Saints Gab

From: New Orleans Times-Picayune

Sean Payton said he and Mickey Loomis have always shared a philosophy of being “judicious” when it comes to “so-called high-priced free agents, ” which suggests that the Saints aren’t looking to break the bank for one defensive star. Undoubtedly, they would show interest in Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha if he becomes available, because he is regarded as one of the best players in the league at one of the Saints’ greatest need positions

From: RotoTimes.com

Running back Deuce McAllister commented that he would like to return to the Saints next season, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He is owed $3.2 million (plus a $2 million roster bonus) in salary for 2009, and the Saints may opt not to bring him back with Pierre Thomas emerging and Reggie Bush expected to be healthy.

From: Yahoo! Sports

Saints running back Reggie Bush recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his injured left knee, the second knee operation in less than three months for the former Heisman Trophy winner. Saints coach Sean Payton told reporters about Bush’s latest surgery during his news conference Monday, one day after New Orleans closed its season with a loss to Carolina. Payton said that Bush was on crutches while attending a Monday morning team meeting at the Saints’ practice facility.

With the end of the season, those of us who are fans of teams that did not make the playoffs start to turn our thoughts to the 2009 NFL draft. The draft, which will be held April 26th and 27th, is 117 days away but it has become a bigger event each year. Now with the regular season over, the initial draft order has been determined.

The New Orleans Saints will pick 14th. The Saints finished the season with an 8 and 8 record which tied them with four other teams. After the win-loss record, the order is determined by strength of schedule. San Diego, which also finished 8 and 8 is slated for 16th but since they are in the playoffs, may move to a higher slot.

Here is the order and the record of the top 15 teams:

1. Detroit Lions 0-16

2. St. Louis Rams 2-14

3. Kansas City Chiefs 2-14

4. Seattle Seahawks 4-12

5. Cleveland Browns 4-12

6. Cincinnati Bengals 4-11-1

7. Oakland Raiders 5-11

8. Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11

9. Green Bay Packers 6-10

10. San Francisco 49ers 7-9

11. Buffalo Bills 7-9

12. Denver Broncos 8-8

13. Washington Redskins 8-8

14. New Orleans Saints 8-8

15. Houston Texans 8-8

The Panthers were not able to blow out the Saints like they did when they met last October, but they took away more than just a victory as they beat New Orleans 33 to 31 to end the season. With the NFC South crown and securing the number-two seed in the playoffs, the Panthers also denied New Orleans a winning record this season and stopped Drew Brees just short of the 402 yards he needed.

Carolina finished the regular season 12 and 4 and will have a bye week before playing their next game. A pre-season pick for the division crown, New Orleans finished the season 8 and 8 and will have time to contemplate changes to the team before next season.

Saints QB Drew Brees was playing for the single season passing record of 5,083 yards set by Dan Marino in 1984. He fell 16 yards short, finishing the season with 5,069 yards, the second most in NFL history. For the day, Brees made 30 out of 49 attempts for 386 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. Panthers QB Jake Delhomme made 14 out of 20 attempts for 250 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.

Carolina got the ball first and drove from their 20 to the New Orleans 28 yard line in almost seven minutes, scoring on a 45-yard field goal. After New Orleans went three and out, Carolina drove again down the field, scoring this time on a 26-yard field goal.

After a 42-yard return by WR Skyler Green, New Orleans was able to drive down to the Carolina 3 but had to go for the 26-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Carolina answered back with another field goal, this time from 34 yards with seven minutes left to play in the first half.

On the Saints next possession, Brees threw his only interception of the game to S Chris Harris on a pass intended for WR Marques Colston, giving the Panthers the ball on the New Orleans 29. Four plays later, the Panthers scored their first touchdown of the game when Delhomme threw an 8-yard pass to WR Mushin Muhammad. Then on the ensuing kickoff Skyler Green returned the ball from the 12 but fumbled and DB Dante Wesley returned the ball for a touchdown, making the score 23 to 3.

New Orleans settled down on their next possession and drove down the field from their 20, scoring their first touchdown on a 26-yard pass to Colston with 47 seconds left. The drive was aided by the replay assistant who challenged the ruling of a Colston fumble and Carolina’s recovery by calling an incomplete pass.

At halftime, the score was Carolina 23 and New Orleans 10. The Saints had 167 total yards while the Panthers had 229 yards. The Panthers outrushed the Saints with 151 yards to the Saints 30. At the end of the first half, RB DeAngelo Williams had 143 rushing yards and Brees had thrown for 137 yards.

The Saints had to punt on their first drive of the third quarter and it looked like the game would soon be over when Delhomme hit WR Steve Smith for 54 yards, putting the ball on the six yard line. RB Jonathan Stewart ran two yards in for the touchdown, making the score 30 to 10.

The Panthers missed their next field goal attempt from 41 yards with about three and a half minutes left in the third quarter but the fourth quarter would belong to the Saints.

New Orleans scored their first of three touchdowns on a 7-yard pass to WR Robert Meachem to cap off their last drive in the third quarter.

The Saints drove down on their next possession from their six yard line. On a fourth and two, the Saints went for it as Brees threw a 9 yard pass to WR Lance Moore with about five and a half minutes left in the game.

New Orleans took the lead for the first time after a 26-yard pass to Colston and a 13-yard pass to Moore in the end zone with 3:11 left to play. A poor punt by the Panthers had given the Saints a short field, too short for Brees to get the passing record.

With the score 31 to 30, Carolina needed to score and New Orleans wanted to get the last 16 yards Brees needed to get the passing record. A 39-yard reception by Steve Smith to start the drive put the Panthers on the New Orleans 43 yard line. A few running plays and a short pass to Mohammad later, Carolina kicked the winning field goal from 42 yards with one second left.

The ensuing kick went out of bounds at the New Orleans 40 and because no one touched it, the Saints still had time for a final play which
was a deep pass to Lance Moore that fell incomplete.

Carolina finished with 478 total yards, almost evenly split with 234 yards rushing and 244 yards passing. New Orleans had 417 yards, only 50 of which were rushing and 367 passing.

DeAngelo Williams had a fantastic day with 178 yards rushing and Steve Smith had 134 yards receiving. Marques Colston had 123 yards and one touchdown and Lance Moore had 91 yards and two touchdowns.

RB Deuce McAllister had 40 yards rushing and 41 yards receiving in what many speculate will be his last game with the Saints.

The Saints were playing without RB Pierre Thomas who had been a big factor in their offense since his spectacular performance on Monday Night Football against Green Bay. TE Jeremy Shockey was also out.

Joey Harrington (third quarterback), RB Pierre Thomas, CB Michael Lehan, G Jamar Nesbit, NT Kendrick Clancy, DE Rob Ninkovich, WR David Patten and TE Jeremy Shockey.

From: ProFootballWeekly

We hear Saints QB coach Pete Carmichael Jr. is likely to be named offensive coordinator after the season, replacing Doug Marrone, who left the club after Week 15 to take over as Syracuse’s head coach. Carmichael will be rewarded after passing up opportunities to become the Dolphins’ O-coordinator on two separate occasions. Head coach Sean Payton will still be New Orleans’ chief play-caller, however.

RB Pierre Thomas (wrist/back) missed a third consecutive practice on Friday and is questionable on the injury report, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

From: Pro Football Weekly

Yet again, the Saints will head into the offseason looking to remodel a defense that failed to hold up its end of the bargain. Sources say head coach Sean Payton is likely to consider a few options — either keep the defensive coaching staff intact and make a philosophical change or fire D-coordinator Gary Gibbs. The Saints made five major additions, through free agency, trades and the draft, on defense last offseason, adding MLB Jonathan Vilma, CB Randall Gay, DE Bobby McCray, DT Sedrick Ellis and CB Tracy Porter to the mix yet despite that infusion of talent, the defense’s improvement has not been significant enough.

The Times-Picayune recently ran an article arguing that Brees should be considered for MVP this year. After reading through many of the posts, it was clear to me that the argument against Brees as MVP comes down to two things: MVP should be given to a player on a winning team with a legitimate shot at making it to the Super Bowl and Brees has thrown too many picks.

First, let me say that a team looking at the Super Bowl probably has several great players and you are seeing the fruit of team dynamics and extra efforts here and there. Those teams are going to have honors to help remember the season, such as a division title. Do they have to have a monopoly on all accolades? Should Rookie of the Year be restricted to players on winning teams?

I disagree because I think that this argument comes down to a segregation mentality: “Only the top six teams (as long as you play in the right group) in the conference are any good. The rest of you are garbage.” Look at how many teams will have winning records this season and not make it into the playoffs. Think about how many losses come down to a field goal in the last second or a key play here or there. There are so many variables in who wins the game. The victory does not always go to the better team.

If you want to really evaluate talent, trends and consistency will show who is really good and who is not. All 32 teams have highly paid professionals who were among the best where they played football before and the quarterback position is one of the most important on a football team. Every team wants to have the best player possible there and Drew Brees has been among the top of the league the entire season.

Brees has thrown for more yards than any other quarterback in the league. He also is among the top in almost every category. If he does not break Dan Marino’s single season passing record, he will likely have the second best passing season of all time. Look at that statement again – the second best passing season of all time. Does that alone not deserve some recognition?

I think the reason that the Saints fans are so self-critical about the team is that we were really disappointed with this season. We have had so few good seasons and it is easier to fall back into the SOS mentality (Same Ol’ Saints) instead of hoping for more. Therefore, we tend to lump our frustrations together instead of separating out what was good, what could have been good, and what needs to be changed. I sure am glad that a lot of the posters are not coaching the team. You build a team by acknowledging the things done right and adding to them, not by “not doing things.”

Picks are a part of playing the game. They are a chance taken. A quarterback who is afraid of throwing an interception is a quarterback who is afraid of throwing the ball. An interception happens for lots of reasons: bad hands, rushing the play, poor play calling, giving away receiver with the quarterback’s eyes, etc. Everyone gets intercepted , more so if you throw the ball a lot.

Right now, I say that Brees is the most valuable player to the team and the best quarterback in the Saints’ history. He also is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. You may argue that someone else is better because of one thing or another. The bottom line for me is that Bees is having a season unlike any other player and there is no team that needs that player more. That is an MVP to me.

Well, that’s what I think. Now it’s your turn to tell me.