By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune
November 11, 2009, 4:21PM

Saints defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the 30-20 victory over Carolina on Sunday. Hargrove forced a fumble by tailback DeAngelo Williams in the final minutes, then picked it up himself and returned it for a 1-yard touchdown to seal the victory. He also recovered a fumble forced by Will Smith earlier in the fourth quarter.

“It feels good,” said Hargrove, who has embraced his second chance with the Saints after serving a one-year suspension for repeated violations of the league’s substance abuse policy. “If it wasn’t for this organization, Mickey (Loomis), Coach (Sean) Payton, Gregg Williams, Bill Johnson, Joe Vitt, my teammates giving me the chance to come here, none of this is happening. It’s for the team.

“For me, we’re the NFC team of the week. There’s nothing I’ve done by myself, without God, the help of my teammates, my agent, everybody. This is not the doing of me.”

Got this in email today : )

I pledge allegiance, to the Saints of New Orleans , Louisiana …and to the fans, for which they play, one team, UNDEFEATABLE, with touchdowns, and field goals for all…WHO DAT!!!!!

This is from when the Saints were 5 – 0 time for a new one !!

Watch more Grab Networks on AOL videos on AOL Video

By Brian Allee-Walsh, The Times-Picayune

November 09, 2009, 8:40AM

The New Orleans Saints (8-0) continued their unbeaten ways Sunday with an angst-filled 30-20 victory against the Carolina Panthers at the Superdome and now hold a commanding three-game lead over the Altanta Falcons (5-3) in the NFC South at the halfway point of the regular season.

For the first time this season, Saints players talked openly of their goals to win the division and homefield advantage in the NFC and ultimately claim football’s biggest prize, the Super Bowl to be played Feb. 7, 2010, at Land Shark Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

“It’s out there for us,” Saints running back Pierre Thomas said. “But we still have to focus on one game at a time.”

Based on the first eight games, I see no reason why they can’t accomplish all three goals, provided they focus on the weekly task at hand.

Meanwhile, the players are off today enjoying a well deserved two-day break. They will resume practice Wednesday in preparation for Sunday’s road game against the St. Louis Rams (1-7).

Coach Sean Payton will meet with reporters at 11:30 a.m. today and perhaps provide an update on the status of injured cornerback Jabari Greer, who exited Sunday’s game in the fourth quarter with a tweaked groin.

Stay tuned to NOLA.com for the latest in Saints news. Until we meet again, sit back, buckle up and enjoy a complimentary ride around the worldwide WEB.

ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas describes how Saints DT Anthony Hargrove puts a personal loss aside to help his team stay unbeaten.

Dive through Peter King’s weekly column “Monday Morning QB” to find several Saints pearls. His “MMQB” is a must read to begin the work week.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said the Saints had Carolina “right where they wanted them” after the Panthers blew out to an early 14-0 lead.

Bradley Handwerger of WWLTV.com says the New Orleans’ sporting world officially changed Sunday.

Sheldon Mickles of The Baton Rouge Advocate chronicles yet another comeback victory for the undefeated Black and Gold.

Who Dat? Not Carolina, says the Cajun Cannon, Bobby Hebert in his WWL-AM 870 blog.

By Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

November 08, 2009, 6:41PM

The New Orleans Saints survived a poor first half and knocked off their NFC South division rivals Carolina Panthers 30-20 at the Superdome on Sunday and improved to a franchise-record best 8-0 for the season.

“I’m encouraged with how we’ve been playing, there are some things we need to do better,” said Saints coach Sean Payton. I’m encouraged that we’ve won some of these games where we haven’t played our best football.”

Drew Brees threw for 330 yards and a touchdown and the Saints got a late defensive touchdown to put the finishing touches on a second half comeback.

“We felt like we could close the gap,” Brees said. “We felt like if we came out and scored right away we’d be in good shape.”

Which they did. The Saints got the ball to start the third quarter, ran four plays and scored on a 10-yard run by Pierre Thomas.

At that point, it was 17-13 and it appeared the momentum had changed.

Carolina jumped out early and was dominating in the first half with a running attack, led by DeAngelo Williams, who finished with 149 yards and two touchdowns, and took a 17-6 halftime lead.

“I thought as the game went along, and we started keying on what they were doing, we did a good job on them in the second half,” Payton said. “They’re probably the best running team in football.”

The Saints — for the first time this season — couldn’t get their running game going at all. The 1-2 punch off Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell combined for 67 yards on the ground.

It was a big day for receiver Robert Meachem, who had five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.

The Saints (8-0) will play at the St. Louis Rams at noon next Sunday. Carolina (3-5) will play at home against Atlanta (6-3), also at noon.

Here are the in-game updates

FOURTH QUARTER

2:00: The Saints take a 30-20 lead on their seventh defensive touchdown of the season. Anthony Hargrove’s forced fumble, recovery and return for a score should just about salt this one away. The Saints are two minutes away from their best start in club history — 8-0.

4:36: The Saints have come all the way back in this one. They lead 23-20 after John Carney’s 40-yard field goal. The scoring march took 13 plays and covered 76 yards.

11:20: The Saints defense comes up with a big stop and forces a Carolina punt. Roman Harper already has a career-high 12 tackles in the game and we still have almost an entire quarter to go.

THIRD QUARTER

0:00: The Saints have fought all the way back into this one. They just tied it at 20 on a beautiful 54-yard catch and run by Robert Meachem. On the play, Meachem made a spinning leaping catch down the seam of the Carolina defense, broke a tackle and raced untouched into the end zone. The Superdome has come to life.

3:27: Carolina answered the Saints’ scoring drive with a monster 19-play, 73-yard drive of their own. They had a first-and-goal at the Saints’ 1, but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by John Kasay. It’s 20-13 Carolina. The Panthers’ drive took more than nine minutes off the clock.

13:14: We’ve got a ballgame. The Saints appear to have wrested themselves from their funk. Pierre Thomas just scored on a short run and the lead is down to 17-13. The big play in the drive was a 45-yard strike from Brees to Devery Henderson on a slant pattern.

Halftime notes: Drew Brees has 140 yards passing, but the New Orleans Saints running game has been dismal and the Carolina Panthers have a 17-6 halftime lead. A big reason is the running of Panthers DeAngelo Williams, who has 115 yards and two touchdowns.

SECOND QUARTER

0:04: The Saints marched 76 yards for a field goal just before halftime to trim Carolina’s lead to 11 at the break. The big play was a 45-yard pass from Brees to Colston. The Saints had three chances to score a touchdown from inside the Carolina 10 but failed to punch it in.

John Kasay’s 32-yard field goal makes it 17-3 Carolina. DeAngelo Williams has already hit the 100-yard rushing mark. He’s got exactly 100 yards on 11 carries. Drew Brees is off to a tough start. His interception in the red zone squandered a Saints scoring threat. Brees has a fumble, an interception and a botched shotgun snap.

13:41: The good news for Saints fans is their team is finally on the board. The bad news is they had to settle for a field goal after a 15-play drive. Drew Brees botched a shotgun snap from Jon Goodwin on third down and was forced to throw a hurried incompletion. Consequently, the Saints settle for a 23-yard field goal by John Carney. It’s 14-3 Panthers.

FIRST QUARTER

0:00 Fast first quarter: Panthers lead Saints 14-0, but New Orleans is threatening, first down inside the Carolina 10.

6:53: The Panthers are all over the Saints early. Williams just scored another TD, this one from 7 yards out. Its 14-0 Panthers just eight minutes into the game. The score was set up by a sack and forced fumble on Drew Brees by the Panthers defense. Carolina’s Jon Beason recovered Brees’ fumble at the Saints’ 11-yard line. Brees held the ball too long and Tyler Brayton hit him from behind for the sack.

14:00: Ominous beginning for the Saints. DeAngelo Williams rolls 66 yards for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage. Will Smith with a pretty sloppy effort on the tackle attempt at the line of scrimmage.

It was over when …

The Panthers bypassed an opportunity to kick a 48-yard field goal with 1:16 to play and instead chose to go for a touchdown. A converted field goal would have cut New Orleans’ lead to seven and given Carolina a chance at an onside kick. Ultimately, the Panthers turned the ball over on downs with 22 seconds left.

Game ball

Robert Meachem sparked the Saints with his 54-yard touchdown catch late in the third quarter. He jumped into the air to snatch the ball and then bounced off a hit from Panthers DB Chris Gamble before sprinting into the end zone. He finished with five catches for 98 yards.

Key Stat

Carolina lost three crucial fumbles. Those miscues were too much for the conservative Panthers, who employed a cautious game plan, to overcome.

Noteworthy

Panthers LB Thomas Davis left the game in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. … After throwing at least one interception in his first six starts, Jake Delhomme did not throw a pick for the second straight week. … New Orleans is now 8-0. … The Saints defeated Panthers coach John Fox at the Superdome for the first time.

On NFL Replay
NFL Replay will re-air the New Orleans Saints’ 30-20 win over the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 9:30 p.m. ET.

By Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

November 07, 2009, 11:08PM

Tom Benson sat in the Sazerac Bar of the Roosevelt Hotel on Thursday night and shared a glass of wine with his wife,  Gayle.

He’d just conducted a public appearance in the hotel’s grand lobby,  where he smiled broadly throughout the ceremony and his introduction was greeted with a rousing ovation.

To kill time before heading to the grand opening of the new wing of the World War II Museum,  he regaled his wife and Saints vice president of communications Greg Bensel with stories of bygone days.

Asked if he frequented the hotel during its heyday,  Benson recalled coming to the Roosevelt after shifts as a 15-year-old clerk at a nearby Canal Street department store. He’d rub elbows with the city’s elite,  then take the streetcar back to reality and his home in the 7th Ward.

“I didn’t have a dime to my name, ” Benson said.

As we all know,  Benson has a few dimes to his name these days. His New Orleans Saints,  a local institution even more valuable than the Roosevelt,  were recently valued at $942 million by Forbes Magazine.

Yes,  it’s good to be Tom Benson these days.

In the past 18 months,  he’s been honored by the U.S. Army and Volunteers of America for his community service.

This fall,  he signed a long-term lease agreement with the state of Louisiana that will pour another $85 million into the Superdome and transfer ownership of a downtown office tower and shopping mall to his already prodigious portfolio.

And,  oh yeah,  his football team is 7-0. If the Saints knock off Carolina today at the Superdome,  they’ll cement the best start in franchise history.

Maybe that’s why Benson was the picture of contentment as he sat in the Sazerac and swapped tales.

“It’s just wonderful, ” Benson said of the Saints’ raucous start to the season. “What it’s doing to the community,  boy,  I’ve never seen anything like it,  and this is my 25th year. Across the lake,  Lafayette,  Mobile (Ala.),  man,  that’s all they talk about. I’ve never seen the excitement like this.”

At 82,  Benson appears finally at ease. His health is good. Granddaughter Rita is a vital part of the organization and its future steward. And the franchise is enjoying unprecedented success on and off the field.

Some raised eyebrows seven years ago when Benson abruptly fired General Manager Randy Mueller and hired Mickey Loomis to run his football operation. But Loomis quickly won Benson’s trust.

In 2006,  Loomis hired Coach Sean Payton,  who,  in turn,  recruited quarterback Drew Brees,  and,  well,  the rest is Who Dat history.

Benson has supported his leading men with an open pocketbook. He supplied the resources to allow Loomis to outbid Miami for Brees’ services. He signed off on drafting Reggie Bush and offering lucrative long-term contract extensions to defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith. He even backed Loomis’ decision to extend Payton’s contract last year when the Saints were coming off a disappointing 7-9 season.

When the Saints staggered home at 8-8 a year ago,  the team’s long-suffering fan base grew restless,  but Benson didn’t blink. He stood behind his leading men. They’ve rewarded his loyalty with a breakout season.

“Oh,  sure,  I’m happy,  but I’m more gratified about what’s happened with our city, ” Benson said. “The more successful the team is,  the more the city is going to be outstanding.”

Four years ago,  Benson couldn’t have shown his face in the Roosevelt or any other local public setting. He’d become a pariah for his post-Katrina behavior. His lawyer talked with San Antonio officials about possibly moving the team,  he ripped the city of Baton Rouge and engaged in an ugly confrontation with fans after a bitter loss to the Dolphins at Tiger Stadium.

If these are the best of times,  those were the worst of them.

Time,  though,  has a way of healing old wounds. So does an exciting winning football team led by a universally loved superstar such as Brees.

New Orleanians are a forgiving lot. And they appear at least willing to forgive if not forget Benson’s post-Katrina actions. Their unconditional support of the team has never been stronger.

And for his part,  Benson has tried to return the love. He’s set down roots in the city proper for the first time in a decade,  invested millions in the local economy and ended,  once and for all,  his dalliances with outside interests.

Accordingly,  good karma has embraced his football team. After a quarter-century,  Benson finally has a Super Bowl contender. Among league owners,  only Detroit’s William Clay Ford has operated a team longer and failed to make the big game. Benson’s Saints are suddenly the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV,  and New Orleanians have fallen into a perpetual state of fleur de glee.

“This is the greatest thing that’s happened to us,  what’s going on right now, ” Benson said. “We’ve just got to keep it up.”

New Orleanians will agree with him. And for Benson,  that’s a welcome change.

Jeff Duncan can be reached at jduncan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3404.

By Kevin Spain, The Times-Picayune
November 07, 2009, 11:27AM

Times-Picayune beat reporters Mike Triplett and Brian Allee-Walsh make their picks for the Saints vs. Carolina Panthers game.

By Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

November 06, 2009, 7:54AM

First (take) …

The New Orleans Saints have gone from also-rans to favorites in the blink of seven games this season.

Their impressive 7-0 hasn’t just caught the eyes of fans and the media; it’s seized the attention of Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Once an afterthought, the Saints are now the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV. The Saints’ odds have lowered with each victory this season. They now are 3-1 favorites to win the league’s signature event, which, I’m guessing, is unofficially the lowest odds they’ve had in franchise history.

The NFL’s other undefeated team, the Indianapolis Colts, is the second favorite at 5-1. New England is third choice at 11-2.

“No team has proven themselves more in bettors’ eyes when it comes to futures this season than the New Orleans Saints,” Bodog Sportsbook manager Richard Gardner said. “The Saints were 20-1 at the start of the season, but currently sit as the clear favorite at 3-1.”

The Saints are the heavy favorite to win the NFC Championship at 3-2 odds. The Vikings are next at 7-2.

The odds, of course, could change if the Saints stumble in the coming weeks, but it does help ensure one thing: The Saints aren’t going to sneak up on anyone the rest of the way.

“It only gets tougher the more you win,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. “You get more of a bullseye on your chest.”

… And 10 (more observations)

1. Casual locker-room observation of the week: Tight end Jeremy Shockey is growing more comfortable with the local media. He spent a half-hour on Wednesday talking about his favorite passion – fishing – with one local reporter and then held court with reporters on Thursday on a variety of subjects, including his array of tattoos. The certainly wasn’t the case last year, his first with New Orleans, when he was aloof, distant and, at times, combative, with the local media.

2. Tweets of the week:

“Damn im still sore!!! Going to be our biggest test sun… panthers are playing well and seem to play really welly in the dome…” – Jeremy Shockey, 6:21 p.m., Nov. 4.

“B4 this gets blown up, we have a long way to go and no not all the Saints should be in the probowl but at least 10 should.” – Billy Miller, 8:40 a.m., Nov. 3.

“Y does the day off go so fast?! I was lovin bein a bum and chillaxin on the couch for the day. Right back to work tomorrow. Let’s get it” – Usama Young, 7:56 a.m., Nov. 3.

3. Quote of the week: “I said this early on, that this was a good football team, they just maybe had to have a stick put in certain parts of their body to play a little harder in certain places.” – Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

4. Did ya notice: The Saints were only credited with four turnovers last week but in my book they had five: four fumbles and an interception. The league does not recognize the Saints’ failed onside kick recovery as a turnover. David Thomas had a clear shot at the football and lost it, thereby allowing Atlanta’s Coy Wire to recover it. The league does not consider it a turnover because the Saints never had possession of the football, but clearly it had the same effect as a turnover.

5. Fact of the week: New Orleans had four touchdown drives of at least 80 yards in its win against Atlanta Monday night. The Saints were only the second team in the last the past three seasons to have four such drives in one game, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The Vikings did it on October 11 of this season at St. Louis.

6. Encouraging stat of the week: The Saints have now scored points in 25 of the 28 quarters they have played this season (89 percent). The only three quarters in which they were blanked were all third quarters. According to Elias Sports Bureau, only one NFL team has scored in a higher percentage of quarters played this season: Minnesota (29 of 32, 91 percent).

7. Disturbing stat of the week: Reggie Bush had a career-low four touches — two carries, two catches — continuing a trend. His touches have steadily declined — from 16 to nine to seven to six to four – the past five games. Since running backs Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell have returned to health, the former Heisman Trophy winner has now seen his production dip to record lows in his career. Not sure if this is a function of the game plan or the opposing defensive strategy but it’s clearly not the kind of role the Saints expected Bush to play when they made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft.

8. Something I liked from Week 8: The hands of the Saints receivers. Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey each made spectacular catches against Atlanta. The Saints did not drop a pass in 33 attempts by Brees. Saints receivers have dropped just nine passes in 230 pass attempts this season, according to STATS, LLC. Only six teams in the league have dropped fewer balls.

9. Something I didn’t like from Week 8: Four – by my count, five — turnovers. The Saints now have nine turnovers and seven sacks in the past two weeks. They committed just six turnovers and allowed only four sacks in the first five games. Not a good trend with Julius Peppers and the Carolina defense coming to town.

10. Fearless prediction for Week 9: The Saints will end their seven-game losing streak to the Panthers in the state of Louisiana. The Saints haven’t beaten the Panthers since a 27-23 victory in 2001. Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme has never lost a game at the Superdome as a starter, including a 2-0 record with Southwestern Louisiana, now Louisiana-Lafayette. But I expect this one to be closer than folks think. Carolina is playing much better football of late and John Fox’s team will not be embarrassed.

By John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune

November 04, 2009, 7:19AM

Ted Jackson/The Times-Picayune
New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush didn’t say anything wrong when he said the Saints ‘could’ go undefeated. He should think that way.

Each and every time a New Orleans Saints player mumbles something these days about going undefeated this regular season, it’s headline news. The wisdom of the proclamation is debated and the arrogance-versus-confidence angle comes into play, and a big to-do commences.

And you have to wonder: Just what, exactly, is Reggie Bush, or Pierre Thomas, or Drew Brees, or any other Saint, supposed to say?

That he sees a loss on the horizon? That a future opponent is a better team? That the Saints are playing with house money, on borrowed time, and can’t possibly navigate the regular season without emerging blemished?

The truth is, athletics overflows with bravado, false and justified. Football, probably more than any sport, is built on machismo. The day when a team doesn’t believe it can enforce its will upon an opponent probably is going to be a long day, because the game exponentially is more about the forcing of will rather than the practice of deception.

Think about it: In defeat, players are more likely to blame themselves than to credit the opponent.

Just as Giants and Dolphins players this season wouldn’t just ladle credit all over the Saints in lopsided losses, and offered that they’re own mistakes did as much damage as did New Orleans’ execution, Saints players in past – less successful – seasons haven’t rushed to heap praise on the opposition when they were on the bottom side of some of the punishment the 2009 team is administering.

That’s the way of the athletic world. It’s a universe of they-played-well-but-we-shot-ourselves-in-the-foot reasoning.

So, based on the mantra that a team believes it mostly controls itself, it stands to reason that the Saints this season truly would believe they can win their remaining nine games. If they’d believe it – and probably be willing to say it – with a 4-3 record, why in the world wouldn’t they believe it and say it at 7-0?

I know, I know.

Often, fan preference is subterfuge. Fans, on most days, want their team to creep under the radar, to be the underdog every week, to sneak up on opponents. They want all that on the days when they aren’t complaining that their team isn’t getting enough national respect and certain announcers aren’t lavishing enough praise.

Heck, team executives and coaches aren’t all that bothered about flying under the radar, either. The better to play the no-respect card for all it’s worth.

But no fan – or coach – wants a team full of players who don’t believe they can win every game. No fan or coach wants a team full of players who are afraid to say what they believe, either.

So a Saints player or two has intimated that, yes, he believes New Orleans can win all its regular-season games. There’s no news there. That’s what he’s supposed to say.

The worry should be if he says anything else.