Saints Gab

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Lance Moore has worked his way up the depth chart after spending the majority of his first two seasons as a member of the team’s practice squad. Last season, Moore caught a career-high 32 receptions for 302 yards and two touchdowns, while also serving as the team’s primary punt returner. On Sunday, he posted a career day, finishing with seven catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns in the Saints’ 31-17 win over San Francisco. In this exclusive interview with NFLPLAYERS.COM, Moore talks about the challenges he faced moving up from the Saints’ practice squad and much more.

Q: What is something people might not know about you and what do you like to do in your spare time?

A: Something people might not know is that I’m a black belt. I don’t do too much in my spare time, other than sleep.

Q: What was the biggest challenge that you faced when trying to move up from the Saints’ practice squad to the active roster?

A: Just trying to understand that sometimes you have to wait your turn and as long as you keep working there’s a possibility that things can change and you’ll get your opportunity.

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Quarterbacks DREW BREES of the New Orleans Saints, JASON CAMPBELL of the Washington Redskins and BRETT FAVRE of the New York Jets are the finalists for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on September 28 – 29, while running backs EARNEST GRAHAM of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, LARRY JOHNSON of the Kansas City Chiefs and CLINTON PORTIS of the Washington Redskins are the finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week honors, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com/FedEx from 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday through 11 a.m.. EST on Friday to determine the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week. The winners will be announced Friday evening on NFL.com.

Fans will be voting for more than their favorite player. As part of the Air & Ground program for the first time, FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids USA – a national non-profit organization that works to prevent accidental injury among children – to deliver safer kids by making weekly $1,000 donations in the winning players’ names. The funding directly benefits local Safe Kids coalitions in that team’s city, to fund pedestrian safety improvements throughout the year. This year, FedEx celebrates its fifth year of the program and will surpass the $1 million mark in funding to create safer communities for children.

New this season, fans can tune into the “FedEx Air & Ground Lowdown” posted only on NFL.com/FedEx starting Wednesday mornings. The show examines the nominees in the Air & Ground categories through exclusive video highlights and expert analysis. NFL Network’s MARSHALL FAULK and TERRELL DAVIS host the weekly five-minute show.

A closer look at the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week finalists:

· New Orleans’ DREW BREES completed 23 of 35 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints’ 31 – 17 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

· Washington’s JASON CAMPBELL passed for 231 yards and two touchdowns completing 20 of his 31 passes in the Redskins’ 26 – 24 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Campbell managed an offense that controlled the ball for more than 38 minutes.

· New York Jets’ BRETT FAVRE threw for a career-high six touchdowns and posted a 123.7 passer rating in the Jets’ 56 – 35 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Favre completed 24 of 34 passes to eight different receivers for 289 yards.

A closer look at the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week finalists:

· Tampa Bay’s EARNEST GRAHAM rushed for 111 yards and one touchdown over 20 carries in the Buccaneers’ 30 – 21 win over the Green Bay Packers. Graham’s fourth-quarter one-yard touchdown sealed Tampa Bay’s victory.

· Kansas City’s LARRY JOHNSON rushed for 198 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries in the Chiefs’ 33 – 19 win over the AFC West rival Denver Broncos, the Chiefs’ first win of the year.

· Washington’s CLINTON PORTIS totaled 121 rushing yards on 21 carries in the Redskins’ 26 – 24 win over the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys.

Sure, they’re battered and they’ve lost two in a row. The number one receiver, the number one tight end, and the starting fullback were all out. One of the mainstays on the offensive line was suspended this week and another had been hurt last week. No team had been able to throw for more than 200 yards on the 49ers this season. The two players responsible for four touchdowns last week were held to only 39 total yards. But none of that made any difference as New Orleans stayed perfect with their second win at home this season.

The Saints started the first quarter with the ball but were only able to get it to midfield. The 49ers then drove down to score three points on a 47-yard field goal, their first of three in the game. The second possession for New Orleans ended when Brees threw his fourth interception of the season. However, the defense held tough, not allowing San Francisco to make a first down.

Then the team seemed to get life from both the defense and the insertion of RB Deuce McAllister in the offense. Rookie DT Sedrick Ellis got his first sack of his career, the second of the day for the team. DE Will Smith’s sacked JT O’Sullivan again on the next play which forced a fumble that was recovered by LB Jonathan Vilma. In the first half, New Orleans kept San Francisco from converting their third downs as they went 0 for 5 and out of the end zone. The defense ended the day with six sacks, two by DE Charles Grant, and two interceptions.

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It looks as if Deuce McAllister’s role might be increased today with the Saints, as he’s being introduced with the starters after Reggie Bush.  McAllister has been looking to get a bigger role in the offense, maybe any sort of role would be nice to start.  You would think that introducing him with the starters is going to get the crowd going, and may indicate his role increasing.

Saints coach Sean Payton has been fined for speaking his mind of the ref’s brainless no call in Sunday’s loss against the Broncos.  Payton has been fined $15,000 for being “critical of the officials.”  Whatever.  The fine came after he blasted the officials in Monday’s press conferece when he said the refs should have flagged Jamie Winborn when he was clearly lined up in the neutral zone.  The play resulted in a big loss with 2:40 to go on a third-and-one.  If the Saints get the first down, they get a much more likely shot at the field goal that was missed that cost them the game.  Payton will appeal the fine, and he should get it reduced.

The Saints will be honoring former offensive tackle Willie Roaf at halftime during tomorrows game against the Niners. Fans attending will be given custom T-shirts with his likeness on the front. He was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame yesterday. Roaf said that he was honored to be inducted as he’s the first player to be put in that spent most of his career with the team. He likely will end up in the Pro Football HOF in Canton, he will be eligible in 2011. “He was one of my favorite players of all time,” former Saints coach Jim Mora, who participated in Friday’s induction ceremony, said of Roaf. “I know sometime down the road, he will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s one of my top five players I think I’ve ever coached.”

Who would have thought that after three weeks the San Francisco 49′ers would have a better record than the New Orleans Saints? That is the case as the two teams do battle Sunday at the SuperDome in New Orleans. The Niners come in at 2-1, winners of two in a row after losing in the opener vs the Cardinals. The Saints have lost two straight on the road after an opening day win over the Bucs at home.

New Orleans came all the way back from 18 down in Denver Sunday, but were the victims of a bad no-call late, and then Martin Gramatica missed a potential go-ahead 43-yard field goal with 1:55 remaining that would have put the team ahead. The Broncos jumped on the Saints, and the team was able to fight back only to lose in the end, and it will be interesting to see if they can rally from that defeat.

San Fran enters the contest with a ton of confidence, more so on the offensive side of the ball. The last two weeks, both wins, the team put up 365 yards and 33 points and 370 points and 31 points in Sunday’s win over the Lions. The key seems to be the play-calling of coordinator Mike Martz, along with the play of QB J.T. O’Sullivan, who has been making good decisions and not turning the ball over.

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The short tenure of Joey Harrington as a QB for the New Orleans Saints is over. Harrington, who joined the team as their third QB just last week, was released on Wednesday. The team released Harrington to sign TE Sean Ryan, who caught nine total passes from 2006-07 with the New York Jets. Ryan was brought in to take the spot of Jeremy Shockey, who is out for the next 3-6 weeks. Ryan did play a game this year with Miami, but didn’t have a catch. Harrington last season for the Falcons threw for 2,215 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions in 12 games, including 10 starts.

The League suspended New Orleans Saints Guard Jamar Nesbit on Tuesday for four games for violating the NFL Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances. Nesbit has started 92 consecutive games for the Saints, the fourth longest streak by a guard in the NFL. The suspension begins immediately and Nesbit will be eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, October 20th, following the game against the Carolina Panthers on the 19th.

According to statements in the Times-Picayune, Nesbit said that he failed a drug test this summer due to an over-the-counter product which had been advertised as an all-natural body cleansing health product and which he checked against the list of approved substances. Nesbit said that there was an unidentified ingredient in the product that caused him to fail the test. The product is not designed specifically for athletes and is available in a chain store.

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For the second week in a row, the Broncos got away with one, and this time, it bite the Saints big time.  Don’t think it won’t go unnoticed, as Saints coach Sean Payton is filing a complaint to the league about a critical no-call late in Sunday’s loss to Denver. Payton says (and is right) that Broncos linebacker Jamie Winborn was lined up offside on a third-and-short play that preceded the missed field goal by Saints kicker Martin Gramatica late in the game.

Ref Ron Winter totally missed the call, and if he would have called Winborn offside like he should have, the Saints would have had a first down inside the Broncos 20.  Last week the Broncos got a win due to a no-call on what was a Jay Cutler fumble, and this week it seems like once again those wearing the stripes were on the side of those in the Mile High City.

Above is a Screen Shot of the offside that wasn’t called