2007 New Orleans Saints

[thatwizardguy]

Yep another one, and as a promise, my last one until after the draft... let me clarify, Im still doing the Chiefs one, but Im just wanting to go beast mode with drew brees, didnt want to sign him to the chiefs or play as the defending champs so it's back to a 2007 franchise lol.

[thatwizardguy]

TO EDIT

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

It was over when ...
Buccaneers place kicker Matt Bryant attempted a 31 yard field goal with 2:20 left in overtime, the kick was good giving the Buccaneers a 38-35 win. They had a blocked field goal earlier in overtime and came back from double digit deficits at different periods of the game.

Game ball
Buccaneers Quarterback Jeff Garcia constantly torched the Saints secondary all day, the Saints eventually substituted Jason David for Jabari Greer, but it was all too late as Garcia threw 35 times for 489 yards, 5 touchdowns and just three interceptions. David Boston came close in second place with 7 receptions for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns, one that went 86 yards.

Key stat
The Saints turned the ball over just once, the Buccaneers turned the ball over five times, the Saints pass defense was putrid all game until they made adjustments, and that was all too late as Jeff Garcia had got into sync with his receivers, especially Maurice Stovall who recorded 3 receptions for 166 yards.

Noteworthy
Saints RB Reggie Bush returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for the score, then in the next possession ran in a 63 yard touchdown run to put the Saints up 14-0, Bush finished carrying the ball 19 times for 139 yards... Buccaneers RB Cadillac Williams ran the ball 26 times for 131 yards... The Saints had an early 21-7 lead in the first quarter but the Buccaneers were the team who finished strong scoring 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter before kicking the game winning field goal late into overtime to send the Saints to 0-2.

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

It was over when ...
Trailing 17-0 at halftime, and Kerry Collins in for the injured Vince Young, with 10:13 left on the Titans first drive of the second half, Collins threw a interception to Brian Simmons who returned it 37 yards for a score to put the Saints up 24-0, on the next possession, Collins repeated his mistake to Jabari Greer who made the score 31-0 and definitely out of reach.

Game ball
Jabari Greer recorded 3 tackles, but much more importantly was the ballhawk of the Saints defense last night, he picked off Kerry Collins in the endzone and then a few series later returned a interception back for a touchdown, the Saints inserted Greer into the starting lineup a few days before the Monday night clash, and by the looks of it, will remain as starter for the rest of the season and more of his career.

Key stat
The Titans commited 5 turnovers and the Saints just one. The Saints have the most interceptions in the league currently and showed it why, they restricted the Titans offense to just 222 total yards and allowed just 153 passing yards all night, the defense rebounded from a poor display against the Buccaneers.

Noteworthy
Drew Brees had a perfect game recording a perfect 158.3 rating, the Titans couldn't stop him as Brees completed 14 of 15 passes for 209 yards and 3 touchdowns, all three touchdowns went to Marques Colston, who recorded 6 receptions for 50 yards.

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

It was over when...
With 56 seconds remaining left in the game and trailing by six, the Panthers on 4th and 2 decided to run the football but were stopped inches short of the first down, the turnover on downs gave the Saint’s back the ball who kneeled out the win.

Game ball
Drew Brees was really on fire tonight, the Panthers had no answer for Brees as he seamlessly threaded the ball in between double coverage for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns, he completed 19 of his 27 passes and acquired a 131.2 rating, he did leave the games at intervals when he suffered bruised elbows, he will start against the Seahawks next Sunday night.

Key stat
The Saints didn’t turn the ball over, Roman Harper caused the two turnovers on the Panthers offense and the Panthers just couldn’t get going in the final two quarters where they scored just 6 points after scoring 14 points in the second half. The Saints defense definitely toughened up and looks like a top 10 defense this year.

Noteworthy
DeAngelo Williams was effective for the Carolina Panthers carrying the football 14 times for 72 yards, the averaged 5.1 yards per carry but didn’t get enough carries to drastically change the impact of the game.

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

Signed rookie quarterback Kevin Kolb to a 2 year deal worth $1.94m.

[thatwizardguy]

It was over when...
The Seattle Seahawks recovered the onside kick with 1:45 left in the game, the Saints with 30 seconds left forced them to a 3rd and 3 but couldn't stop Shaun Alexander from ploughing over the downs marker to run the clock out for the Seattle Seahawks, giving them a 23-22 win and a 5-1 record to start the season. The Seahawks scored a late controversial 60 yard touchdown to Bobby Ingram who should of been ruled out 5 yards after the 6 yard reception as his foot went out of bounds, but out of challenges the Saints could do nothing.

Game ball
Shaun Alexander carried the ball 17 times for 134 yards, he ran in a 88 yard touchdown to put the Seahawks back in contention with 4:27 after trailing 10-0 for most of the first half.

Key stat
The Saints defense couldn't get the Seahawks offense off of the field, the Seahawks converted 4 of 9 on third downs whilst the Saints converted 8 of 17, both offenses were in-form tonight but the Seahawks defense was better when it mattered most.

Noteworthy
Reggie Bush ran the ball 17 times for 73 yards, caught 6 receptions for 97 yards, one that went 58 yards, returned 5 kickoffs for an average of 20.1 and returned 2 punts for a 9.0 average for 289 total yards, Drew Brees still hasn't thrown an interception yet and threw for 386 yards, Matt Hasselbeck threw 2 touchdowns for a 121.0 rating.

[thatwizardguy]

[rise]

*cough*thierry*cough*

[thatwizardguy]

It was over when...
Up 10-0, with 7:43 left in the second quarter and on 3rd and 23, Drew Brees rolled out of pocket and tosssed a 30 yard touchdown pass to Marques Colston, who out jumped DeAngelo Hall in the endzone for a thrilling touchdown catch to put the Saints up 17-0.

Game ball
It can be shared by Drew Brees and the Saints defense. Drew Brees completed 35 of his 48 throws for 512 yards, 4 touchdowns and a interception for a 126.3 quarterback rating, Brees becomes the first quarterback to throw back to back 500 yards in a game in consecutive seasons, Brees torched the Bengals defense for 510 yards last season but outdid it by two more yards today against the Atlanta Falcons... The Saints defense completley shut down the high octane Falcons offense by holding them to just 77 total yards. The defense held Vick to a 0.0 quarterback rating (5/19 37 yds, 3 sacks, 0 td, 3 int).

Key stat
The Falcons offense couldn't do nothing, Vick tossed 3 interceptions, two to Jabari Greer and the Falcons converted just 1 of 9 third downs, the Saints on the otherhand recorded 573 total yards of offense and converted 6 of their 13 third downs.

Noteworthy
Falcons defensive end John Abraham was all over Drew Brees, he sacked Brees twice and harrased him all day, Michael Boley also sacked Brees twice and the Falcons registered 8 sacks and sacked Drew Brees seven times. Saints receiver Marques Colston recorded 9 receptions for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns, he averaged 20.4 yards per reception and caught 30 yards and 44 yards touchdown passes.

[thatwizardguy]

*cough*thierry*cough*

lol haha

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

It was over when...
The 49ers were up 20-0 by halftime but lost the lead during the second half, up 30-28, with 6:17 remaining Frank Gore broke tackles up the middle and broke off a 60 yard touchdown run to give them a 37-28 win.

Game ball
Alex Smith played a pretty good ball game, throwing for 383 yards and 2 touchdowns, he did throw 2 interceptions and completed just 51% of his 45 passes, but Frank Gore stole the show rushign for 125 yards off 16 attempts and 2 touchdowns, he started the game running the ball 8 times for 3 yards, but he got better as the game progressed.

Key stat
The 49ers offense recorded 528 yards compared to the Saints 269. The 49ers converted 46.2% of their third downs as the Saints converted just 35.7% of their third downs, the Saints defense, missing Jabari Greer the Saints defense struggled to get the 49ers off the field.

Noteworthy
Saints strong safety Roman Harper recorded 15 tackles, he was all over the field but football isn't a one man team and it was all in a losing effort.

[thatwizardguy]

prior to the game i signed cornerback alfonso marshall to a 1 year deal worth $800k. pretty much depth move.

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

It was over when...
With 9:56 left in the fourth quarter, trailing by 10, the Saints drove down the field to the Jaguars five yard line but threw an incomplete pass on fourth down to give the Jaguars back the ball who drove the ball downfield and ran out the clock.

Game ball
Fred Taylor was nothing short of awesome today, he carried the ball 21 times for 218 yards and three touchdowns, two touchdowns went for over 70 yards, including the game winning 78 yard touchdown run to put the Jaguars up 31-21.

Key stat
The Saints are not good at stopping the run this season, they are dreadful, they allowed 454 total yards and 247 rushing yards, they need to fix whatever is causing their terrible play, the defensive coordinator needs to rally his troops.

Noteworthy
Jaguars receiver Eic Moulds had a pretty sound game, recording 5 catches for 113 yards including a 40 yard gain which set up a Fred Taylor touchdown.

[thatwizardguy]