Anyone else having Reggie Bush/New Orleans Saints withdrawls? We are! Hurry up 2009 season!
Sometimes criticized for a lack of patience as a play-caller, Sean Payton intends to take a far more methodical approach to the offseason.
After emerging from an exit meeting with his team on Monday, Payton pointedly refused to discuss possible changes on his coaching staff or roster that could help return the explosive but inconsistent New Orleans Saints to playoff form.
The day after the season ends, we’re not answering those questions,” Payton said. “It’s unfair to point out specific players or coaches.”
Several teams around the NFL made major changes immediately, including the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions, who were already looking for new head coaches when Payton met with reporters at the Saints’ suburban New Orleans headquarters.
Payton said he was in no hurry to orchestrate a shake-up to pacify his or his team’s critics.
“This is an important part of the year because this is where a mistake made can set you back or the right decision can set you forward, so we take it very seriously,” he said.
The Saints have failed to make the playoffs for two straight seasons, languishing in mediocrity with records of 7-9 in 2007 and 8-8 in 2008. Yet they have been competitive enough since Payton took over in 2006 that they shouldn’t require a major overhaul. Some aspects of New Orleans’ latest campaign were extraordinary. They accomplished things their fans had never seen in the franchise’s 42 seasons.
New Orleans set single-season franchise records for scoring (461) and yards (6,571), leading the NFL in both categories. Drew Brees came within 16 yards passing of breaking Dan Marino’s 1984 single-season record of 5,084 and only the second quarterback ever to eclipse 5,000 yards.
That the Saints could be so prolific even while Reggie Bush, Jeremy Shockey and Marques Colston all missed no fewer than four games each with injuries should be a scary thought to defensive coordinators who have to face New Orleans next season.
Shockey said his season was a disappointment and that he would participate in the Saints’ offseason program in New Orleans rather than working out on his own, something he never did with the New York Giants.
“I was planning on being on a team going deep in the playoffs and putting up a lot more numbers than I have individually,” said Shockey, who had 50 catches for 483 yards and no touchdowns. “Next year, I’m excited about helping this team win, excited about getting healthy and actually showing the fans and teammates how effective I can be when I’m 100 percent.”
If the Saints had a shortcoming on offense, it was the running game, which ranked 28th in the league. It was a liability in several close losses that came down to untimely failures in short-yardage situations. While the Louisiana Superdome crowd often urged Payton to run Deuce McAllister, the coach resisted at times, saying McAllister’s knees were bothering him more than McAllister himself was willing to let on. By contrast, the coach routinely touted the emergence of second-year running back Pierre Thomas, who ended up leading the team in rushing (625 yards), flourished on screen passes and finished with 12 touchdowns.
Lacking his old speed, McAllister’s longest gain was 20 yards on a swing pass. But his vision and power remained evident as he averaged about 4 yards per carry. Although Payton said it was premature to say whether the Saints will try to keep McAllister next season, the popular running back has acknowledged he may not be back.
“I haven’t played as much as I wanted to,” said McAllister, who would be due about $7.2 million next season if the Saints didn’t release him or restructure his contract. “I want to be a part of this team. I want to be a part that is able to play and contribute.”
McAllister said it would mean “a lot to be able to finish here in New Orleans … but at the end of the day, obviously, economics will come into play.”
On defense, the Saints ranked in the bottom third of the league in yards allowed per game (339.5) and points allowed per game (24.6). They were beset by injuries to key players, including starting cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Mike McKenzie and defensive end Charles Grant.
Still, Jonathan Vilma improved the play of the linebacker corps. His 132 combined tackles and assisted tackles ranked ninth in the NFL. He also had a sack and an interception. Meanwhile, rookie defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis improved the interior defensive line.
Payton said it’s obvious the defense needs to improve, but he defended defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs, who has been with the Saints since Payton took over three seasons ago.
Gibbs and fellow defensive assistants have “done a real good job of fighting through the injuries and some of the adversity they’ve had and when you lose your two starting corners, you lose a starting defensive end in Charles Grant, Sedrick Ellis is out for four weeks,” Payton said. “You go on and on. That’s the hand we were dealt.”
The Saints could certainly use the addition of a high-profile free-agent in the defensive backfield, but they also have to worry about retaining some of their own players who had strong seasons.
Vilma will be a free agent, but he has said he’d prefer to return to New Orleans. On offense, right tackle Jon Stinchcomb will be a free agent, while guard Jahri Evans and receiver Lance Moore will be restricted free agents.
Thomas, initially signed as an undrafted free agent, is under contract for another season, but the Saints may want to sign him to a more lucrative extension, given he was the team’s top rusher.
“It would be easy to say with where we finished offensively we’re going to point to defense,” Payton said. “Some of that might be true, but nonetheless we have to pay close attention to our own players offensively that are free agents right now. There are a few of them that were big contributors to what we did this year.”
Update: Bush said the microfracture procedure performed on his left knee was not as serious as previously reported and that he expects to be able to fully participate in the team’s offseason training program in March, the Times-Picayune reports.
Recommendation: Bush said the surgical procedure on his knee was more of a “clean-up” procedure to smooth out some cartilage. Although some microfracture techniques were used, it wasn’t a full-blown microfracture surgery, which is typically used to cure exposed bone. Bush said there was no exposed bone in his knee. Bush added that he feels “right on track” and is already off crutches and working out. It sounds like this injury is unlikely to affect Bush’s availability for the 2009 season, but Bush’s durability is in serious question after he missed 10 of the Saints’ past 20 games and had four surgeries on his left knee dating back to December 2007.
Update: Bush had a microfracture procedure performed on his left knee during surgery in December, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. “I wouldn’t want to call it minor, because he’s got a pretty significant period of rehab time, ” GM Mickey Loomis said. “But at the end of it, he shouldn’t have any issues.”
Recommendation: The surgery was first reported as just an arthroscopic procedure, but this report makes his knee injury sound much more serious. While the surgery may be minor, microfracture surgery is much more of a wild card in determining when a player can return from a knee injury. Watch his progress this spring.
Sorry. False alarm. Thought we had a nice picture of Reggie Bush but we got this instead. We apologize. The jersey really threw us off 
Sean Payton rarely shies away from risks — and desperate times only seem to embolden him.
The Saints’ coach decided against a short, game-tying field goal attempt on fourth-and-1 with under seven minutes left in a crucial divisional game against Atlanta, opting instead to give fullback Mike Karney his only carry of the game.
Karney powered ahead for the first down, Pierre Thomas scored on the next play, and the Saints preserved their slim playoff hopes with a 29-25 victory on Sunday.
“I felt like we were going to need more than just a field goal,” Payton said. “It was really an opportunity to put it on the guys up front to get a little less than a yard. Mike Karney did a good job; he got a lot of push inside.”
The Saints have struggled in short-yardage situations all season and were 0-3 on third-and-1 before Karney pushed the pile.
“We need to continue to work on that down-and-distance and be a little bit more consistent there,” Payton said, “but at least we were able to get it.”
Thomas rushed for 102 yards and scored two touchdowns, the first on a 7-yard screen pass early in the fourth quarter.
He powered in for the winning touchdown on a 5-yard toss sweep, bouncing over offensive lineman Carl Nicks as he stretched for the goal line. Thomas, who New Orleans signed as an undrafted rookie last season, also set up that last score with an 88-yard kickoff return after Matt Ryan’s 12-yard scramble had given the Falcons a 25-22 lead with 7:51 to go.
“He’s a great young talent. He comes up big for us when need be,” Karney said. “He had to earn his way and get a feel for what’s going on. He’s done that and the coaches are going to him.”
Reggie Bush added 80 yards rushing, including a career-long 43-yard run that set up his 5-yard touchdown catch.
Drew Brees was 18-of-32 for 230 yards and two TDs in one of the most balanced performances this season by New Orleans’ normally pass-heavy offense. The Saints (7-6) finished with a season-high 184 yards rushing.
The Saints rushed 18 times for only 44 yards in a 23-20 loss at Tampa Bay a week earlier. Payton pledged more balance against NFC South rival Atlanta (8-5).
Ryan was 24-of-33 for 315 yards, one touchdown and an interception by Jason David, whose 23-yard return to midfield led to Bush’s TD in the first quarter.
Ryan connected 10 times with Roddy White, who finished with a career-high 164 yards receiving, including a 59-yard catch in the second quarter that set up Michael Turner’s 5-yard touchdown run.
However, Atlanta coach Mike Smith made a conservative decision to punt on fourth-and-5 from the Atlanta 35 with two timeouts and 3:23 left. It backfired when Thomas rushed for two first downs and New Orleans ran out the clock.
“You got to believe that you can get a stop, especially with that much time left,” Smith said. “There was no question in my mind that the right thing to do was go ahead and punt it and put the defense back out there on the field and get a stop. And we weren’t able to do it.”
The Saints’ defense, bolstered by a court ruling allowing end Will Smith to play, limited Turner to 61 yards on 18 carries and held Atlanta to 99 yards rushing as a team.
Friday’s ruling also allowed Saints running back Deuce McAllister to suit up. The players, and Minnesota defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams, had been suspended for the final four regular-season games for violating the NFL’s anti-doping policy. The NFLPA sued, however, and a judge temporarily blocked the suspensions while the case proceeds.
Smith was in on six tackles, including one for a 5-yard loss. McAllister entered the game in the second quarter on third-and-1, drawing cheers from the crowd. He was stopped for no gain, leading to Garrett Hartley’s 26-yard field goal for a brief 10-0 lead before Turner’s TD.
Hartley later added a 46-yarder, but Atlanta responded with a 77-yard drive and took a 14-13 lead when Ryan completed a 2-yard pass that Brian Finneran caught acrobatically along the sideline. Payton compounded the damage for New Orleans with a failed challenge, which left the Saints with no timeouts for the final 2:13 of the half.
New Orleans drove to Atlanta’s 7, but had to settle for Hartley’s 25-yard field goal for a 16-14 lead at the half.
Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton pounded his fist into the Louisiana Superdome turf after Pierre Thomas bowled over him for a first down.
The game-sealing carry provided the perfect punctuation for the Saints’ undrafted, second-year running back following the most important performance of his young career.
Thomas rushed for 102 yards and scored two touchdowns, helping New Orleans keep alive slim playoff hopes with a 29-25 victory over division rival Atlanta on Sunday.
“He’s a great young talent. He comes up big for us when need be,” Saints fullback Mike Karney said. “He had to earn his way and get a feel for what’s going on. He’s done that and the coaches are going to him.”
Thomas scored his first touchdown on a 7-yard screen early in the fourth quarter. He powered in for the winning touchdown on a 5-yard toss sweep, bouncing over offensive lineman Carl Nicks as he stretched for the goal line. Thomas also set up that last score with an 88-yard kickoff return after Matt Ryan’s 12-yard scramble had given the Falcons a 25-22 lead with 7:51 to go.
New Orleans needed a clutch carry from Karney on that drive as well. Saints coach Sean Payton decided against trying a tying field goal on fourth-and-1 from the 7. The 5-foot-11, 255-pound Karney pushed the line of scrimmage for 2 yards.
“The line did a great job up front and I was able to ride the wave and get that yard,” Karney said.
Reggie Bush added 80 yards rushing, including a career-long 43-yard run that set up his 5-yard touchdown catch.
Drew Brees was 18-of-32 for 230 yards and two TDs in one of the most balanced performances this season by New Orleans’ normally pass-heavy offense. The Saints (7-6) finished with a season-high 184 yards rushing.
The Saints rushed 18 times for only 44 yards in a 23-20 loss at Tampa Bay a week earlier. Payton pledged more balance against Atlanta (8-5).
“We wanted to make that a point, that we could run the ball on these guys,” Thomas said. “(Payton) had faith in us to run the ball hard. We took it to ‘em.”
Late last season, Thomas made his first start in his hometown of Chicago (where New Orleans also plays on Thursday) and became the only Saint to eclipse 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game. That was in a loss that formally eliminated New Orleans from the playoffs.
Thomas didn’t rush for 100 yards again until Sunday’s win.
Ryan was 24-for-33 for 315 yards, one touchdown and an interception by Jason David, whose 23-yard return to midfield led to Bush’s TD in the first quarter.
“I can’t make those kind of mistakes when we’re moving the ball and about to score points,” Ryan said. “Obviously we’re frustrated with the outcome. But this team hasn’t given up all year. … We still have everything that we want in front of us. We’re capable of getting into the playoffs.”
Ryan connected 10 times with Roddy White, who finished with a career-high 164 yards receiving, including a 59-yard catch in the second quarter that set up Michael Turner’s 5-yard touchdown run.
The Saints’ defense, bolstered by a court ruling allowing end Will Smith to play, limited Turner to 61 yards on 18 carries and held Atlanta to 99 yards rushing as a team.
riday’s ruling also allowed Saints running back Deuce McAllister to suit up. The players, and Minnesota defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams, had been suspended for the final four regular-season games for violating the NFL’s anti-doping policy. The NFLPA sued, however, and a judge temporarily blocked the suspensions while the case proceeds.
Smith was in on six tackles, including one for a 5-yard loss. McAllister entered the game in the second quarter on third-and-1, drawing cheers from the crowd. He was stopped for no gain, leading to Garrett Hartley’s 26-yard field goal for a brief 10-0 lead before Turner’s TD.
Hartley later added a 46-yarder, but Atlanta responded with a 77-yard drive for a 14-13 lead. Ryan completed five passes for 64 yards, the last a 2-yard pass that Brian Finneran caught acrobatically along the sideline. Payton compounded the damage for New Orleans with a failed challenge, which left the Saints with no timeouts for the final 2:13 of the half.
New Orleans drove to Atlanta’s 7, but had to settle for Hartley’s 25-yard field goal for a 16-14 lead as the half ended.
Okay folks, so what would you like to see here on YOUR Reggie Bush fan club site? This is the site for YOU the fans. What would you like to see? More pictures? More articles? Some more in depth coverage of the man Reggie Bush? Saints news? Let us know by commenting to this post, letting us know what YOU the fan would like to see. Thanks for continuing here at www.clubbush.com !
No. 1 vs. No. 32 sounds like the biggest mismatch of the day.
The offense that’s gobbled up the most yardage in the NFL this season will face off against the defense that’s given up the most.
In this corner are the New Orleans Saints (4-5), with Drew Brees on pace to smash Dan Marino’s NFL record of 5,084 yards passing.
In the other corner, on wobbly legs, stand the injury-wrecked Kansas City Chiefs (1-8). Their defense, which could have four starters out and maybe more, has been allowing 406.2 yards. The Saints have been averaging 416.2.
So what exactly is the Saints’ team record for most points in a game? Fifty-one, against St. Louis in 1976. And the Chiefs record for most points given up? Fifty-one, to Seattle in 1983.
Might history be made? The KC defense, when it was a lot healthier than it is now, already gave up Tennessee’s biggest lead overcome (21 points) and Tampa Bay’s most yards rushing (352).
So why are the Saints favored by only 5 1/2 points? An 0-4 road record, for one thing.
For another, the Chiefs behind the emerging Tyler Thigpen at quarterback have not exactly been getting blown out the last three weeks. Losses to Tampa, San Diego and the New York Jets were by a combined eight points. In every instance, the energetic young Chiefs lost a second-half lead.
“They very well could have won these last three games, and when you flip on the film they don’t look like a 1-8 team,” said Brees, who is averaging more than 325 yards through the air.
“We know we have our work cut out for us playing at Arrowhead. When I played for the Chargers, they were an AFC opponent and we’d go there once a year and it was always an extremely difficult place to play.”
Late in the week, the Chiefs were expecting linebackers Derrick Johnson and Pat Thomas, defensive end Tamba Hali, and right guard Adrian Jones to be inactive.
Limited in practice and iffy at best were running back Jamaal Charles, cornerback Brandon Flowers and safety Jarrad Page.
But surprising everyone by the way he’s rebounded from a shoulder injury that shelved him the week before was defensive lineman Turk McBride.
“It’s like a family,” he said. “Someone goes down, you have to help the other in the family.”
Nevertheless, the Chiefs have made an incredible 34 player transactions the past three weeks, signing guys off the street, releasing others back onto the street, putting players on the practice squad, taking players off the practice squad. Players wound up taking part in last week’s 20-19 loss last week to San Diego who’d been in Kansas City only a few days.
“That’s what you’ve got distant cousins for,” said McBride.
The Saints, coming off a 34-20 loss at Atlanta, have injury problems of their own, also on defense. Defensive back Mike McKenzie went on injured reserve this week. But they hoped to have running back Reggie Bush back after a two-game absence with a knee injury. In spite of missing so much time, he’s third in the NFC with eight touchdowns.
All week long, the Saints were trying to piece together different game plans not knowing for sure whether the slippery 2005 Heisman winner would be on hand.
“We have to plan accordingly and put our base plan together,” coach Sean Payton said. “That’s really one in which it’s geared to him playing or not playing. We’ll be flexible enough and we have to be.”
A noted running back is also returning to the Chiefs. Larry Johnson, benched by the team for three games and suspended by the league for one, will no doubt have plenty of carries, especially if Charles is still hobbled by an ankle injury. But it’s a different offense from the one Kansas City was running a month ago. Thigpen, thrown into action when the top two quarterbacks went out with season-ending injuries, has thrown 124 passes the past three starts without an interception, though one was called back because of a penalty.
So the Chiefs have reconfigured their offense to suit the former third-team quarterback, using more shotgun formations and other things Johnson is not accustomed to.
“We have another weapon on offense. That helps the run game,” said Thigpen. “But the biggest thing, having Larry back that’s just one more thing the defense has to prepare for. Larry really has had a great attitude at work this week. You can see the team is excited to have him back.”
