There was a moment in the first half when it looked like the Eagles might be about to make a game of it with the New Orleans Saints.
After a miserable start that put them in a 17-0 hole — gaining just 15 net yards on its first three drives — Philadelphia responded by putting together its first touchdown drive of the game and following that up by forcing a Saints three and out. They took the ball back and started marching downfield against the New Orleans defense.
Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes in the first half, moving ahead of Brett Favre for second place on the career list, and the New Orleans Saints rolled to their eighth straight victory Sunday, 51-14 over the Cincinnati Bengals.
An MRI confirmed that wide receiver Dez Bryant has suffered a torn Achilles and now faces an expected eight-month recovery, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday.
Two days after signing with the New Orleans Saints, Bryant suffered the injury on the final play of Friday’s practice, a source confirmed to Schefter, after it was first reported by NFL Network.
Michael Thomas wanted to do his best to exactly recreate former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Horn’s infamous touchdown celebration, and in a way, the NFL helped him get there.
The NFL levied a $30,000 fine against Thomas Saturday (Nov. 10) for pulling a cell phone out of the padding of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome goal posts as part of a touchdown celebration last week against the Rams. Thomas was paying homage to former Saints receiver Joe Horn, who performed the same celebration with the Saints 15 years earlier.
Horn’s fine for his celebration? Also $30,000.
As of Wednesday morning, the New Orleans Saints had not signed a new wide receiver.
Not Dez Bryant. Not Brandon Marshall. Not Kamara Aiken.
Those three veterans worked out for the Saints on Tuesday, but coach Sean Payton said Wednesday those tryouts were just business as usual for the Saints.
Nov
06
Preseason rank: 3 | Week 9: 3
Expectations were obviously high for the Saints to start with. But they have exceeded them so far by proving they can win with different styles during a brutal three-game stretch (come-from-behind slugfests at Baltimore and at Minnesota, then a 45-35 track meet at home against the Rams). It helps that Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas are putting together one of the best “triplets” seasons in NFL history. — Mike Triplett
NEW ORLEANS — When the time came to dial up a big play for Michael Thomas, the Saints’ leading receiver answered the call.
He even had a flip phone planted in the padding of each goal post, just in case.
Thomas caught a late 72-yard touchdown reception and then celebrated with a cellphone in a throwback to another famous New Orleans play, and the streaking Saints handed the Los Angeles Rams their first loss of the season with a 45-35 victory on Sunday.
“I loved the celebration myself, and I think it was the perfect time when I did it,” Thomas said. “We love our fans and we always want to bring them back great memories.”
Drew Brees passed for 346 yards and four touchdowns in New Orleans’ seventh straight win, and Thomas finished with a club-record 211 yards receiving. But what happened after the last of his 12 receptions stole the show in a wild shootout between two of the NFL’s best offenses.
Point spread: NO -2 | Matchup quality: 91.3 (of 100)
Lindsey Thiry’s pick: The Rams have won eight consecutive games, but the Saints in the Superdome are undoubtedly their biggest test yet, especially on offense. Defense could be the difference in this one. The Rams have the edge in that department after adding edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr. at the trade deadline and with Aaron Donald’s league-leading 10 sacks. But it might not be enough against Drew Brees, who gets the ball out fast. Saints 28, Rams 24
Mike Triplett’s pick: This is the latest in the season that two teams averaging 33 points or more have faced each other, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Rams have the edge on defense led by Donald, and while they added firepower this week by trading for Fowler, the Saints lost firepower when rookie DE Marcus Davenport suffered a toe injury. However, the home-field advantage helps the Saints, and there might not be a more battle-tested team in the NFL right now after they had to grind out come-from-behind victories at Baltimore and Minnesota in their past two outings. Saints 29, Rams 27
FPI win projection: NO, 49.8 percent. With a pregame matchup quality of 91.3, this is the second-best matchup of the season according to FPI, trailing only the Chiefs-Rams matchup in Week 11. This game is also projected to be incredibly close, as only the Falcons-Redskins game noted earlier has a smaller spread in our data set, according to FPI.
What to watch for in fantasy: Among quarterbacks who have made five-plus starts this season, Jared Goff leads the way with an average of 9.58 yards per attempt. Meanwhile, the Saints are allowing 8.70 yards per pass attempt, third most in the league. Read more.
The NFL trading deadline line is approaching, specifically on Tuesday, October 30th at 4pm eastern time. The 4-1 New Orleans Saints are on their bye week, so of course it’s time to engage in rumors that will almost certainly not happen. Some whispers throughout the league have Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson on the market, and others have suggested that Oakland Raiders corner Gareon Conley might be available. Barring anything unusual, New Orleans probably lack the resources to get a player like Peterson, who is still one of the league’s better corners.
Oct
14The New Orleans Saints have settled their secondary and haven’t had many coverage busts since playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the season opener, which has been more palatable for the coaching staff.
But one of the reasons for the better organization has been a slight shift in philosophy for the secondary. While the team still uses single-high safety coverages regularly, the defense has mixed in more Tampa 2 looks to help settle the defense.
The coverage is a variant of Cover 2, which features two deep safeties covering a zone. In Tampa 2, the middle linebacker is asked to cover the deep middle area of the field.
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