then with some of these guys make some substitutions and with others continue into the beginning of the third quarter for maybe one series and then make the rotation. As you’re looking at the whole group I’d like to get them a drive in the third quarter where they’re in the locker room and then they come back out. Within that whole group, there will be some substitutions that will take place.”

Larry Johnson will not play tonight despite ending his holdout on Tuesday. @nd year QB Brodie Croyle has something to prove tonight to the Chiefs coaching staff and QB Damon Huard might not even play because of a calf injury. Kick off is at 8:30 pm ET.

Tidbit from Pro Football Weekly:

“Sources tell us WR Lance Moore has been the breakout star at Saints camp. The emergence of Moore, who is set to return kickoffs and is battling for the No. 4 WR job, made longtime return man Michael Lewis expendable.”

A trip to a water park may be costly for the Saints, as starting linebacker Scott Fujita ended up on crutches after the visit.  He showed up into the cafeteria at Millsaps College and while he didn’t give a formal interview, he did say that he was going to be fine and that nothing was broken.

All Fujita would comment is that he “had a little accident this morning.”  His foot was wrapped, but there was no brace on his leg, just an oversized sandal over the wrapping.

The trip to the water park came after two long, hard practices on Tuesday, the Saints’ first day back on the field since a 20-7 preseason loss to Pittsburgh in the Hall of Fame game on Sunday night.

In what could be a huge injury for the Saints, starting left tackle Jammal Brown was hurt Tuesday during practice and had to be carted off the field.  It looked as if the injury took place to his right knee, and happened during a contact drill.  The team had a tougher practice put on them by coach Sean Payton after the team had a poor showing against the Steelers in the Hall of Fame game on Sunday night in Canton, Ohio.

Brown stayed on the ground for about 20 minutes before the cart and some trainers left the field.  Brown was drafted in the first round out of Oklahoma, 13th overall, back in 2005. He was the starter at right tackle as a rookie and then was moved to left tackle last season, when he was selected for the Pro Bowl.  At 6-foot-6, 313 pounds, he is a force on the Saints line, a line that did a solid job last year opening holes for Reggie Bush and Deuce McCallister. The Saints offensive line that allowed only 23 sacks in 2006, fourth lowest in the league.  Brown is a big part of that, starting 15 games last season.  In his rookie season he started 13 games.

While most of the Saints are walking away not happy with themselves after a lackluster showing the Sunday’s Hall of Fame game, one player is really still feeling it today.  That player is first round draft choice Robert Meachem, who took what he called “the hardest hit of my life,” in the 4th quarter of the 20-7 loss.  Meachem was hit by Steelers corner William Gay as he attempted to make a catch.  He lost the ball in the mixup, and then went on to drop a few more passes before the night was all said and done.

“I have a lot of work to do,” said Meachem,. “Second pass, I should have caught it. Third pass, too. I was always taught that any time you get your hands on the ball, you catch it, no matter what. I have to adjust quickly, get back to work.”  It was a tough night all the way around for the Saints, who seemed to be manhandled rather easily by a Steelers defense that played hard under first year head coach Mike Tomlin in his first game.  How did the coach think Meachem played?   “I have to look at the tape, but there wasn’t a whole lot of good going on tonight.”