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The New Orleans Saints signed Joey Harrington to see if they had more faith in him as the backup to Drew Brees than Mark Brunell. But, Brunell proved to be the better man for the job so the Saints have released Joey Harrington. It will be interesting to see if Harrington hooks up with another team down the road this season or if his career is done.
The Saints fell just a bit short against the Broncos last Sunday. Can’t fault Drew Brees for this loss as he completed 39 of 48 passes for 421 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions. Reggie Bush was very busy in this game as he carried the ball 18 times for 73 yards (4.1 ypc) with a TD run. He also caught 11 passes for 75 yards (6.8 avg) with a TD grab. Pierre Thomas carried the ball 6 times for 15 yards (2.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 3 passes for 8 yards (2.7 avg). Jeremy Shockey led the Saints in the passing game with 8 catches for 75 yards (9.4 avg). WR Lance Moore also had a big game with 7 receptions for 78 yards (11.1 avg). The Saints finished up with 88 yards rushing on 25 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 39 of 48 passes for 414 yards.
The Saints’ defense didn’t play too well in this football game. DE Charles Grant had 6 tackles and a safety when he tackled RB Andre Hall in the endzone. DBs Tracy Porter and Kevin Kaesviharn each pitched in with 7 tackles apiece. The Broncos finished up with 105 yards rushing on 24 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 34 passes for 264 yards. The Saints fell to 1-2 on the season with this loss.
The Saints have signed 29-year old QB Joey Harrington to serve as the #3 QB behind Drew Brees and Mark Brunell. Harrington played in 12 games (10 starts) for the Falcons last year and he completed 215 of 348 passes (61.8%) for 2,215 yards with 7 TD passes and 8 interceptions (77.2 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 14 times for 33 yards (2.4 ypc) last year. Harrington has never stepped up in his NFL career and he’s running out of time. He has now played in 81 games (76 starts) and he completed 1,424 of 2,538 (56.1%) passes for 14,693 yards with 79 TD passes and 85 interceptions (69.4 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 142 times for 402 yards (2.8 ypc) in his career. This might be Harrington’s last chance to prove himself in the NFL but he will have a couple of good veterans to learn from. He was worth the small risk that the Saints are taking on him.
The Saints have released CB Jason Craft and DE Alvin McKinley. The 32-year old Craft played in both games off of the bench for the Saints this season and he made 9 tackles. McKinley injured his foot his first day in practice with the Saints and they didn’t want to keep him around. Neither of these players should hurt the Saints’ defense much.
This should be a very exciting game between two teams with great offenses and very little defense. Drew Brees will be in attack mode tomorrow against a Broncos’ defense that is allowing 266.5 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 116.3 QB Rating against them so far. TE Jeremy Shockey will get a lot of work in this game against the safeties of the Broncos who have not played well this season. The Broncos are also allowing 115.0 yards rushing per game and 4.8 ypc so look for Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas to be very busy against them.
The Broncos will likely come out running the ball with Selvin Young, Andre Hall and Michael Pittman against a Saints’ defense that is allowing 147.5 yards rushing per game and 5.8 ypc. But don’t think for a minute that QB Jay Cutler isn’t going to attack a defense that is allowing 256.0 yards passing per game. WRs Brandon Marshall, rookie Eddie Royal and TE Tony Scheffler have all been dominating this season for the Broncos and they should all have good games against the Saints.
PREDICTION: DENVER BRONCOS 31, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 30