Some nice info from Pat Yasinskas
Which NFC South wide receiver has the best hands? The answer probably will surprise you.
According to ESPN’s Stats & Information, the answer is New Orleans’ Robert Meachem. When it comes to overall catch percentage, Meachem ranks second in the league and is the only NFC South wide receiver in the top 10.
Another story by By Pat Yasinskas !
Falling
1. Sean Payton, Saints coach: He has had a brilliant year and now is not the time to ruin it all. Payton fell into the trap he spent all of last year in on Saturday as he totally abandoned the running game against Dallas.
Yes, quarterback Drew Brees is awesome and the receivers are great. But defenses know that and devote all of their attention to them. Part of the reason the Saints won their first 13 games was because Payton had made such a strong commitment to at least have a little balance between the passing and running games. One of the reasons the Saints lost in Week 14 was because there was no running game.
By Pat Yasinskas
NEW ORLEANS — Mike Triplett has a very good story about how Sean Payton has matured as a coach and I’d like to elaborate on this a bit because this is one topic that hasn’t been talked about enough in this magical season for the Saints.
If you followed the Saints closely last year and have done the same this year, you’ve seen very visible growth by Payton. He certainly wasn’t a bad coach before, but the maturity we’ve seen from Payton this year has helped him emerge as a top-notch coach.
The thing that’s impressed me most about Payton this year has been his willingness to adapt — that’s been a fatal flaw for a lot of other coaches. Payton had to make some very tough decisions after last year’s disappointing 8-8 season.
He knew he had to do something about a defense that was bad last year. He fired coordinator Gary Gibbs and brought in Gregg Williams. The results there speak for themselves.
By Pat Yasinskas
t has been nearly four full seasons now, more than enough time for a verdict on Reggie Bush.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft has precisely one 100-yard rushing game in his career and that came in his rookie season. He has only two career games in which he’s carried the ball 20 times and he has carrried more than 10 times in only one game this season. He’s missed 12 career games because of injuries and never really has come close to what he did back in his days as a Heisman Trophy winner at USC.
Time to call him a bust?
No, don’t do it. If you do, you’re missing the big picture. Don’t call Bush a bust and, please, don’t call him a running back. The Saints finally have discovered that tag doesn’t really apply to Bush.
If the New Orleans Saints are going to have a perfect regular season, there’s a growing chance they’ll have to wait several hours longer.
Multiple sources around the NFC South and the NFL say there is a strong chance the Saints’ final regular-season game, which is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start in Carolina, could be “flexed’’ to a Sunday night game, which will be the final game of the season for the entire NFL because there is no Monday night game that week.
After reading a bunch of storied and bunch of blogs I think that Pat Yasinskas has one of the best around. SO.. if you have not taken the time to look at his stuff you really should.
Here is a nice example.
“Because the Saints won, the fake field goal is forgotten and, to a lesser degree, the Saints can shrug off the struggles of the secondary.
For now, anyway. No team can be perfect in every game. But the Saints have a perfect record. Odds are, they finish 16-0.
That’s great, but maybe all those concerned fans have a good point when they expect perfection. If you truly are going to have a perfect season, you need to be playing well in December, so you can play very well in January and February.”
Great Video on this story see link below.
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
ATLANTA — Among the several inspirational bands that New Orleans free safety Darren Sharper wears prominently on his right wrist is a thin, black band of elastic that reads simply: “Finish strong!”
It is a motto the Saints have preached since the end of the 2008 season, a campaign in which New Orleans often wilted in the fourth quarter and lost five games by three points or fewer. It is a motto the 2009 Saints take seriously, one that has served them well in this undefeated season (13-0), and a credo that was hardly ignored in Sunday’s 26-23 victory over the surprisingly scrappy Atlanta Falcons.
“We take pride in the [motto],” Sharper said after a fourth quarter in which the Saints had an interception and then a stop on a fourth-and-2 play with 1:12 remaining. “We live it.”
The victory secured a first-round playoff bye for the Saints and moved them one game closer to clinching home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Atlanta, which played without quarterback Matt Ryan and tailback Michael Turner for a second straight week, has lost four of five, and at 6-7 is teetering on the brink of playoff elimination.
Dec
12We put up a quote yesterday that was sent in and we later received info from where it was posted. We check it out and Pat Yasinskas has a great blog so you should check it out.
Pat Yasinskas NFC South Blog -ESPN
Associated Press
With so much attention focused on the New Orleans Saints being undefeated, it would be easy to overlook the fact that they are on the verge of clinching the NFC South.
The Saints look to win their second division title in four years when they visit the lowly Washington Redskins on Sunday.
New Orleans (11-0) is one of two unbeaten teams, along with Indianapolis. The Saints continued their dominating play with a 38-17 win over New England on Monday night.
New Orleans’ ninth victory by double digits came against the only franchise to go undefeated during a 16-game regular season.
New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush(notes) is making $8 million this year. Pretty good paycheck for a guy with bad knees, right?
Well, he better be saving his pennies because Yahoo! Sports’ Jason Cole is hearing that the Saints aren’t planning to bring Bush back in 2010. The problem is those troublesome knees. Because of them, Bush hasn’t played for the last two weeks, which isn’t helpful in the slightest.
For the nine games that he’s been in, he’s been averaging 9.3 touches a game and fumbled the ball three times.
Another issue is Bush’s salary. With next year being potentially uncapped, some players are going to be irked that they aren’t making what Bush is making when they are contributing far more to the team than him.
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