Saints Announce First Round of Roster Cuts

Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis announced on Monday that the team has made the following cuts in order to meet the league maximum of 75 players on their active roster: WR Todd Blythe, S Curome Cox, FB Kevin Dudley, C Rob Hunt, and P Waylon Prather.

Blythe was an undrafted free agent from Iowa State. He played in two games this preseason, catching one pass for 11 yards.

Cox was signed as a free agent during training camp. With four years in the league, Cox played in the first preseason game, making one tackle and suffering a groin injury that kept him out of the last two games.

Dudley has been a part of the last two training camps and was on the practice squad last year. He played for the University of Michigan and caught one pass for a touchdown in the preseason. Dudley sprained his left ankle during the Cincinnati game.

Former New Orleans VooDoo player Hunt was in one preseason game this year.

Prather was an undrafted free agent from San Jose State University and played in all three preseason games. He averaged 53 yards on three punts, the longest was 60 yards.

The deadline for the next 22 cuts is 3 p.m. central time on Saturday.

Saints Show Balance on Offense and Defense with a 13-0 Shutout

After a dismal showing last week against the Houston Texans, the New Orleans Saints defense finally stepped up and played well shutting out the Bengals. The Bengals had 11 offensive series, with 10 ending in punts, and one with a turnover by interception. The Saints also only allowed the Bengals to cross mid field once while stopping Cincinnati on all but four of their third down conversions. (4-of-14-29%) and limited the home team to only 165 yards total offense.

As usual, the Saints first team offense minus Jeremy Shockey who was suppose to play his first game as a Saints tonight drove down the field on their first possession, settling for a field goal, after a third down and 10 pass to Colston in the end zone was dropped.

The Saints second possession of the night resulted in a one yard touchdown pass by Drew Brees to Ronnie Ghent, to put the Saints up 10-0 with 6:03 left in the first quarter.

The third possession was stopped short by two incomplete passes, and poor running. The Saints were forced to punt for the first time, but managed to eat up time off the clock, and allowing the defense to get sufficient rest.

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Defense the Story as Saints Shutout Bengals 13-0

After last week’s poor performance by the Saints’ defense, the team gave its fans reason to hope by holding the Bengals to only 165 yards, 0 touchdowns, 4 sacks, one interception, and one forced fumble. The tradeoff for the team may be the injuries suffered by two major parts of the offense: Marques Colston who was injured in the first half with bruised ribs and Reggie Bush who left with a bruised thigh.

Perhaps the most symbolic of the defense’s efforts was the bloodied nose of Cincinnati’s QB Carson Palmer at the end of the second quarter when he was sacked by safety Kevin Kaesviharn. The Bengals offensive line gave up only 17 sacks last year but the Saints were able to get three in the first half alone.

The starting defense created pressure that made it difficult for Cincinnati to get anything going. The Bengals were only able to get 94 yards in the first half, four first downs, and crossed into Saint’s territory once. CBs Mike McKenzie and Tracy Porter were effective, limiting Carson Palmer’s options. McKenzie, who had just come back from a torn ACL, almost intercepted a pass on the Bengal’s first drive but the ball touched the ground. Porter forced a fumble on the Bengals’ first possession that was recovered by Cincinnati but set the tone for the rest of the night. Newly-acquired DE Bobby McCray and Kaesviharn each had 1.5 sacks.

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Saints fall to Texans 31-27

First of all I would like to apologize to everyone for writing this article so late. Because I live in Dallas, I was not able to find a place to see the game. Luckily NFL network replayed the game so I was able to watch it later. The Texans traveled to New Orleans to play game 2 of the preseason as well as earlier in the week to practice with the Saints. The Texans pulled out a victory in what some would consider a slugfest. In fact, neither defense seemed to play exceedingly well.

The game was mostly an offensive highlight show in the first half. The second half had some exciting points as well, but the starting offenses were both great. Honestly, the Saints’ defense may have actually been worse than the Texans’ offense was good. As expected, the Saints offense was good. More accurately, New Orleans’ starting offense has scored on 5 out of 6 drives so far this preseason.

Most of the focus from the home crowd was on the defense; specifically on Jason David. As deserved, Jason heard boos on several occasions; including three times in a row at one point. He seemed to be lost at times and Matt Schaub took advantage of his poor technique. Schaub finished 14 for 16 with 187 yards and 2 touchdowns. My father said “our secondary made Schaub look like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning”. I could not agree more, the Saints defense has to step up and play better.

I will try to run down the highlights and scores for each quarter. In the first quarter the Saints scored first after a bobbled punt, but the Texans scored the first TD, with a pass from Schaub to Kevin Walter for 26 yards. The second quarter was highlighted by another Schaub TD pass as well as a couple spectacular plays from the Saints. One of the great plays was a swing pass caught by Reggie Bush who hurdled a defender to get into the endzone. The other play was an amazing one-handed catch by Marquis Colston on a fade route. The third quarter had two one yard TDs, one from each team. The fourth quarter was highlighted by a 10 yard TD run from the Texans’ Steve Slaton, who had a great game.

Overall, I was impressed by both starting offenses. The Saints’ secondary did not play great but the front seven seemed to play well. I was impressed with the Saints running game more so than game one. Deuce McAllister looked very good in his limited duty; he seemed to hit holes and make decisive cuts. Kevin Walter looked great for the Texans and Lance Moore kept his name in the hat for keeping a spot on the Saints roster. Both teams looked good in certain areas, but show that they still have room to improve.

Saints Sign Schulters

The Associated Press reports that on Monday, the New Orleans Saints signed safety Lance Schulters; Schulters joined the team on Monday, making New Orleans his most recent stop that also include previous stints with the San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins.  According to Saints head coach Sean Payton, Schulters could play either strong safety or free safety, adding,

“He’s a guy we feel like understands the position well.  He’s got good ball skills so we’re bringing him in not just for a camp body.  I’m anxious to see him play and see what he’s got and to see if there’s a fit for us.  “He gives us some experience and some versatility.  That’s really the first thing we saw and he’s in pretty good shape.”

Schulters was one of several players who had worked out for the Saints; however, Schulters was the only player of the group who was signed by the team and Payton says that no other signings appear to be happening any time soon.  To make room for Schulters, the Saints released long snapper Ryan Senser.

Romo or Brees - Who is the best QB in the NFC?

The AFC has Tom Brady and Peyton Manning; both are elite QB’s that can lead their teams to victory. Both are Super Bowl MVP’s and both will one day be inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.

The NFC however has two great QB’s, but it would be hard to place them in the elite column. Tony Romo, and Drew Brees are great in the same respect, that both are the leaders behind two of the NFL’s most high powered offenses. They both have their go to guy with Romo and T.O., and Brees with Colston, but neither has made it to a Super Bowl.

Both Romo and Brees play the position with different styles, Romo is an add lib guy, with Brees using a more strategic approach to the game. Brees is married, and is more settled. Brees spends his off season doing charity work, and promoting his Drew Brees Foundation. Romo is single, and likes dating the next best thing. He does charity work, but more than often can be found doing red carpet premiers.

Now what a person does in his down time does not mean he will be better or worse at the sport he plays. It is just odd how they can be total opposites in personalities, but be two of the best QB’s in the game today.

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Saints: Best Depth in NFL

From what I have seen so far this year the Saints have the deepest roster in the NFL. For non Saints fans this may seem like blasphemy but hear me out. I literally looked at the depth chart for an hour yesterday and at several positions had no clue who the team would want to cut. There is not a position on the field that they can lose a starter in and be out of playoff contention.

You can argue the QB position but that goes for any team. Even Mark Brunell is better than lots if not most backups in this league. The Saints main focus this year has been heavy competition at every position which increases the level of play. Even with 9 projected starters held out of the first pre-season game you could still see how solid and crisp the play was from 3rd and 4th string players in a 24-10 win.

I will start with defense and then work my way over to offense specifically the WR position. The Saints have all of the starters on the defensive side off the ball back this year. That is a huge statement considering four of them are projected to NOT be starting this year. New Orleans may not have the very best starters at every position but do not have a significant drop off at any position either.

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Defensive Tackle Thomas Out for Up to 2 Months

Defensive Tackle Hollis Thomas tore his right triceps on Wednesday during pass rushing drills and will miss up to two months. Thomas had an MRI that afternoon and underwent surgery Thursday morning. The Saints may end up putting Thomas on injured reserve but the Times-Picayune speculated that the injury could possibly be career-ending after 13 years in the league.

The loss of the 34 year-old leaves the Saints with veterans Kendrick Clancy, Antwan Lake, Brian Young, Orien Harris and rookie Sedrick Ellis at the position. The Saints website quotes fellow tackle Brian Young as saying “These things happen, though, and while it’s hard to see a teammate and someone as likable as Hollis get hurt, we know we have the talent to keep going. We have some really good depth at the position and a good mix of older players and younger players and I think we’ll be okay.”

Former Saint Joe Horn Wants to Leave Falcons

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, former Saints receiver Joe Horn wants to be traded or cut so desperately that he is willing to give up money guaranteed to him this season if it will help him to move on. Horn feels that the Falcons are emphasizing the use of younger players and that the Falcons were keeping him only as a reserve. Horn is guaranteed a total of $7.5 million this season and would still be owed $2.5 million if the Falcons cut him.

Horn has practiced little this preseason and did not play against the Jaguars last Saturday. He has a hamstring injury which he said was not serious and he has been put on running an agility drills rather than being a part of practice even though he has said that he was ready.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has said that they don’t discuss the particulars of players under contract and has declined to address Horn’s medical situation.

Saints Look To Improve In Next Preseason Game

The New Orleans Saints showed that there is no question in how great their offense still is and will become in 2008. Even without Deuce, Shockey, and Colston playing last week. The Saints marched down the field for 80 yards and a touchdown on their opening drive.

The defense held their own, but still showed they are in need of improvement if they want to make a Super Bowl run this year. Vilma and McKenzie were missing last week, and it may be later in the month before they get onto the field. Even with the two high profile players out, the Saints defense will have to improve on unit cohesion, in the coming weeks.

A few things to look for when the Saints host the Texans this weekend will be if Meachem can duplicate his 4 catch 129 yard 1 TD game against the Cardinals. If he can, teams are going to be in trouble if they have to prepare for Colston, Shockey, Bush, Meachem and McAllister being on the field at the same time.

The battle is wide open still for the CB2 position; anyone can still make some plays and establish themselves as the weak side corner. Look for Usama Young, and second round draft pick Porter to step up their game.

Mark Simoneau is not going to give up his spot without a fight, but if Vilma is healthy he will not have a choice.

Most teams do not show allot in preseason, but Gary Gibbs is going to have to show something, if he wants teams to take notice of the newly overhauled defense. Or that may be his plan, to make teams think they are not better, and then surprise them come regular season. Of coarse that last part is just wishful thinking.