25-year old DT Sedrick Ellis has played well for the Saints so far this year.  He has played in 9 games for the Saints so far this year and he has 23 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 4 sacks and 1 tackle for a loss.  Ellis is stepping up as he was kind of cruising his first three years in the league.  Ellis played in 32 games in his first 3 years in the NFL and he had 87 tackles, 9 passes defensed and 10 sacks.  The Saints need him to keep up the good work the rest of the way.

22-year old undrafted rookie Chris Ivory out of tiny Tiffin College in Ohio is now making a mark with the Saints.  He was a long shot to make the Saints when training camp started.  Ivory went on to have a great pre-season earning a spot on the roster.  He was then sitting at the end of the bench behind Pierre Thomas & Reggie Bush.  When Thomas & Bush got injured the Saints immediately signed Ladell Betts and DeShawn Wynn because of a lack of faith in Ivory.  Last week the Saints gave Ivory his first big chance against the Bucs and all he did was rush for 158 yards on 15 carries (10.5 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 17 yards.  Ivory has played in 4 games for the Saints so far this year and he has carried the ball 44 times for 277 yards (6.3 ypc) and he has caught 1 pass for 17 yards.  Ivory is the Saints’ leading rusher as of right now.

Lance Moore really seemed to break out for the Saints in 2008.  He played in 16 games for the Saints that year and he caught 79 passes for 928 yards (11.7 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  Moore seemed on the cusp of stardom but he suffered a lot of injuries in 2009 losing his place in line at WR for the Saints.  Moore only played in 7 games for the Saints last year and he caught 14 passes for 153 yards (10.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Lance Moore appears healthy finally and to no surprise his production has returned.  Moore has played in all 3 games for the Saints so far this year and he has caught 9 passes for 172 yards (19.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Saints hope that Moore stays healthy all year because you can never have too many weapons on offense.

RB Pierre Thomas has been getting a lot of action for the Saints so far this year.  In his first two games of the season, Thomas has carried the ball 37 times for 117 yards (3.2 ypc) with 1 TD carry.  He also has caught 11 passes for 72 yards (6.5 avg) so far this year.  Thomas has never been known for his hands but Drew Brees is 11 for 11 when throwing him the ball.  Thomas will likely have an even heavier workload in the near future with Reggie Bush out for a few weeks with a broken leg.

This is a big question that the Saints need to ponder.  Bush is only 24 years old and I think he played the best football of his career in 2009.  With that in mind I think they should bring him back as long as he doesn’t want to break the bank.  After all, he isn’t a every down back.  Bush played in 14 games for the Saints last season and he carried the ball 70 times for 390 yards (5.6 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  Bush also caught 47 passes for 335 yards (7.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs and he also returned 27 punts for 130 yards (4.8 avg).  Bush has now played in 52 games for the Saints in his career and he has carried the ball 488 times for 1,940 yards (4.0 ypc) with 17 TD runs.  He also has caught 260 passes for 1,934 yards (7.4 avg) with 11 TD grabs.  Bush has helped out on special teams too as he has returned 78 punts for 628 yards (8.1 avg) with 4 TD returns.  As long as Bush’s contract demands aren’t too ridiculous the Saints should bring him back in 2010 and beyond.

Drew Brees is going to Disneyland as he won the MVP of the Super Bowl.  He earned it by completing 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs (114.5 QB Rating).  Brees deserved the award without a doubt as he led his team down the field time after time in the second half to lead his team to victory.  Two other players stood out to me in this game for the Saints.  One was cornerback Tracy Porter who drove the final nail in the coffin for the Saints when he picked off a Peyton Manning pass in the 4th quarter which he returned 74 yards for a TD to put them up 14 points.  Kicker Garrett Hartley also had a huge game as he put 11 points on the board for the Saints.  He connected on 44, 46 and 47 yard field goals for the Saints.  Still, Drew Brees deserved this award for the Saints but he didn’t do it alone.

23-year old cornerback Tracy Porter has been playing well all year long but he will have his hands full this Sunday against the WRs of the Colts.  He has played in both playoff games for the Saints and he has made 13 tackles, forced 1 fumble, defensed 2 passes and he has 1 interception.  The Saints will need their corners to make some big plays if they are going to pull the upset this weekend.  Porter played in 12 games during the regular season for the Saints and he made 57 tackles, defensed 12 passes, forced 2 fumbles and he intercepted 4 passes (1 returned for a TD). 

RB/PR Reggie Bush is playing the best football of his NFL career in the playoffs as he is looking like a man possessed.  Bush has carried the ball 12 times for 92 yards (7.7 ypc) with a TD run and he has also caught 6 passes for 57 yards (9.5 avg) with a TD grab.  Bush can go the distance on any play and that will cause the Colts to have to play honest against the run.  Bush has also been lethal in the return game for the Saints in the playoffs as he has returned 4 punts for 109 yards (27.3 avg) with a TD.  The Colts will have to account for Bush everytime he is on the field or he will make them pay.

QB Drew Brees looks like he’s locked in heading into the Super Bowl this Sunday in Miami.  In the two playoff games the Saints have already played, Brees has completed 40 of 63 passes (63.5%) for 444 yards with 6 TD passes and 0 INTs (116.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 4 times for -3 yards (-0.8 ypc).  Brees will need to keep spreading the ball around to different receivers to keep the Colts’ D off balance.  That job just got easier for him with the news that Colts’ DE Dwight Freeney has a torn ligament in his right ankle.  He probably won’t be able to go against the Saints but even if he does he will be gimpy.  That mean that the Saints can double DE Robert Mathis on the other side of the line pretty much negating the Colts’ pass rush which is the strength of the defense.  If Brees has a lot of time to throw the ball the Saints should be able to put a ton of points on the scoreboard.

The New Orleans Saints are heading to their first Super Bowl trip in franchise history after winning a close game in overtime against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game.  The Saints’ 23-year-old kicker Garrett Hartley hit a 40-yard field goal in overtime to send the Saints to the Super Bowl.  The Saints offense had a solid game, but the defense had more to do with this win than their potent offense.  Although they gave up a ton of yards (475 total yards), they forced 6 fumbles (recovering 3 of them) and picked off quarterback Brett Favre twice.  One of those interceptions could not have come at a bigger moment in the game.  After the Vikings were pushed out of field goal range with under a minute to play in regulation, the Vikings needed to make a play to get themselves back into their kicker’s range.  Brett Favre rolled out to his right, and tried to throw across his body to the middle of the field, when Tracy Porter easily jumped in front of it and picked it off.  This ended the Vikings chances at winning in regulation and sent the game into overtime.  The Saints one the toss and Drew Brees got the Saints into field goal range and the rest was history.

Drew Brees and the Saints offense didn’t total very many yards, only getting 257 total yards.  What they did do well is manage the game and take care of the ball.  The Saints only had 1 turnover, as compared to the Vikings 5, so it didn’t matter that the Vikings had over 200 yards more than them on offense.  Reggie Bush did not have the game he had last week, and was not effective running the ball (8 yards on 7 carries).  He did catch 2 passes for 33 yards, including a touchdown so he still made an impact.  Pierre Thomas ran the ball well, rushing for 61 yards and 1 touchdown on 14 carries.  This was a huge win for the Saints and probably the most important win in franchise history.  Now they have to worry about Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, who they will square off against in the Super Bowl on February 7th in Miami.