The Saints decided to rest alot of their players for the playoffs and let the back-ups earn their checks for once.  The result was predictable.  Drew Brees completed 4 of 5 passes for 46 yards before taking the rest of the day off.  Jamie Martin completed 16 of 24 passes for 208 yards with a TD and an INT, the interception was returned 18 yards for a TD by Chris Gamble.  Reggie Bush made a brief appearance and carried the ball 3 times for 20 yards (6.7 ypc) and a TD.  Jamal Branch had a busy day with 10 carries for 29 yards (2.9 ypc) and caught 5 passes for 14 yards and a TD.  Fred McAfee carried the ball 3 times for 12 yards (4.0 ypc) and a TD.  Devery Henderson played a little bit and caught 2 passes for 71 yards.  Jamal Jones added 3 receptions for 69 yards.

The defense played allright against the run as the Panthers carried the ball 33 times for 106 yards (3.2 ypc).  The Panthers sliced up the secondary of the Saints as they completed 23 of 27 passes for 207 net yards passing.

The Panthers won their first game in five weeks last week against the Falcons.  The Saints have won four of their last five games including a 30-7 beating of the Giants that sealed a firt round bye for the Saints.

The Panthers will start Jake Delhomme if the Redskins beat the Giants on Saturday Night.  If the Panthers are eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday Night the Panthers will likely start Chris Weinke against the Saints.  No matter which QB starts it’s very likely that the Panthers will prefer to run the football against the porous run defense of the Saints that has allowed 130.5 yards rushing and 5.1 yards per carry.  Both DeShaun Foster (818 yards rushing) and DeAngelo Williams (494 yards rushing) should both have good games against the Saints.  If Delhomme starts, look for the offense to be a tad more wide-open as Jake is a much better passer than Weinke is…even with a bad thumb.  Steve Smith (76 rec, 1,081 yards) could have a huge game if Delhomme plays.

The Saints will probably roll out a basic gameplan as this game really doesn’t mean much for them.  Deuce McAllister (1,057 yards rushing) and Reggie Bush (545 yards rushing) should split the carries against a Panthers defense that is allowing 111.7 yards rushing per game and 3.9 yards per carry.  Drew Brees (4,372 yards passing) will start this game and work on a few things before probably being replaced by Jamie Martin sometime in the second half.  Look for the Saints to get the ball to Reggie Bush (86 rec, 729 yards) and Marques Colston (70 rec, 1,038 yards) early in the game…and then to Devery Henderson and Terrance Copper late in the game.

This should be an interesting football game.  The Panthers won the first meeting 21-18 in Carolina.  I think this game could have a similar result with either team winning the game.

 

The New Orleans Saints have clinched the division and a first round bye in the playoffs.  The Saints have had a great season so far and it’s not impossible to think that the Bears could get knocked off in Chicago and give the Saints the NFC Championship in the SuperDome as long as they take care of business in their first playoff game.

The Saints won this game the old fashioned way….by running the football and playing GREAT defense.  The Giants carried the ball 18 times for 83 yards (4.6 ypc), but they had to give up on the run after the Saints jumped out to a lead on them.  The Giants had no chance throwing the ball against the Saints as they completed only 9 of 25 passes for 59 net yards passing.

Drew Brees only had to manage the game yesterday and it’s good that Saints had the running game going because Brees had an off game.  Brees completed only 13 of 32 passes for 132 yards and a TD.  Reggie Bush had his best game of the season running the ball as he carried it 20 times for 126 yards rushing (6.3 ypc) and a TD.  He also caught 2 passes for 23 yards. Deuce McAllister was busy too with 27 carries for 108 yards and a TD.  He also caught 2 passes for 14 yards.  Marques Colston led the way for the receiving corps with 4 catches for 37 yards and a TD.

The Saints improved to 10-5 on the season with this win and will try to secure a bye in the first round next week.

Both the Saints and Giants are coming off disappointing losses last week, the Saints lost 16-10 at home against the Redskins and the Giants fell 36-22 at home to the Eagles.

The Saints will probably come out throwing the football to open up their running game.  Drew Brees (4,240 yards passing) should find the Giants pass defense not to hard to deal with.  The Giants are allowing an average of 232.9 net yards passing per game so far this season!  Look for Marques Colston (66 rec, 1,001 yards), Devery Henderson (22.5 avg) and Terrance Copper to have good games.  Reggie Bush (84 rec, 706 yards receiving) should be able to exploit the average speed of the Giants’ linebackers.  The Saints won’t forget to run the ball because McAllister and Bush can help keep their defense off the field if they get a lead.

The Giants are going to run the ball alot at the Saints.  Tiki Barber (1,357 yards rushing) and Brandon Jacobs (398 yards rushing) should get a ton of yards against the Saints run defense which is allowing 133.9 yards per game rushing and 5.1 yards per carry so far this season.  After the Giants get the running game going and make no mistake they will….Manning will run some play-action passes with shots deep to Plaxico Burress and short to Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber out of the backfield.

The team that wins this game will be the one that wins the turnover battle, because these teams strengths match up with the other teams weakness.  It should be a high scoring football game.

The Saints looked flat in this game.  Drew Brees was a little bit off as he completed 21 of 38 passes for 207 yards and an interception.  Deuce McAllister had a rough time too as he carried the ball 15 times for 48 yards (3.2 ypc) and a TD.  Reggie Bush carried the ball 7 times for 14 yards (2.0 ypc) and he caught 5 passes for 19 yards.  Marques Colston had a decent game with 7 catches for 84 yards.

Scott Fujita led the way for the defense with 7 tackles.  The Redskins ran the ball at will on the Saints defense.  The Redskins carried the ball 31 times for 161 yards (5.2 ypc).  The Redskins only completed 13 of 28 passes for 193 net yards passing.

The Saints fell to 9-5 with this loss, but they clinched the NFC South Title.

Smith has done a great job this season of getting to the QB and making big plays when he get there.  Smith has 41 tackles, 10.5 sacks, defensed 3 passes, forced 3 fumbles and recovered a fumble so far this season.  He’s been the game changing player that the Saints thought they were getting when they drafted him in the first round out of Ohio State.

The Washington Redskins have lost their last two games and 4 of their last 5.  The Saints have won 3 games in a row and have outscored their opponents 107-40 in those games.

The Redskins will run the football in an attempt to keep the Saints offense on the sideline.  LeDell Betts (814 yards rushing) has been great since moving into the starting line-up after Clinton Portis went down for the season.  The Saints are allowing 131.8 yards rushing per game and 5.1 yards per carry so far this season!  Look for Jason Campbell to take some deep shots to Santana Moss and short ones to TE Chris Cooley.  The Redskins will have to keep Will Smith (10.5 sacks) out of the backfield in order to give Campbell a fair shot at the Saints weak secondary. 

The Saints will likely try to run a balanced offense on Sunday.  Deuce McAllister (901 yards rushing) will do the heavy lifting in the running game, and Reggie Bush (405 yards rushing) will run a few sweeps against a Redskins defense that is allowing 128.3 yards rushing and 4.2 yards per carry so far this season.  Drew Brees will be attacking the Redskins deep to Marques Colston, Devery Henderson and Terrance Copper.  The Redskins have probably the worst secondary in the NFL as they’ve given up 25 TD passes and only have 5 interceptions.  Reggie Bush (79 rec, 687 yards) will probably get the ball alot out of the backfield and put big-time pressure on the Redskins’ linebackers.

The Saints should blow out the Redskins in the SuperDome on Sunday.

Joe Horn is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with a groin injury.  The team hopes the rest will have him ready for the playoffs.  Devery Henderson and Terrance Copper will replace him.

The Saints really had a great night in Dallas.  They destroyed the Cowboys defense, which had been great till lst night.  The Saints also had a good defensive gameplan to deal with the Cowboys offense.

Drew Brees had a fantastic game as he completed 26 of 38 passes for 384 yards with 5 TDs.  Deuce McAllister had a good game with 21 carries for 111 yards (5.3 ypc) and caught 3 passes for 15 yards.  Reggie Bush was fantastic in Dallas as he carried the ball 6 times for 37 yards (6.2 ypc) and caught 6 passes for 125 yards and a TD.  Mike Karney had an outstanding game too as he carried the ball 3 times for 14 yards (4.7 ypc) and a TD.  He also caught 5 passes for 39 yards and 2 TDs.  Devery Henderson had 2 big catches for 92 yards and a TD.  Marques Colston returned from injury and caught 5 passes for 48 yards.  Jamaal Jones caught 1 pass, a 27-yard TD.

The Saints did a pretty good job on the Cowboys offense.  The Cowboys carried the ball 16 times for 116 yards (7.3 ypc), but the Saints took them out of the running game by putting so many points on the board on offense.  The Cowboys completed 16 of 33 passes for 231 net yards passing.

The Saints improved to 9-4 on the season with the beat-down of the Cowboys.