Saints Gab

Sean Payton came into the game at Soldier Field saying that he was gonna keep the ball out of Devin Hester’s hands. That plan failed as the Bears beat the Saints 33-25. Hester scored two touchdowns in the affair: one on a 55 yard pass from quarterback Kyle Orton and another one on a punt return of 64 yards. Orton looked extremely good today, and, in my eyes, seems to have secured a spot on the team next year and maybe as a starter.

Drew Brees also played well, throwing for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns; however, he threw 2 interceptions and three incomplete passes on fourth down this week. Although I do not think the aggressive play calling cost the game for the Saints, the lack of conversion certainly hurt them. Running back Pierre Thomas was the standout for the Saints today. He had 226 yards of total offense including a touchdown. Marques Colston did not play in the second half due to a hand injury.

It was a disappointing season for the Saints after making to last year’s NFC championship. They lost today for the same reason as every loss this season: inconsistency on defense and the offense not able to make up for it. I am sure the off season will be interesting for them as they try to correct these issues.

The Saints are in a must-win situation when the meet the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.  The Saints’ postseason hopes took a serious shot last week when they were beaten at home by the Eagles, 38-23.  New Orleans needs a victory and losses by the Vikings and Redskins to claim the final playoff spot in the NFC.  The Bears blew out the long-time rival Packers 35-7 in Week 16.  Chicago holds a 13-11 edge in the all-time series between the teams, including last year’s 39-14 win in the NFC Championship Game.

Bloomington, Ill., Nov. 20, 2007 – On November 22, Thanksgiving Day, State Farm is officially debuting the “Your Game | Your Call” Ultimate Pro Bowl Giveaway where fans can win one of five trips to the 2008 Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Fans can enter the promotion daily through January 6 at www.statefarm.com/NFL2  for their chance to win a trip to Hawaii or one of 35 other great prizes. The 2008 Pro Bowl will be played on February 10 and televised by FOX. The grand prize package includes:

• Round trip air transportation for four to Honolulu Hawaii
• Four tickets to the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl presented by State Farm
• First class hotel accommodations in Honolulu (five days/four nights)
• Meet-and-greet with NFL Hall of Famer, Howie Long
• A $1,000 State Farm Visa Gift Card

In addition to the five grand prizes, fans have the opportunity to win one of ten first place prizes consisting of an autographed Howie Long football and a $250 nflshop.com gift card. Twenty-five $100 nflshop.com gift cards will also be awarded to second prize winners.

State Farm’s integrated marketing campaign will be kicked off with the airing of a new 15-second spot featuring Howie Long. The new spot will air on FOX during the Packers/Lions game on Thanksgiving Day (12:30 p.m. EST).

“NFL fans are some of the best and most loyal in sports today, and State Farm wants to give them the chance to hang with the best in Hawaii,” said Mark Gibson, assistant vice president – advertising for State Farm. “This promotion allows State Farm to reach a fan base of over 50 million fans and become top of mind with this very loyal and passionate audience”.

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For more information about the State Farm “Your Game | Your Call” Ultimate Pro Bowl Giveaway and for official rules, please visit the website at: www.statefarm.com/NFL2. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

If the New Orleans Saints expect to make a successful playoff push this season, they will have to do it without cornerback Mike McKenzie; McKenzie was placed on the injured reserve list, ending his season.  McKenzie suffered a torn ACL in last Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The 10-year veteran, McKenzie has returned two of his 3 interceptions for touchdowns and was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate.  Overall, McKenzie has 351 tackles and 26 interceptions in 126 games with Green Bay and New Orleans.

Even after losing to the Eagles on Sunday, the Saints still might be able to squeak into the playoffs.  The Saints must beat Chicago at Soldier Field on Sunday and have BOTH the Vikings and Redskins lose.

Is it possible? Yes.  Is it probable?  No.  The Redskins will face the Dallas Cowboys next week.  Dallas has already clinched home field throughout the playoffs.  Terrell Owens will not play, and I am assuming Tony Romo will not play for more than a half.  Terry Glenn will most likely be back, but I expect Dallas to quickly rotate out most of their key starters. 

This will leave the door wide open for Washington team who only needs a win to clinch the final NFC playoff spot.  The Vikings will play a very tough Denver team at Mile High.  The Broncos have already been eliminated from the AFC playoffs.  I do not expect them to rollover, but the Vikings have a very real chance to easily win that game.

The situation does not look good for the Black and Gold faithful.  However, as long as there’s a possibility, this Saints fan will keep his fingers crossed and keep on hoping.

The Saints let one slip from their grasp as they lost to Philadelphia 38-23 Sunday at the SuperDome, hurting their playoff chances in 2007. Luck just was not on their side Sunday. It started with Donovan McNabb fumbling while running on the Saints 20 yard line. The ball rolled into the end zone with about three saints around it but after a few bobbles the ball ended up in the hands of Kevin Curtis for an Eagles touchdown.

Even though the Saints would answer, they had awful luck throughout the day. On the same McNabb running play, star cornerback Mike McKenzie was hurt and did not return. A few plays later Marques Colston left the game. Aaron Stecker would also leave in the first half, but he did return in the second half. Even with all the injuries, the first half proved to high scoring for both teams with Philly leading 24-17. On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Saints had a chance to tie the game.

Drew Brees threw a pass to David Patton who the officials marked as down on the one foot line. After a failed Sean Payton challenge, the Saints ended up turning the ball over on downs as they tried running the ball three consecutive times. McNabb took control after that and marched down the field to put the Eagles up two touchdowns. Although the Saints tried to make it interesting, they never really had a shot after that, as Philadelphia only allowed two field goals the rest of the game.

It was a game the Saints probably felt they could have won. Minus a few dropped passes, a few injured players, and add a bit of luck and they would have been right there. While watching the game it just seemed that McNabb came to play today while the defense was in the clouds. Brees did all he could do, but without Colston it was very tough to get something going. Brees still threw for 289 yards compared to McNabb’s 263 yards in the air. Brian Westbrook had a solid game with 100 yards rushing. Limited by injury, Aaron Stecker only rushed for 49 yards though he did have 2 touchdowns.

Although the Saints seemed to have a really unlucky day (in fact they did!), grace did shine on them at least a bit. The Vikings lost in their Sunday night to Washington keeping the Saints hope of the playoffs alive. For the Saints to go, they will need to win their game against the Bears next week, and both Minnesota and Washington must lose.

Oh wait, they had none. I would like to ask the NFL how a team that could potentially make the playoffs got completely left out of the Pro Bowl. The Saints definitely have some standouts. Let’s first look at Drew Brees. Brees has passed for 3,819 yards with 25 touchdowns and a 68.7 completion percentage. Now for NFC quarterbacks of course Favre and Romo are automatic with the season they’re having, but Matt Hasselbeck was also chosen over Brees. Hasselbeck has thrown for 3,620 yards with 25 touchdowns and a 62.5 completion percentage. Brees also plays in a slightly better division (even Atlanta beat San Francisco).

Another notable absence is that of Marques Colston. Colston has had 87 receptions for 1092 yards and 9 touchdowns, and anyone who watches a Saints game will tell you those yards are not easy. Colston is one of the few receivers who goes up and beats defenders on a regular basis. He is also very good at absorbing the first game to gain more yards after the catch. Granted, I’ll accept Terrell Owens being an undisputed starter, but Larry Fitzgerald, Donald Driver, and Torry Holt were all placed ahead of Colston. Colston has caught more touchdowns than any of these guys with 9 (Driver only caught 2), and they are all about equal in pass receptions and pass yards.

On the defensive side of the ball I would have liked to seen Scott Fujita and Mike McKenzie. Fujita has 87 tackles, 3 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. He is the leader of a defense ranked 8^th against the rush. That is nineteen more tackles than Seatle’s Peterson and he has one more sack than Chicago’s Briggs. McKenzie this year has 52 tackles and 3 interceptions, with 2 of those returned for touchdowns. He is very much considered a “shutdown corner” as he has allowed only one touchdown pass this year. Al Harris, Marcus Trufant, and Terrence Newman were the other corners named to the Pro Bowl. While Trufant is an automatic with his number of interceptions, McKenzie’s numbers are very similar to both Harris and Newman though he has more tackles than both of them. More than that, however, I believe McKenzie is a more respected corner than both Harris and Newman.

I am by no means stating that these candidates should have been OBVIOUS picks to the Pro Bowl. In fact, I would say none of them should be starting in the Pro Bowl. However, all these players are without a doubt at the same skill level as everyone that is going to Hawaii. I am just shocked that everyone of these great players failed to get an invitation this year.

After a huge upset in Dallas, the Philadelphia Eagles now come to New Orleans to try and spoil the Saint’s chances of making the playoffs. The Saints need to keep winning to keep their hopes alive. With Deuce McAllister out and Reggie Bush expecting not to play, the running game will once again fall in the hand of Aaron Stecker. He has played well in the starting role, averaging over 100 multi-purpose yards per game. He will be assisting Drew Brees, who will most likely have his hands full with a very crafty Philadelphia defense. The Philly defense rattled Dallas’s Tony Romo last week, and I am sure they will try to do the same with Brees this week. Brees will need to play smart and take care of the football if he wishes to lead the Saints over Philadelphia and keep them marching towards the playoffs.

The Saints will look to keep their playoff hopes alive this week when they battle the Eagles at the Superdome.  The Saints are 7-and-7 and sit one game behind the Vikings for the sixth and final playoff spot in the NFC.  The Eagles come in at 6-and-8, but they were eliminated from playoff contention despite a 10-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 15.  Four of the Eagles’ six wins this season have come on the road.  The Saints have won two straight and three-of-four overall to climb to .500.  New Orleans remained very much alive in the NFC playoff scenario with a 31-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals last week.  Aaron Stecker ran for two scores in place of the injured Reggie Bush.  New Orleans won 27-24 when these two teams met last season in Louisiana.

For a team that started 0-4, it seems unbelievable. For a team that lost both of its star running backs, it seems impossible. But can it happen? Absolutely! Currently the Saints are behind both the Giants and the Vikings in competing for the two NFC wild card spots. For the Giants to clinch they must either win one of their two remaining games or have the Saints or Redskins lose.

This struggling Giants team has to play at Buffalo and then host New England. They lost to Washington in a horrible performance on their most recent outing. It seems as if they are poised to back into the playoffs as a second rate team YET again. Think twice, there might not be any playoffs for the G-men. Buffalo is a solid team that will give New York their money’s worth. If Eli and his receiving core do not get their act together, put a point in the win column for Buffalo.

The Giants then have the pleasure of hosting the undefeated Patriots for the final game of the season. If the Patriots beat Miami this week, does anyone seriously consider them having a letdown versus the Giants to complete a perfect season? Absolutely not. For the Vikings to clinch, they must either win out or have the Saints and Redskins lose. This Sunday, the Vikings host the Redskins in what should be at worst a competitive game. The week after, they play at Denver. Although the Broncos have underperformed this year I seriously doubt Mike Shanahan will let his team be a rollover.

So where could this leave the Saints? In the playoffs!! They need to win out. This week New Orleans hosts a Philadelphia team who just came off a huge win against Dallas. Personally, I was unimpressed with the “W”, but that is another topic. Despite, Philly’s recent achievement, the Saints are still favored to win at home. And why shouldn’t they be!? Brees has looked great these past few games. Stecker has answered the run game questions.

Colston is amazing. I think it’s safe to say the Saints offense is back ticking again. Their only weakness is their defense, more specifically the secondary. Whose job will it be to exploit that secondary? Donovan McNabb. For some reason this season I feel the Saints have nothing to worry about as McNabb prepares himself to be traded in the off-season due to under performance. Even in the win, he looked no where near his normal self. Therefore, the only riddle to the Eagles is solving Pro-bowler Brian Westbrook. I think that will be no problem as the Saints have the 8th best run defense giving up less that 100 rushing yards a game. A solid linebacker core will snuff out Westbrook’s screen game as well.

If the Saints manage to get past the Eagles that leaves only the dismal Bears to stand in their way for the final game of the season. I would be highly surprised if the Bears were able to play spoiler with a less than average defense and Kyle Orton as their starting quarterback.

So could the Saints find themselves in the playoffs? If they keep playing well, you had better believe it.