Saints vs. Falcons

Well we are going against the dirty birds and I have a feeling they are going to kick our asses tomorrow. What do you think?

Saints vs. Chargers

What do we expect from the New Orleans Saints tonight? I can tell you that we are going to win this one and the couches are going to get in the players face when the players fuck up today. We all hope the team is ready and the couches do there job!

Suspended New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton, GM Mickey Loomis, LB coach Joe Vitt will attend Chargers game

Larry Holder, The Times-Picayune Published: Oct 3, 2012 6:49:44 PM

Drew Brees will apparently have some unexpected guests on Sunday night as suspended New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton, General Manager Mickey Loomis and linebackers coach Joe Vitt will be allowed to attend the Saints-Chargers game.

Brees asked for and received permission from the league, a source said and the NFL confirmed Wednesday night, for all three suspended Saints staffers to watch the game from inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome as Brees tries to pass Johnny Unitas for the most consecutive games with a touchdown pass.

Here's a statement from the NFL: "Drew Brees requested permission for Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, and Joe Vitt to attend Sunday night's game in which Drew will attempt to set the record of 48 straight games with a touchdown pass. Commissioner Goodell has granted that permission. Coaches Payton and Vitt and Mickey Loomis will be permitted to watch the game in a private area of the stadium and will have no contact with the team."

WVUE-TV first reported the story.

It's a stark contrast in what Payton said Tuesday about possibly attending the game.

"No, no," Payton said Tuesday morning when asked about his possible attendance. "I've kind of got a full plate here. A handful of people texted me that. Right now, I'll be able to watch it, and shoot, just being able to watch it on TV is no different than being there in person. It's just an honor to be connected to this."

Source: Sean Payton to attend Saints game

Jay Vise Reporting A league source tells WWL's Kristian Garic that suspended Saints Head Coach Sean Payton will attend this Sunday's home game against San Diego to witness the attempt by Drew Brees to break the 52-year-old Johnny Unitas passing record.

The source also says that suspended Assitant Coach Joe Vitt and General Manager Mickey Loomis will also be allowed to attend the game.

Sean Payton talks about New Orleans Saints slow start, possible interest in Cowboys job

Dallas - Shortly before taking the stage Tuesday, suspended New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton informed the man that would be interviewing him that no question was off limits. Payton was the featured guest at an SMU Athletic Forum event at the ritzy Hilton Anatole hotel near his home in North Texas.

Although Payton declined to be interviewed by the local media, he spoke for about 45 minutes, discussing several topics with Dallas Cowboys radio voice Brad Sham, before taking a few final questions from the several hundred in attendance.

Payton stayed true to his word, discussing what his season-long suspension has caused him to miss most, the Saints' 0-4 start and what he would say in the locker room before Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers.

But the loudest reaction from the Dallas crowd came after Payton responded to a question about coaching the Dallas Cowboys in the future. The former Cowboys assistant is good friends with several Cowboys players and current head coach Jason Garrett.

"I'd rather answer a bounty question," Payton responded.

After the crowd's laughter quieted, Payton added: "Right now my focus is on staying with New Orleans and really getting back on the sidelines."

In regards to his one-year suspension for his involvement in the alleged bounty scandal, Payton said it was a negative that has become "a blessing and a positive, in regards to my family." The increased family time has allowed him to be an offensive assistant on his son's sixth-grade football team and regularly attend his daughter's cheerleading events.

Payton said the inability to have contact with close friends has been the most difficult part.

When asked what has caused the Saints to go winless through the first month of the season, Payton talked about how a struggling run defense and an inability to run the football on offense makes the quarterback's job much more difficult.

"I thought Sunday against Green Bay, they played one of their better games of the year," Payton said. "Had they played that way earlier in the year, they probably would have won a couple more games."

He added: "I do think that they'll turn this thing around. I think they have the right people in that locker room and the right assistant coaches. Granted, it's a tough challenge, but I just know how that team is made up."

So, what would he say to the team before Sunday's game?

"It would be, 'We're home here, it's Sunday Night Football, it's national TV, and it's not we got to get a win, it's we're getting a win tonight and this is how we're going to do it,'" he said.

Missing from that speech would be anything about Drew Brees attempting to break Johnny Unitas' NFL record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass.

"He's going to get that," Payton said. "Finding a way for Drew to throw a touchdown pass is not difficult. I think more important is finding a way to get that first win."

Payton says Saints will ''turn this thing around"

Jay Vise Reporting Suspended Saints Head Coach Sean Payton today said that he thinks the struggling Black & Gold will make the changes needed to right the season.

"I do think that they'll turn this thing around, and I think that they've got the right people in that locker room, the right assistant coaches," Payton said.

Payton spoke at the Southern Methodist University Forum in Dallas.

Saints vs. Packers

What to expect today doing the Greenbay vs New Orleans games. New Orleans have had a rough 0-3 start and Greenbay is wanting a win after last weeks steal from the replacement refs. What will this game come down to for our Bless You Boys? We don't need any drops or interceptions, we should do better and play like we are a winning team. I still believe in our team and I think we have a 60% chance to win, I would say the score is going to be 36-30! What do you think?

Will the Saints and the Packers be 1-3 or will we be 0-4, let hope for the best!!

New Orleans Saints screen passes have been as inconsistent as the rest of their offense: First-and-10

Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune Published: Sep 28, 2012 5:59:55 AM

FIRST

Put the New Orleans Saints offense under a microscope, and you won't find any one glaring deficiency - just that almost every aspect is slightly off. I'll break down all of those areas in an extensive weekend column, but I decided to pay special attention in this week's First-and-10 to one play in particular - the screen pass.

The screen pass has become a fan favorite in New Orleans, and for good reason. The Saints have been one of the best in the NFL at running it with tailbacks like Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles in recent years. And every time it works, it looks so easy that it seems like the Saints should call it 10 or 15 times per game.

When it doesn't work, however, it looks like a disaster. And so far, like everything else with the offense, the screen pass has not consistently worked this year.

By unofficial count, the Saints have attempted 10 screen passes this season - including one that Thomas broke for 27 yards last week against Kansas City and one that Sproles took for 24 yards in Week 2 at Carolina. Two others have gained more than 10 yards.

However, the Saints have also had to abort three of those 10 screen attempts because defenses snuffed them out - one in each game.

Those are the plays when you see quarterback Drew Brees angrily throwing the ball into the turf at the feet of his tailback while a handful of pass rushers are swarming at him. And it's important to stress that those plays have nothing to do with the failure of the offensive line - even though it looks like Brees is being helplessly swallowed up. On screen passes, the linemen intentionally let the pass rushers fly past them, hoping to use their aggressiveness against them while they head up the field to block.

There are a number of reasons why the Saints haven't dialed them up as often - or as successfully - as usual.

For one, they work best against defenses who are attacking with aggressive pass rushes - something the Saints haven't seen an abundance of in 2012.

"We've been playing these two-gap teams where they read before they rush," Saints center Brian de la Puente said. "The down (linemen) can kill screens easy if they're not rushing. If they're just sitting at the line of scrimmage, it's hard for us to get out. And they see it developing."

More generally, though, defenses seem to be more on alert against screen passes. Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher and Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Ron Edwards both did an excellent job of recognizing screens in the first two weeks and essentially cut them off at the pass by getting in front of the tailback.

"The more you put on film, the more they're going to recognize it, for one," Saints guard Jahri Evans said. "When you're one of the good screen teams in the league, they're going to look for that. And any third-and-7 or longer, they're going to be yelling out, 'Screen' whether you're running it or not, just because they're conscious of it.

"And it's just one of those timing-type deals. You call it at the right time and it works, you catch 'em in the right defense and it works."

Like everything else in the Saints' offense, the screen pass probably will start working even better once they get into a better rhythm and tempo and start consistently cruising down the field with defenses on their heels.

For now, though, it's one of a dozen areas that hasn't quite hit on all cylinders yet.

... AND 10

1. FASCINATING JED COLLINS TIDBIT OF THE WEEK:

Fullback Jed Collins is the Saints' version of "The Most Interesting Man in the World." Over the last two weeks we learned about his impressive vertical leap and his prolific basketball background. And while researching his past, we also stumbled upon the fact that Collins officiated de la Puente's wedding to his wife Makenzie last year.

Collins only got his license for the one wedding - it's not something he plans to turn into a second career. The two Southern California natives have become close friends in recent years while bouncing around the NFL and following remarkably similar career paths. And de la Puente said he wanted to find a way to involve Collins in his wedding.

"He asked me to do it, and it's one of those once-in-a-lifetime things you never thought you'd get a chance to do. And I was honored, and it was a real neat life experience," said Collins, who said he and de la Puente have a lot in common both on and off the field. "We bounced around (the league) together. And we just have similar personalities. And our wives get along, which makes things a lot easier."

Both players entered the NFL as undrafted free agents in 2008 (Collins out of Washington State and de la Puente out of Cal). Collins made seven other stops before finding a permanent home with the Saints last year, and de la Puente made six other stops before doing the same. They were even teammates for one offseason in Kansas City in 2009.

"We became real good buddies in Kansas City, and we grew up playing each other in high school, so in the offseasons we'd work out together," de la Puente said. "Then the past couple years, we'd just kinda keep tabs on each other. 'Hey man, how's it going? It's good, I'm in Arizona.' Or, 'I'm in Seattle' or wherever. Then to end up down here together is just pretty cool."

2. TWEETS OF THE WEEK:

This was an epic week on Twitter, thanks in large part to the "simultaneous catch" on Monday Night Football. Among the most noteworthy reactions:

- "But me, @JonVilma51 & @iWillSmith are the problem? Seriously?" - @scottfujita99

- "Ironic that our league punishes those based on conduct detrimental. Whose CONDUCT is DETRIMENTAL now?" - @drewbrees

- "Hey NFL fans, welcome to the anti-Goodell bandwagon. We've saved plenty of room. Sincerely, New Orleans." - @Team_MOP

- "The funny thing is that everyone will hate the regular refs soon too." - @jmthegreat (Saints receiver Joe Morgan)

- "All @nfl fans watch the Ryder Cup this week, we got no refs. #USA" - @bubbawatson

- "The NHL can't catch a break. They don't even have the most (un)popular lockout." - @SportsLawGuy (Tulane sports law professor Gabe Feldman)

That wasn't Feldman's funniest tweet of the week. His best effort came when he compared the referees' uncertainty on the touchdown call to the classic "Naked Gun" scene where Leslie Nielsen impersonates an umpire, complete with the Enrico Palazzo reference and this YouTube link.

There were plenty of non-replacement-referee tweets worth re-posting this week, too, starting with Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma's shameless decision to tweet out the name, phone number and email address of the ESPN producer doing research on a Vilma "character study," as well as a photo copy of an email sent by ESPN to one of his former teammates":

- "The hell with it, no ESPN its not a secret can't wait to see the show ..." - @JonVilma51

And last but not least, some tweets that referenced the Saints' stunning 0-3 start:

- "They're waiting for Joe Vitt. Who has ever said 'I'm waiting for Joe Vitt'? ..." - @MrTonySays (an account dedicated to tweeting quotes from radio and TV host Tony Kornheiser)

- "Football coaches everywhere should send thank you notes to Sean Payton & Bobby Petrino for proving coaches are worth their money. #Saints." -@ESPNgreeny (radio host Mike Greenberg)

3. OPTIMISTIC QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"I think a win will cure a lot of illnesses here. We just gotta get the first one before we can get the next one. And what a better one to get than against Green Bay at Green Bay. That's a big swing." - Saints guard Jahri Evans

4. PESSIMISTIC QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"You can't set it up any better. If you want your offense to get better right now in this league, play the New Orleans Saints. (Their defense is ranked) 32 nd in the league. They're terrible." - Analyst Darren Woodson on ESPN Radio

5. REALISTIC QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"I wouldn't say it's 'the season,'" Saints linebacker Scott Shanle said when asked if Sunday's game at Green Bay is "the season." "But we're getting very, very close to that point. And the feeling among everyone in the locker room is that it's a must-win game."

6. TWISTED LOGIC OF THE WEEK:

Times-Picayune research assistant Gene Guillot noticed that despite the Saints' 0-3 start, they have scored the first touchdown in every one of their games thus year. He also recalled that during their 2009-2010 Super Bowl run, the Saints often did the exact opposite. Nine times that year - including all three of their postseason wins - the Saints' opponents scored the first touchdown:

- Super Bowl: First TD scored: Colts 10, Saints 0. Final: New Orleans 31-17. - NFC championship: First TD scored: Vikings 7, Saints 0. Final: New Orleans 31-28, OT. - Divisional playoffs: First TD scored: Cardinals 7, Saints 0. Final: New Orleans 45-14. - Week 13: First TD scored: Redskins 7, Saints 0. Final: New Orleans 33-30, OT. - Week 12: First TD scored: Patriots 7, Saints 3. Final: New Orleans 38-17. - Week 11: First TD scored: Buccaneers 7, Saints 0. Final: New Orleans 38-7. - Week 9: First TD scored: Panthers 7, Saints 0. Final: Saints 30-20. - Week 8: First TD scored: Falcons 7, Saints 0. Final: Saints 35-27. - Week 7: First TD scored: Dolphins 7, Saints 0. Final: Saints 46-34. So, Guillot suggested the Saints might give themselves a better chance of winning Sunday at Green Bay if they let the Packers score the first touchdown.

7. DISTURBING STATS OF THE WEEK:

- According to Saints researcher Lenny Vangilder, the 1,432 yards the Saints have allowed through the first three games are the third most in the NFL since 1951. The only two teams to allow more in that span were the 1978 Colts (1,452) and the 2006 Texans (1,451).

- ESPN.com's NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas noted a startling difference in the Saints' success on play-action passes from last year to this year. Brees has completed 9 of 23 play-action passes (a league-low 39.1 percent) for 83 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Last year, he completed a league-high 71.4 percent of his play-action passes (132 of 185) for a league-high 1,583 yards, with 14 touchdown passes and four interceptions.

- Yasinskas also noted that the Saints haven't generated much pass rush from their front four this year, but they've been even less effective when they blitz. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Saints have blitzed on 28 pass attempts and opponents have completed 22 of those passes (a league-high 78.6 percent) for three touchdowns with zero interceptions. The Saints have produced only two sacks on blitzes.

8. MUST-READS OF THE WEEK:

- Saints fans will certainly be receptive to Sporting News columnist David Steele's plea that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell must go.

- National Football Post columnist Dan Pompei polled some of the league's scouts to try and identify what's wrong with the Saints.

- The Saints' team website posted a feature on how new linebacker Curtis Lofton has quickly embraced the city of New Orleans.

9. UNIFORMITY:

The Saints will wear white jerseys and black pants for the first time this year on Sunday. According to our Saints uniform guru - WWLTV.com's Bradley Handwerger - the Saints went with black-on-black in their fourth game in 2007, which was the last time they were trying to snap out of an 0-3 start. Perhaps this combo will be more effective than that one since they fell to 0-4 that year.

10: FEARLESS PREDICTION FOR WEEK 4:

Big days for everyone in the Saints passing game. ... Although I'll stop short of predicting a Saints victory, I do believe they'll hold their own in a shootout with the Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Let's go with 100 receiving yards for Marques Colston and Jimmy Graham, plus 90 more for Lance Moore, while Brees has his best performance of the season to date.

A letter from Roger Goodell!!

To NFL Fans:

The National Football League is at its best when the focus is on the players and the action on the field, not on labor negotiations.

All of us who love the sport appreciate the skills and dedication of the players and coaches. That is why we are focused not just on what happens on the field but what our game will be like in another decade or two. The NFL has always tried to look ahead, to innovate, and to constantly improve in all we do.

We recognize that some decisions may be difficult to accept in the passion of the moment, but my most important responsibility is to improve the game for this generation and the next.

I believe in accountability, not excuses. And I regret we were not able to secure an agreement sooner in the process and avoid the unfortunate distractions to the game. You deserve better.

As a lifelong fan, this wasn't an easy process for anyone involved. I particularly want to commend the replacement officials for taking on an unenviable task and doing it with focus and dedication in the most adverse of circumstances.

Our new agreement gives long-term stability to an important aspect of our game, officiating. More important, with this agreement, officiating will be better in the long run. While the financial issues received the most attention, these negotiations were much more about long-term reforms. For example, beginning with the 2013 season, the NFL will have the option of hiring a number of officials on a full-time basis to work year-round, including on the field. In addition, the NFL will have the option to retain additional officials for training and development purposes, and may assign those additional officials to work NFL games.

We are moving forward with the finest officials in sports back on the field. It's time to put the focus where it belongs – on the clubs and players and our magnificent game, with a special thanks to our fans for their passion.

NFL Enterprises LLC - 345 Park Ave, New York, NY 10154

Deal ends lockout, brings real refs back!!

The National Football League's regular referees will return to the field Thursday night after reaching a tentative labor deal that kicked replacement officials to the curb, ending a major source of frustration and embarrassment for fans, players and the league.

"Never thought I would be excited for the refs to come back to work but it's about time," Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Cribbs tweeted Thursday. "It was definitely necessary!"

The eight-year-deal -- the longest ever for officials, according to the NFL -- gives the union referees a pay raise and keeps their pension program in place for five years.

It ends a lockout that began before the league's preseason, leading to a series of gaffes that climaxed in a furor over a botched call that allowed the Seattle Seahawks to walk away with a victory in Monday night's nationally televised game. The league acknowledged Tuesday that the Green Bay Packers should have won, but allowed the result of the game to stand.

Union members still must ratify the deal, but the league has lifted the lockout to allow crews to handle Thursday night's game featuring the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens, as well as Sunday's contests.

While they have not called a game since last season, the league's veteran crews will be ready to go, said retired official Mason "Red" Cashion.

"These guys have been working every week, really since May, to get ready for the season, through conference calls, through video, through meetings of their own," Cashion said. "And that's something that the officials have done simply because they have enough pride in what they do that they wanted to be ready. And they are ready."

The deal will last eight years and includes details about officials' pensions and retirement benefits and adds a pay bump from $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013. The pay will rise to $205,000 by 2019.

The agreement will also allow the NFL to hire some officials on a year-round basis and hire additional referees so they can be trained.

"This agreement supports long-term reforms that will make officiating better. The teams, players and fans want and deserve both consistency and quality in officiating," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.

The return of the league's regular referees won't put an end to controversial calls, said retired NFL player Tiki Barber. But it will raise the respect level between coaches and players and officials, Barber said.

"There's still going to be arguing with referees," he said. "They're still going to make bad calls. But now we're going to know that it's coming from a base of knowledge. These guys know what they're talking about and they're going to have an argument for why they do what they do on the field."

The deal came almost exactly 48 hours after the controversial ending of the Monday night game, which the Seahawks won 14-12 after replacement officials gave possession of a disputed ball, and a touchdown, to Seattle receiver Golden Tate.

In what became a widely mocked symbol of the quality of officiating by the replacements, a photo from that game shows two officials in the end zone displaying competing signals: one indicating a touchdown, the other an interception.

While neither the league nor officials have said so, the outcry that followed the game clearly had a lot to do with the quick resolution of the lockout after weeks of unproductive negotiations, Barber said Tuesday on CNN's "Starting Point."

"So it resonated in people's minds in a much greater way that I think the league anticipated and the owners, who are businessmen themselves and probably saw some kind of hit happening to their business, had to act," he said.

Much as it was after the Monday game, Twitter was buzzing with discussion of the deal. For a while, in the early morning hours, the name of one of the NFL's more iconic officials, the heavily-muscled Ed Hochuli, was one of the most-discussed topics among Twitter users in the United States.

"I've never been more excited to see another man's biceps than this Sunday to see Ed Hochuli back officiating," a Twitter user named Robby Donoho wrote. "It's. About. Time."

Roger Goodell should resign or be fired!!

OK, Roger Goodell, you got what you wanted. You hurt the fans by defaming our players, taking our coaches out of the game and totally disrupting a well-oiled machine. The New Orleans Saints are 0-3. It looks like we will all be watching the playoffs instead of playing in the post season. The sacred NFL stat that the home team has never played in the Super Bowl is safe for another year. Now, can we have our coaches back? Goodell is ruining the NFL brand. What was once a proud product is now a hollow shell of its former self. First he doled out unprecedented bounty punishments without demonstrated evidence. After learning that bounty programs have existed for years in the NFL, Goodell punished the Saints. Why solely the Saints? Wouldn't it have been equitable to punish all the teams that were guilty of similar transgressions? And now Goodell watches and does nothing about the debacle called the replacement refs as the game spirals downward. Each week the evidence is mounting that the NFL should settle and get the professional referees back. The voices of fans and pundits alike agree that the game is out of control. But it is with the same stubborn arrogance that Goodell punished only one bounty team that he sits idly by and does nothing about a game in trouble. He needs to resign, or the NFL owners need to fire him.


Roger Bandera
New Orleans

New Orleans Saints fall to Chiefs!

The New Orleans Saints fall to 0-3 start!!
                    Saints    Chiefs
1st Quarter     7            3
2nd Quarter   10          6
3rd Quarter   24         13
4th Quarter   24         24
Overtime      24         27

The New Orleans Saint have had a pretty bad start of the 2012-13 football season. I hope, just like most of the fans, they get it together and the couches need to do a better job or find someone else that wants the job. But I have notice that some of our players that always catches the ball with no problem have been having a lot of drops this season. Someone told me they are doing it on purposed and this is something I refuse to believe, I just think they are heating and want us to have a losing season. But nonetheless I thought the Saints would come out kicking ass like usual and show Goodell that we can do it, but they are now making it look like we can not win without cheating, we all know that is not the case seriously this is the time to for them to kick ass and show the world we are a winning team and we can not be stopped!!!!



I would like to know what is Sean Payton is thinking right about now!!