Saints Gab

The Saints have declared QB Chase Daniel, TE Darnell Dinkins, OT Jammal Brown, LB Jolonn Dunbar, DL Kendrick Clancy, WR Lance Moore, RB Mike Bell, WR Rod Harper inactive for Week 3.

Running back situation is in a state of flux going into Sunday’s game against Buffalo as leading rusher Mike Bell won’t play.

Bell missed practice all week with a sprained MCL in his right knee.

Wide receiver Lance Moore (right hamstring) and defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy (right knee) are also listed as out on the Saints’ injury report.

Bell was the Saints’ most productive runner through the first two games, rushing for 229 yards and a touchdown.

Coach Sean Payton didn’t want to discuss the running back rotation after Friday’s practice. The Saints could use a trio of running back against the Bills with Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and Lynell Hamilton all seeing possible action.

Two weeks into the 2009 NFL season a few things are evident. Tom Brady still needs to shake off a little rust after being inured last year. Peyton Manning is still Peyton Manning, just nearing the end of his career. Tony Romo still can’t win the big game, and Ben Roethlisberger can pump fake while taking a hit.

But none of them are Drew Brees.

Since the season’s opening drive, Brees and the New Orleans Saints offense have showed that they should be the most feared unit in the NFL. Brees threw for 358 yards and six touchdowns against the Detroit Lions, tying the NFL record for touchdown passes in a game.. It was the most touchdowns thrown in a season opening game since at least1950 according to the Associated Press

In week two against a much stronger Philadelphia Eagles defense, Brees only threw for 311 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Saints quarterback has thrown for a combined nine touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season, enough to tie the record for most touchdown passes in the first two weeks set by Charley Johnson of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965.

.Ask any Saints fan and they’ll tell you that they’ve seen this coming since 2006, when the Saints signed Brees as a free agent from San Diego after the Chargers deemed him expendable after tearing his labrum in the final regular season game of 2005.

Since 2006 Brees has completed more passes, thrown for more yards, touchdowns, 25+ yard completions and 300 yard games on top of completing more passes for first downs than anyone else in the league. He also came within one completion last year of setting the single season record for passing yards and for his efforts became only the second quarterback in NFL history next to Dan Marino to throw for over 5,000 yards.

He is the lifeblood of the Saints offense, according to head coach Sean Payton, and his savvy play makes everyone on the field around him better. Not too shabby for a guy whom many “experts” hadn’t even ranked in their top five quarterbacks, until now.

Mike Bell has played well in his two weeks of extended play for the Saints, but yesterday did suffer an injury in which the team held their breath on. There’s good news on the injury today:

New Orleans Saints running back Mike Bell, who sprained his right knee in the fourth quarter Sunday against Philadelphia, said Monday that an MRI showed no structural damage. The injury is a sprained medial collatoral ligament, Coach Sean Payton said. Bell said he has full range of motion and hopes to play Sunday against Buffalo, but the decision is up to the team. “The news on Bell’s knee was positive,” Payton said. “I really don’t want to put a time frame on it. I really won’t know that until Wednesday, but it’s a lot less severe than we anticipated. I don’t what that does for his status this week, but it’s only Monday right now. Again, the doctors feel pretty good about the nature of that injury.”

Three more TD passes and another big day passing for Drew Brees was enough for the Saints, as they are now 2-0 following a big road win in Philly, topping the Eagles 48-22. That’s 9 TD’s in two games for Brees, and once again they did it in bunches, putting up 31 second half points.

The Saints scored right away with a Brees to Marques Colston TD from 15 yards out to make it 7-0. The Eagles came right back, as Kevin Kolb hit DeSean Jackson for a 71-yard TD to make it 7-7 at the 9:03 mark of the first quarter. Things slowed down, as John Carnet hit a 22-yard field goal to make 10-7 in the first quarter, and then David Akers kicked a field goal to make it 10-10 with 2:38 left in the first half.

Brees though got the team down the field fast, and hit Colston for a 25-yard TD to make it 17-10 with :43 seconds left in the 2nd quarter. But, just like that Kolb got the Eagles down the field and they got a field goal to make it 17-13 in an exciting first half.

The Saints though made some moves at the half, as they came out in the third quarter and lit it up, torching the Eagles defense. First Brees hit Heath Evans for an 11-yard score to make it 24-13. Then Mike Bell two minutes later went in from 7 yards out to make it 31-13. Carney it a 25-yard field goal to make it 34-13. The Eagles did come back as Kolb got it to Jason Avant for a three-yard TD to make it 34-20 heading into the 4th quarter.

Again though, the Saints kept up throwing and allowing the offense to make plays, instead of just trying to play not to lose. They scored two more TD’s in the 4th quarter, as Reggie Bush went in from 19 yards out, then Darren Sharper put the nail in the coffin with a 97-yard pickoff return to close it out at 48-22.

The offense put up 421 yards, 23 first downs, and a total of 6.3 yards per play. There’s not a doubt this is a team with a ton of firepower, and without Donovan McNabb, the Eagles were simply outmanned, not like they would have won with him here.

Next week is another interesting road test, as the team will go to Buffalo to play the Bills.

NOLA.com reports that the team has inked TE Buck Ortega:

The Saints waived tight end Buck Ortega. Ortega first joined the Saints as a member of the practice squad late in the 2007 season. The 6-4, 250-pound tight end split the 2008 campaign between the practice squad and the active roster, and played in 12 games and caught one pass for three yards and made 11 tackles on special teams, including making one stop in kick coverage in Sunday’s season-opener.

Brian McCarthy of the National Football League Public Relations Office is reporting via his Twitter page that New Orleans Saints defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant will not be suspended “at this time,” according to commissioner Roger Goodell. “Goodell: Considerations of fairness, uniform application of our policies, and competitive integrity all support deferring the suspensions.”

The Washington Post reports that a ruling may come down soon on the Saints suspensions:

The league is expected to rule in the next day or two whether it will enforce its four-game suspensions against New Orleans Saints defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith for testing positive last year for a banned diuretic. The suspensions have been on hold pending a legal challenge involving Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams. The Minnesota laws don’t apply to the Saints players, so the league will have to decide whether to suspend the Saints players while being prevented from enforcing its suspensions of the Vikings players.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers – The world champions should always get the initial top spot in power rankings. Isn’t that why they play the games in the first place?

2. New England Patriots – These guys have lost a lot of veteran leadership on defense (Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Richard Seymour, Mike Vrabel), but their offense appears to be as dominant as the 2007 version which went undefeated throughout the season.

3. Tennessee Titans - The team with the best record in the league last year has a great running game, a great defense, and a great head coach.

4. San Diego Chargers – The Chargers can do it all on offense. If their defense can play average ball, this team can reach the big dance (sound familiar?).

5. Baltimore Ravens – There’s a mystique to this team (and an undeniable toughness). They’ve competed for years with a great defense and no QB. Now they have a QB… and they also have Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

6. Philadelphia Eagles - The first NFC team on the list, and this ranking has nothing to do with Michael Vick. Donovan McNabb, some new offensive toys, Brian Westbrook, and their talented defense will compete every week for a chance to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

7. Indianapolis Colts – Quite a fall from grace at #7, but there have been too many coaching changes (plus the loss of Marvin Harrison) to immedeately place them on top of my power ranking. Still, Peyton Manning can get it done on offense.

8. New Orleans Saints – Not as lofty a ranking as the Times-Picayune, but this team is easily one of the best in the NFC. A few turnovers caused here and a few third-and-short runs converted there, and this team is Super Bowl bound. Undoubtedly, the best offense in the NFC.

9. New York Giants - Their defense has been good for a while, but the new additions have had a hard time remaining on the field. Once they’re all together, they should produce. Offensively, the loss of Plaxico Burress may hurt this team big time.

10. Green Bay Packers - This team is primed on offense (as we found out last year), and their defense seems as improved as the Saints’ new squad. I have a ton of faith in Dom Capers, and I see this team reaching the playoffs with ease.

11. Arizona Cardinals - Although they finished last year on top of the NFC, the Cardinals did it the very hard way. That 9-7 record is hard to ignore, and their defense has to perform the way they did in the playoffs all season long to improve on this ranking. Offensively, they’re one of the best.

12. Atlanta Falcons – Another very good offense, they got a bit better with the addition of Tony Gonzalez. However, their defense lost a lot of experience, though it did gain youth and speed. I think the Falcons will make it tough on other teams in the conference… just not the Saints.

13. Miami Dolphins – Say what you want about the ‘wildcat’, but the Dolphins have a great defense and a very talented backfield. If you can run the ball and play defense, you’ll be in every game.

14. Minnesota Vikings – Their defense has gotten better, and they were pretty good last year. Antoine Winfield might be the best defensive player in football (he gets my vote after what he did to us last year). Offensively, they have Adrian Petterson and a great OL… no matter who the QB.

15. Chicago Bears - The defense hopes to return to its past glory while the offense has gotten much better with Matt Forte at RB last year and now Jay Cutler at QB. They will compete with Green Bay and Minnesota for the NFC North, but I think those three teams will beat each other up to mediocre records.

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The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that Reggie Bush is not all that worried about his knee:

Saints RB Reggie Bush said he isn’t worried about the durability of his left knee because he believes he has learned to properly maintain the strength and health. “Maybe you don’t stay on top of it throughout the year because it feels good. Or maybe you overcompensate and get damage in other areas,” Bush said. “The body is a funny thing. You really have to take care of injuries, even though it may feel like a minor thing.” Bush said no athlete wants to be labeled as “injury prone,” but he said injuries are part of the sport.