By Pat Yasinskas
Kenneth in Boston writes: Can we talk about a couple young guys on the Saints’ thriving defense right now? Patrick Robinson and Sedrick Ellis are/have been playing phenomenal, wouldn’t you agree? It doesn’t seem like they’re getting enough attention right now, though.
By Pat Yasinskas
There was a radio report out of New Orleans that’s been generating all sorts of innuendo today. The report said that quarterback Drew Brees has been playing with a “fractured’’ knee and torn meniscus and that he will require micro-fracture surgery following the season.
Well, let’s go straight to the top of the Saints’ ladder on this one. Coach Sean Payton just finished addressing the New Orleans media and he was asked to address the report.
“It’s inaccurate,’’ Payton said. “It’s not right. Completely false.”
By Pat Yasinskas
NEW ORLEANS — I’m heading downstairs for postgame interviews and will be back with a full column as quickly as possible.
But, first, here’s the Rapid Reaction for the Saints’ victory over Pittsburgh.
What it means: The Saints are alive. One week after a humiliating home loss to Cleveland, they bounced back with a victory against one of the best teams in the league. There’s still work to be done, and some injured guys need to get healthy for the Saints to have a true shot at repeating as the Super Bowl champions, but this game served as a reminder that the Saints still can play with anyone. At 5-3, they’re only one loss behind Atlanta and Tampa Bay in the NFC South.
AP
PITTSBURGH — This is one week in which the Pittsburgh Steelers are truly convinced that numbers lie.
Glance at an NFL statistics sheet, and it appears the Steelers (5-1) simply won’t be able to keep up with the New Orleans Saints (4-3) during Sunday night’s matchup of the past two Super Bowl champions.
The Saints, thanks to quarterback Drew Brees, are No. 1 with a 69.7 pass completion rate. The Steelers are fifth from the bottom among defenses, allowing opponents to complete 66.2 percent of their passes. During the fourth quarter, the Steelers rank a dreadful 31st, as opponents complete nearly 70 percent of their passes.
METAIRIE, La. — Pierre Thomas hobbled into the Saints’ locker room on crutches Thursday, keeping weight off his sprained left ankle and sounding perplexed about why his recovery is going so much slower than he’d hoped.
“I really don’t know what’s the whole problem. Everybody keeps saying it’s a sprain or maybe a little tear there,” Thomas said. “I don’t know for sure if that’s true. I’m hearing so many different stories. I don’t know what to believe.”
By Jason La Canfora
New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush remains sidelined with a right leg injury, and it’s highly unlikely that he will return this week, a league source said Wednesday.
Bush wasn’t able to practice Wednesday, and a team source said no final determination has been made on the running back’s status for Sunday night’s showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, it doesn’t look promising.
By Pat Yasinskas
With the New Orleans Saints at 4-3, there has been a lot of talk about how hard it is to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
For some perspective on that, the New Orleans media asked Mike Tomlin about that challenge in a conference call Wednesday. The Pittsburgh coach has a little experience there because he won the Super Bowl the year before the Saints and wasn’t able to repeat last year. Tomlin brings his team into the Superdome to play the Saints on Sunday night and he has a pretty interesting take on what New Orleans is going through.
By Pat Yasinskas
In a somewhat surprising move, the New Orleans Saints have released linebacker Clint Ingram on the day he was supposed to come off the physically unable to perform list.
Coach Sean Payton had said Monday that Ingram, who had been sidelined with a knee injury since joining the Saints, was expected to begin practicing Wednesday. But general manager Mickey Loomis said the team made the move because Ingram wasn’t going to be ready to help the Saints this year.
Ingram had suffered the injury while with Jacksonville, but the Saints took a chance on him as a possible replacement for Scott Fujita, who signed with Cleveland. The team has been getting by with Jo-Lonn Dunbar and Danny Clark at the position. Clark, who was signed in September, has looked more comfortable and been more of a factor in recent weeks.
By Pat Yasinskas
Some thoughts on the New Orleans Saints‘ 31-6 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
What it means: They say that water seeks its own level and the Gulf of Mexico got back to its normal balance Sunday as the “slumping’’ Saints looked like champions again and the “red-hot’’ Buccaneers no longer looked like the surprise team of the season. With Atlanta losing to Philadelphia, the Saints and Falcons each are 4-2 and the Buccaneers are 3-2, but you can see the NFC South probably will be a two-team race.
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