Nov 27th 2008 8:36PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Packers, Saints, NFL VideoWhen New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis sacked Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Monday night, he had an interesting celebration:
Yes, that was the Pee-wee Herman dance, and it was the subject of conversation in the Saints’ locker room on Wednesday.Continue Reading
Nov 25th 2008 1:40PM by Adam Gretz (author feed)
Filed under: Packers, Saints, NFL Fans, NFL Media Watch
Sooner or later I’m going to get tired of this, but honestly, I just don’t see it happening. Twice this year during Monday Night Football, I’ve taken on the daunting task of listening to every word that comes out of Tony Kornheiser’s mouth, and tallying how many times he mentions certain players by name. It’s a fun project, and it seems to get a warm reception around the Internet.
Having said that, last night’s game between New Orleans and Green Bay was the perfect opportunity to tackle Kornheiser’s shenanigans for a third time, seeing as how it involved the Packers, which would surely give everyone’s least favorite broadcaster an excuse to talk about his favorite topic, Brett Favre. Despite the obvious fact that, you know, Favre would not be taking part in the game.
In today’s , Bob Wolfley wrote about how Kornheiser was stuck on No. 4, and documented a rather hilarious confrontation in the booth, where Ron Jaworski called Kornheiser on his ridiculous claim that Aaron Rodgers is constantly battling some sort of Favre-demon every time he steps on the field.
As for the overall numbers, they’re not surprising.Continue Reading
Nov 26th 2008 10:25AM by Shane Bacon (author feed)
Filed under: Saints, NFC South
Nobody probably thought that at this point in the season the Saints would be scraping the bottom of the NFC North barrel, but that is what it has come to.
Luckily for New Orleans, they have Drew Brees being Drew Brees and Reggie Bush proclaiming he could be available for the first time in four weeks. Bush told the yesterday that he felt this was the week we’d be seeing him making plenty of exciting cutbacks for two-yard losses.
“I definitely feel like this is the week” for his return.
“You’re just trying to make sure you’re 100 percent before you get back out there on the field,” said Bush, who tore the meniscus in his knee at Carolina on Oct. 19 and had surgery the next day.
As easy as it is to harp on Bush (you know, because he goes to Las Vegas instead of London with his team), the only way the Saints have a chance in that division is if everyone is back healthy. Three of their final fives games are against divisional opponents and with two of those being at home, it is possible they could go 3-0. With the Bears and Lions being the other two games, if the Saints can do what they did Monday Night against the Packers, we could be looking at an 11-5 team vying for a playoff berth. (This is, obviously, hinging on one of the three teams in front of the Saints take a digger over the next five weeks, and one or two teams in the NFC East start to struggle).
After you swallow all of that information, head coach Sean Payton said he hopes to get Bush more reps this week so he can be on the field against Tampa Bay.
“Hopefully, he practices more this week and we have him this week,” Payton said.
Bush has 943 all-purpose yards this season and eight touchdowns.
Nov 24th 2008 3:48PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Saints
When Paulie returns home from a stressful hideaway from nosy police on “The Sopranos”, his subconscious asks the question, “” The Saints are returning home tonight from a stressful and unusually lengthy road trip (including one of the infamous non-home “home games” the league is so fond of handing them), and if they’re not asking themselves that question — will we stand up? — their fans surely are.
When the team left the Superdome for the last time, , they had put the finishing touches on a dominant win over the Raiders to even their record at 3-3. If they could leverage that win into success on the road, they could make a serious run in the NFC.
But a lot can happen in 43 days, and a lot did. The team went 2-2, continuing to be consistently inconsistent, making tonight’s game essentially a must-win for playoff hopes. StarCaps entered the general sporting lexicon. Mike McKenzie and Charles Grant, among others, were put on the IR. They’ve used two kickers and three punters. And Drew Brees threw for 1,258 yards, which is more than Ryan Fizpatrick has thrown all year and not too far behind Kerry Collins’ season total.
Some other things that have happened in the eternity since the Saints last played in the Superdome:Continue Reading
Nov 24th 2008 8:15PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Packers, Saints, NFC North, NFC South, NFL Fans
(photos courtesy of Getty Images)
We’ve been hearing about must-wins for roughly 11 weeks or so, but now it’s serious. The Saints are 5-5, last in the NFC South, and approximately six games out of the wild card race. Not good. So, basically, yes, they need to win out.
The Packers are also 5-5, but just one game back of the division-leading Bears and Vikings. And while a loss tonight won’t end their playoff hopes, Aaron Rodgers has no intentions of letting that happen on his watch. It would give Brett Favre way too much enjoyment.
Whatever happens, we’ll be live-blogging it up. Party starts at 8:20-ish.Continue Reading
Nov 23rd 2008 12:32PM by Shane Bacon (author feed)
Filed under: Saints, NFL Rumors
Here’s a little story you probably never thought you’d be reading on a Sunday morning.
According to a reliable source close to PFT, a few Saints left their natural calling cards on more than one of owner Tom Benson’s vehicles.
Benson, in addition to the Saints, also owns some new car dealerships. And a few times a season, Benson brings a few of the new cars up to the practice facility and stadium in hopes of luring a wandering eye over to the shiny new ride.
The problem is, a lot of his employees, including the players, hate this act, because he doesn’t give them any sort of a deal. So, at least two players decided to cover a few of the new cars with feces. No, seriously.Continue Reading
Nov 12th 2008 11:31AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Saints, NFL Fans, NFL VideoThose of us who grew up in the early 1990s in certain areas of the United States will never forget those annoying “Cha-ching” commercials for the Rally’s fast food chain. But many of us have forgotten two things: First, that annoying “Cha-ching” guy was Seth Green. And second, “Cha-ching was once such a big deal that it was the rallying cry of the New Orleans Saints:
That was a local TV news broadcast indicating that yelling “Cha-ching” at Saints games became such a big deal that Green was given the key to the city. Here’s some more information from a 1991 article in the Nation’s Restaurant News:
But the biggest free plug for Rally’s came during the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears football game earlier this season when football commentators Pat Summerall and John Madden mused over the meaning of “Cha-ching” and how it has captivated the powerhouse Saints and their fans.
As cameras panned the Saint’s Superdome stadium during the game, several fans had banners with “Cha-ching” written on them.
One of the “Cha-ching” commercials is below.Continue Reading
Nov 12th 2008 6:00PM by Chris Burke (author feed)
Filed under: Broncos, Chargers, Colts, Jets, Packers, Patriots, Saints
The Colts’ late comeback at Pittsburgh did more than just ratchet up the concerns about Ben Roethlisberger to a fever pitch. It will take at least nine wins to make the postseason in the AFC - and it’s starting to look increasingly possible that 10 wins may be the magic number.
So had the Colts not turned a Roethlisberger interception into a game-winning touchdown on Sunday, Indianapolis would have found itself with a huge uphill climb.
But instead of falling to 4-5 - and looking up at the majority of the conference - Indianapolis now finds itself right in the middle of the pack, with a favorable schedule upcoming. The Colts still have home games with Houston, Cincinnati and Detroit, plus an away game at Cleveland. Even if Indianapolis loses its other three games, the Colts are looking at 9-7 and even that may sneak them in.Continue Reading
Nov 10th 2008 11:30AM by Shane Bacon (author feed)
Filed under: Saints, NFC South, NFL Rumors
Viruses don’t go away, they just jump from host to host, affecting that party with whatever it is they carry. Meet Jeremy Shockey, the human form who has recently found home in New Orleans, where he already is making everyone he’s around sick on contact.
According to PFT, Shockey is already hated by some of his teammates, which was apparent yesterday when Drew Brees and Shockey got in a little verbal lashing on the sidelines after Shockey couldn’t close his hands fast enough around the pigskin.
As one source told us, Shockey already is “hated” by more than a few members of the organization.
The reasons relate to both on-field and off-field conduct. “Things in London, things in practice, things in games,” the source said.
I have no clue why he’d already be getting the cold shoulder by some of his buddies. The Saints are 4-5 and, in the absence of a lot of their offensive playmakers this season, with both Marques Colston and Reggie Bush missing time with injuries, it’s not like they could really expect Shockey to step up and make plays. (/sarcasm)
Continue Reading
Nov 9th 2008 10:38PM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Filed under: Falcons, Saints, NFC South
If you’re looking for coach of the year, hand the trophy to Falcons coach Mike Smith–no matter how many game Jeff Fisher and the Titans wins. If you’re looking for a rookie of the year, you could do a lot worse than Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. If you’re looking for the free agent acquisition of the year, Falcons running back Michael Turner has to be near the top of the list.
And if you’re trying to figure out who from the NFC will be around come playoff time, you have to consider the Falcons. Actually typing that sentence seems almost impossible to believe just a year after the Bobby Petrino fiasco.
The Falcons were clearly the superior team as they laid out a beat down on the Saints, potentially ending the Saints playoff hopes in the process. Pay no attention to the final score–the Saints scored a touchdown in the final seconds to cut the final margin of victory to a more respectable 14 points, but the Falcons led 20-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
Ryan outplayed Drew Brees. Jerious Norwood provided the big play with a 65-yard touchdown catch and Turner had his usual productive day. And after proving once again that they are for real, the Falcons players are having trouble not thinking about the playoffs:
For anybody who wanted to take note, the Falcons defensive end said it’s OK to go ahead and pencil the Falcons in the playoffs.
“Definitely, I felt that from the first game and I’m going to keep saying it until we make it,” Abraham said. “We play good as a team. That’s the best thing that you could say right now.”
Atlanta still needs to win at least four games in a very competitive NFC to make the playoffs, but with very winnable games against the Broncos and Chargers in the next three weeks, that looks doable.
The Saints, on the other hand, are just about done. In many seasons, 4-5 would be OK, but with 10 NFC teams at 5-4 or better, it would take a miracle, and a better conference record than their current 2-4 mark to have a realistic shot of turning things around.
