The Saints looked much better last night…especially on defense.  Drew Brees played much longer last night than he did in the first game and he was very efficient completing 12 of 14 passes for 118 yards.  Tyler Palko played the remainder of the football game as he completed 15 of 27 passes for 172 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions and he carried the football 4 times for 47 yards (11.8 ypc).  Rookie running back Antonio Pittman carried the load in the running game with 10 carries for 23 yards (2.3 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 24 yards.  Reggie Bush carried the ball 2 times for 15 yards (7.5 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 26 yards (8.7 avg).  Deuce McAllister made a brief appearance as he carried the ball 3 times for 2 yards (0.7 ypc) and he caught 1 pass for 8 yards.  The Saints spread the ball around to 14 different receivers last night.  Lance Moore who’s in a fight to make the final roster led the team with 5 grabs for 50 yards.  Terrance Copper also had a good game with 4 grabs for 48 yards.  Devery Henderson caught 3 passes for 52 yards (17.3 avg) and Robert Meachem added 2 grabs for 20 yards and a TD.  The Saints ran the ball 23 times for 102 yards (4.4 ypc) and they completed 27 of 41 passes for 241 yards.

The Saints defense played much better last night than they did in the first pre-season game.  They held the Bills to 209 total yards of offense.  The Bills carried the football 27 times for 113 yards (4.2 ypc) and they completed 19 of 24 passes for 96 yards.  Hopefully the Saints can keep up the good work on defense.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270810018

Fullback Mike Karney doesn’t need the football to be effective because of his blocking.  But every once in a while Coach Payton lets him loose to score a TD to reward him for a job well done.  He played in 15 games (7 starts) last season for the Saints and he carried the ball 11 times for 33 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 15 passes for 96 yards (6.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Karney will likely start at fullback for the next few seasons and he deserves it.  He has now played in 47 games (29 starts) and he has carried the ball 20 times for 52 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 31 passes for 199 yards (6.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Kevin Dudley is the likely back up at fullback for the Saints but he only appeared in 1 game last season and he didn’t touch the football.

The Saints got pushed around in the Hall of Fame Game by the Pittsburgh Steelers and they didn’t have many highlights but the game doesn’t count so it’s no big deal.  The Saints really laid an egg as they ran the ball 24 times and rushed for 82 yards (3.4 ypc).  They also didn’t throw well as they only completed 13 of 30 passes for 132 yards.  Drew Brees made a very brief appearance and he completed 1 of 6 passes for only 6 yards.  Jamie Martin didn’t play much better as he completed 3 of 8 passes for 26 yards.  Third stringer Jason Fife was the only QB on the Saints roster that had any success as he completed 5 of 8 passes for 47 yards and a TD.  Antonio Pittman found running in the NFL tougher than college as he carried the ball 7 times for only 20 yards (2.9 ypc) rushing.  Running back Kevin Dudley made a decent first impression as he carried the ball 1 time for 2 yards and he caught 2 passes for 15 yards with a TD reception. 

The Saints defense got dominated by the Steelers offense Sunday Night.  The Steelers held the ball for 35:57 of the ballgame and amassed 413 total yards of offense.  The Saints couldn’t stop the run as the Steelers ran the football 37 times for 173 yards (4.7 ypc) and they couldn’t stop the pass as the Steelers completed 14 of 25 passes for 240 yards. 

The Saints have a lot of things to work on but they have three weeks to get the job done.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270805018

The Saints traded for Olindo Mare for two reasons.  1.) He can nail long field goal attempts and 2.) He will handle all of the kickoffs so that the Saints don’t have to waste a roster spot on someone that just kicks the ball off.  Mare made 72.2% of his field goals last season for the Dolphins and he converted all 22 of his extra points to finish the season with 100 points.  Mare made 16 of 18 kicks of 39 yards or less and he made 10 for 18 of 40+ yards.

Mare has now played in 155 career NFL games and he has scored 1,048 points which is an average of 6.8 points per game.  Mare has nailed 245 of 303 (80.9%) field goal attempts and he has made 313 of 318 extra points.

 

The Saints are absolutely loaded at running back for the 2007 season.  It all starts with Deuce McAllister who rushed for over 1,000 yards again last season.  He played in 15 games (13 starts) last season for the Saints and he carried the ball 244 times for 1,057 yards (4.3 ypc) with 10 TD runs and he also caught 30 passes for 198 yards (6.6 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  Look for the Saints to lessen McAllister’s workload a bit in 2007 but he will still probably lead the Saints in rushing.  He has now played in 81 games (67 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 1,298 times for 5,586 yards (4.3 ypc) with 44 TD runs and he also has caught 212 passes for 1,577 yards (7.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.

Reggie Bush will likely shoulder a little more of the load in the running game this season.  He is an electric performer that has those freakish kind of Play Station moves that often make defenders look silly in the open field.  He played in all 16 games last season (8 starts) for the Saints and he carried the ball 155 times for 565 yards (3.6 ypc) with 6 TD runs and he also caught 88 passes for 742 yards (8.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Bush also returned 28 punts for 216 yards (7.7 avg) with 1 TD return.  Bush is only scratching the surface of his potential so far this season.

Rookie Antonio Pittman runs with a similar style of Deuce McAllister.  He doesn’t look like a power back because of his size but he’s a great runner between the tackles.  He also has much more speed than opponents give him credit for as he can run away from defenders if he gets behind them.  Don’t look for Pittman to get a lot of carries as a rookie but he will in the near future.

Aaron Stecker also plays a little receiver at times so he is a valuable little performer for the Saints.  He played in 12 games last season and he carried the ball 4 times for 11 yards (2.8 ypc) and he caught 19 passes for 190 yards (10.0 avg).  Stecker also returned 10 kickoffs for 216 yards (21.6 avg) this season.  Stecker might be low on the depth chart but the Saints are glad to have him and they will put him to some use this season.  Stecker has now played in 98 games (10 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 258 times for 1,020 yards (4.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs and he also caught 116 passes for 878 yards (7.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Stecker also has returned 159 kickoffs for 3,733 yards (23.5 avg) with 1 TD return.

Jamaal Branch will have a hard time making the team this season.  He played in 1 game at the end of the season and he carried the ball 10 times for 29 yards (2.9 ypc) and he caught 5 passes for 14 yards (2.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.