|
|
|
NFL Sports News | October 20, 2008
|
| |
Around the NFL: Nothing can stop Brees, but Saints are another story
By Tom Pelissero
October 17, 2008
If he keeps up his pace, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees would shatter longstanding NFL records for single-season completion percentage and passing yards.
If the Saints keep up their pace, they'll finish 8-8.
That's the duality in New Orleans, where the NFL's second-ranked offense, a dangerous return game starring Reggie Bush and a serviceable defense (19th in yards, 18th in scoring) have added up only to a 3-3 start — putting the Saints last in the competitive NFC South Division.
The success starts with Brees, who is 159-for-224 passing (70.98 percent) for 1,993 yards with 12 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 105.0 passer rating. The record for completion percentage is 70.55, set by Cincinnati's Ken Anderson in 1982, and Brees is on pace to throw for 5,314 yards, 230 more than Dan Marino's record 5,084 for Miami in 1984.
What's scary about Brees' start is he's kept it up the past three games despite playing with his top three receiving threats — receivers Marques Colston (thumb) and David Patten (groin) and tight end Jeremy Shockey (sports hernia) — sidelined by injuries.
Injuries have played a role in the early struggles of the Saints, who have had starters miss 31 games already. When the Saints won the division in 2006, their starters lost only 35 games to injury all season.
The Saints also have shown an inability to finish games. In back-to-back road games in mid-September, Washington scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win 29-24 and Denver held the Saints to only six points in the last 22 minutes, 2 seconds to win 34-32. Then, there was the Monday night collapse two weeks ago against Minnesota, which allowed Bush to return two punts for touchdowns but got a late touchdown and last-minute field goal to escape 30-27.
The result is a .500 record that has the Saints a game out of the three-way tie for first place between 4-2 Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay — with a challenging and strange stretch coming up on the schedule.
They visit Carolina today, then fly to London for a "home" game against the San Diego Chargers on Oct. 26, where last season Miami and the New York Giants combined for 178 passing yards on a muddy, waterlogged field. Only three of the Saints' final 10 games will be on the fast track at the Superdome — including another Monday night game, against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 24.
That no doubt will make it more challenging for Brees to keep up his torrid pace, but he should have reinforcements marching in soon. Colston and Shockey were listed as probable on Friday's injury report, and Patten wasn't listed at all.
Jet lag: The Chargers also are hitting the road for a long stretch. They'll leave for London directly from Buffalo after facing the Bills on Sunday.
Bear minimum: Of the teams locked in the other three-way tie atop a division, the Chicago Bears have the most favorable schedule on paper.
Only one of the Bears' 10 remaining games is against a team with a winning record — the Tennessee Titans, who visit Soldier Field on Nov. 9. That game wraps the first of a pair of three-game homestands in which Chicago plays all three of its division home games.
Counting division co-leaders Minnesota and Green Bay twice, the combined record of the Bears' remaining opponents is 25-31. The Packers' remaining opponents are 28-28, and three — Indianapolis, Tennessee and Carolina — have winning records. For Minnesota, it's 29-28 and four: Tampa Bay, Arizona, Atlanta and the New York Giants.
Of course, all of that largely is moot if the Bears don't fare well in their home-and-home matchups with the Packers, who have started 2-0 in division play, and the Vikings.
--
By the numbers
* 26 — Games the lowly Lions won in WR Roy Williams' four-plus seasons before he was traded to the contending Cowboys this week. "I've always loved this game of football, it's always been my passion," Williams said, "but to play the game and to lose the way that we've lost this year, it kind of goes away from you a little bit. You still want to compete on Sundays; that's all I had to do. But to get an opportunity to play on Monday night and Sunday night and all the good things that come with being a Dallas Cowboy, I'm ecstatic."
* 2 — Former Vikings linebackers — Dontarrious Thomas and Napoleon Harris — who Minnesota re-signed this past week after a slew of injuries.
* 4 — Games last week in which the winning points were scored in the final 10 seconds — the most in a single week since 1970. That doesn't include the Cowboys-Cardinals game, which was decided on a blocked punt return in overtime.
* 36.4 — Percent of games this season that have been decided in the fourth quarter and overtime, a larger percentage than in recent years.
Sports Ticket Depot -
NFL News | Sports News | Archive Index
|
| |
Sufferin' Saints: Bush sidelined; Shockey says he's hurt; punter cut
ESPN.com news services
October 19, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On a day the New Orleans Saints would rather forget, the team learned that running back Reggie Bush needs arthroscopic knee surgery that could sideline him for several weeks.
Bush injured the meniscus in his left knee on a punt return late in the first half of Sunday's 30-7 loss to Carolina. He reversed field on his run, which ended when he stepped out of bounds on the Carolina sideline. He seemed to pull up a bit and favor his left leg after that.
"The plan is to scope it. We'll have this week and then the bye week and we'll see where he's at," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I'll probably know something [Monday]. Right now, we're going to have to evaluate it and go from there."
The Saints' bad news did not end with Bush. Tight end Jeremy Shockey's lashed out after his return to the lineup from a sports hernia, questioning how the team has handled his injury, then adding he was unsure if he'll play next week in London.
Immediately following their blowout loss to the Panthers, the Saints cut punter Steve Weatherford.
--
Lethal Weapon No. 25
If Reggie Bush is lost for a significant period, the Saints would lose their leader in rushing, punt return yards and touchdowns (he's also second in receiving yards). How his totals in those categories stack up against the team's totals:
Reggie's 2008 season
% of team
Rushing yds 294 45.9
Receiving yds 366 16.5
Punt return yds 285 93.1
Touchdowns 8 36.4
--
Bush had 55 yards on nine carries, caught one pass for five yards, and had a 3.5 average on three punt returns against Carolina. Payton said the Saints became "one-dimensional" after Bush left the game.
But quarterback Drew Brees noted the Saints played the final four games of last season with Bush -- they went 2-2 while he was out with a knee injury -- and proved this year they could persevere when Shockey and receiver Marques Colston missed games.
"Of course it's tough. He's a big-time playmaker," Brees said. "We're going to miss him, and I hope he's not out very long."
Shockey led the team with five catches for 50 yards, but that wasn't enough to ease his mind. The four-time Pro Bowl tight end, who had missed the past three games after surgery, practiced last week and was cleared to play. But on the first play Sunday, Shockey said he "did the splits" and felt pain.
"I feel a spot in my leg that wasn't there before," said Shockey, who indicated he was hopeful he only dug up scar tissue and did not suffer more damage.
Shockey said he may have come back too soon from the surgery, and also indicated the Saints erred by misdiagnosing him in training camp.
"I'm worried that this thing could have been taken care of in camp, like it should have been," said Shockey, whom the Saints acquired from the New York Giants in July for two draft picks. "If it wasn't misdiagnosed in camp like it was there'd have been no problems. ... Next time I know. When I get hurt I'll get three or four opinions besides just the team's."
Shockey underwent surgery four weeks ago, and had practiced without limitation the week before facing the Panthers. In contrast, Philadelphia Eagles receiver Kevin Curtis had hernia surgery in August and has yet to play this season.
"It's not a three-to-six-week recovery time," said Shockey, who alluded to Curtis. "It's really a five-to-seven-week."
Shockey said he would know more about his status Monday.
"I want to help this team win that brought me here," Shockey said. "I'm just disappointed in myself. I'm making plays and everything, but I'm just not healthy."
Weatherford was released after the game after a terrible outing against the Panthers. His gross average of 35.4 yards and net average of 30.2 left him out of the team's plans.
That means the Saints will have to sign a punter this week while they're in London.
Sports Ticket Depot -
NFL News | Sports News | Archive Index
|
| |
Convert Currency here
Sports Ticket Web Masters,
Submit your sports event, venue, news, and memorabilia link(s) as ‘articles / advertisements’. Your article(s) will occupy their own EXCLUSIVE and UNIQUE page directly linked to a Sports Ticket Depot sports section of your choice.Submit details here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
