Saints Gab

Five members of the New Orleans Saints were selected to play in this season’s Pro Bowl by league fans, coaches, and players.

QB Drew Brees, G Jahri Evans, and FS Darren Sharper were selected as starters for this season’s game. OT Jon Stinchcomb and LB Jonathan Vilma also made the NFC squad.

The Pro Bowl will be played January 30th, 2010 in Miami during the bye week before the Super Bowl. However, players who are playing in the Super Bowl will not be allowed to play in the Pro Bowl this year.

Saints defensive end Bobby McCray was arrested early Tuesday and charged with driving while intoxicated and other counts, police said.

Police spokesman Gary Flot says McCray was stopped by an officer who saw him speeding about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. He was booked into Orleans Parish Prison on charges of driving while intoxicated, speeding, careless operation of a motor vehicle and not having his vehicle registration with him.

McCray refused to take a breathalyzer test, police spokesman Janssen Valencia said.

“You have the right to refuse the test, but it has consequences,” Valencia said. “Those include arrest and losing your license.”

A person suspected of driving drunk in Louisiana and refusing the breath test automatically loses his license for one year.

Flot said McCray did not resist arrest.

McCray was signed to a five-year contract in March 2008, and took over as the starter during the last half of the season when defensive end Charles Grant was injured. He responded with 37 tackles (26 solo), the second-highest total of his career, and a club-high six sacks.

The Saints clinched the top seed in the NFC playoffs by virtue of Minnesota’s 36-30 loss Monday night. This means the Saints will host the NFC Championship Game with a win in their first playoff game, some welcome good news for the Saints after a rough week stretch.

This one hurts. Really..

The Saints failed to clinch home field advantage for the NFC playoffs with a lacklusater 20-17 loss against the Tampa Bay Bucanneers.

New Orleans started the game quickly, scoring the game’s first 17 points and forcing Tampa turnovers. The Saints ran early and often on their first drive, finishing with an 8 yard Pierre Thomas TD run. The Saints struck again five minutes later with a 30 yard TD strike to Robert Meachem, set up by Darren Sharper’s 9th INT of the season.Garrett Hartley added a 28 yard field goal to put the Saints up 17-0.

But that’s when the Saints’ offense stalled. Tampa added a late field goal just before halftime to cut the lead to 17-3. Tampa showed signs of life in the second half, driving the ball down the field on their first drive of the half, which ended in a Tracy Porter INT in the end zone. The Bucs continued to put the pressure on the Saints, slowing the Saints’ offense down and moving the ball behind RB Cadillac Williams. Tampa drew closer on a 23 yard TD run by Williams., cutting the lead to 17-10.

Tampa again stalled the Saints and drove the ball once again. The Saints defense stepped again, stopping the Bucs on a key fourth down late in the 4th quarter. However, New Orleans could do very little with the ball and had to punt the ball back to Tampa. Michael Spurlock took the punt for Tampa and returned it 77 yards for the game tying score.

The Saints finally got a decent drive going after that and put themselves in position to win despite the teams’ struggles. But, Garrett Hartley missed a 37 yard field goal that would have sealed the win for the Saints.

In overtime, Tampa took the opening kickoff and rode Cadillac Williams down the field to set up Connor Barth’s game winning 47 yard field goal.

Drew Brees finished the game 32-37 for 258 yards and 1 TD. However, Tampa took away the deep throws downfield and put pressure on the offensive line, forcing Brees and the offense to settle for short and quick passes.

The Saints got back to running the ball again this week, rushing for 124 yards on 23 attempts. Pierre Thomas led the team with 60 yards before leaving the game with a rib injury.

So what happened? Is the Saints defense to blame? They did allow Tamp to rush for 176 yards on the day and could not stop Carnell Williams late in the game. However, they did force turnovers this game and made a key fourth down stop late in the fourth quarter and held the Bucs to just 17 points. How bout the offense? They stalled after a hot start, tallying just 112 yards in the five drives between the Hartley field goals. We’ll take a closer look and see what’s ailing the Saints the last few weeks.

With the loss, the Saints drop to 13-2 on the season. They finish the season on the road against a Carolina team that has blown out the Vikings and Giants in back to back weeks.

Let’s hope the Saints can find a way to cure their blues this week. We Saints fans are hurting for a win.

Saints fans, feel free to leave your commentary on this board in game and post game.. How did you feel about a certain call? Or the game? What positives did you see this week? What can the Saints do better? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment. I’ll be around in game to answer a few of your comments or questions. Also, please take time to vote in this weeks fan poll.

The Saints had a busy week getting ready for this week’s game. Last Saturday, the Saints lost their first game of the season to the Dallas Cowboys. They look to rebound this week against the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, who beat Seattle 24-7 last week on the road.

A sampling of what’s been going on this week in Saints camp;

- The Saints can clinch Dome fielld advantage through the NFC playoffs with a win or tie or a Minnesota loss or tie this week.The last time the Saints made the playoffs, they lost the NFC Championship game in wintry conditions in Chicago.

- With his short touchdown pass to Lance Moore, Drew Brees moved to first place on the Saints career TD pass list with 121, one better than former Saint Aaron Brooks.

- Reggie Bush is recovering from a cramp suffered last week and is probable for Sunday’s game. Bush limped off the field early in the game against Dallas.

- TE Jeremy Shockey, DT Sedrick Ellis and S Darren Sharper are all questionable for Sunday’s  game vs. the Bucs. LB Scott Shanle and CB Randall Gay are questionable for the game as well. Both players suffered concussions last week and have not been medically cleared to play yet.

- CB Jabari Greer practiced for the first time since having sports hernia surgery. While listed as questionable for Sunday’s game, he will likely not play. This is good news for the depleted secondary. Greer expects to be fully ready for the Saints’ playoff run.

- The Saints look back to get back on track on offense. The Saints struggled all night on third down, converting just one of seven attempts. The 17 points the Saints scored last week was their lowest of the season and the first time in 22 games that the team failed to score at least 20 points.

- DT Anthony Hargrove was selected as the winner of the Ed Block Courage Award by his teammates. Every year, each team selects a player who best exemplifies sportsmanship and courage. Hargrove, who has started at DT this season, has made the best of his second chance in the NFL after a series of arrests and drug suspensions marred his early career.

In our last edition of Bloggers Blitz, Niko of BucEm.com, shared his optimism about the future of the Tampa Bay Bucanneers. This time the people of BucEm.com ask me a few questions about the Dallas loss and Reggie Bush. Thanks Bucs fans!

BE: How do the Saints fans feel about the loss to Dallas?

SG: Saints fans have always been cautious optimists. And for the most part they have been. Of course, you’re still gonna have some boo birds who think they know whats best for the team and they always come out after any loss.

But there is still a sense of confidence with this team. It’s only one loss and this team will bounce back and learn from it. This team is the best we’ve had in years and we’re still gonna love this team. Yes, the undefeated dream season is no longer a reality, but we’ll still be in Florida come Super Bowl time.

BE: What role is Reggie Bush playing in the offense now?

SG: Reggie has been criticized since he first played for the Saints for his lack of production. He’s not exceptional running between the tackles. He’s only averaging about 4 yards a punt return, only 1 career 100 yard rushing game.
Part of the problem is he has not found an identity within the Saints offense. Is he a running back? Wide Reciever? Specialist?
I think Sean Payton did a good job against Atlanta a couple of weeks ago finally finding a spot where Reggie can succeed. Used mainly out of the backfield, Reggie had a couple of nice plays for touchdowns. Look for more of the same from him the rest of the season…watch him come out of the backfield more for short screens and dump offs designed for him . Also expect a lot of short passes  where he’ll be open one on one in the open field to utilize his speed.

NFL Network has dedicated some of their recent programing on some Top 10 lists. The Saints have made one list with an emotional win a few years back.

They have the Top Moment on the “Top 10 Moment of the Decade” list, the win over the Falcons when they made their emotional return to the SuperDome. Click HERE to watch the list.

The Saints brought back John Carney as a kicking consultant on Thursday, two days after releasing him. Saints coach Sean Payton announced the move after practice, saying the 45-year-old Carney’s knowledge of the game from his 21 years in NFL will be invaluable to second-year kicker Garrett Hartley. By accepting the job, Carney can’t kick for the Saints or any other team for the rest of this season.

BE: Josh Freeman is going to be the only quarterback to start for the Bucs given injury for the next few years at least. Especially if Raheem Morris is the HC. He IS the franchise quarterback.