saintfan

In other football news, all hail the United States Saints! That's what TMQ called the team last season during its wanderings, and surely they were the United States Saints last night upon their triumphal return to New Orleans. The emotion of the event was powerful, but the Saints played so well it forced one to wonder: Maybe this is actually a top team. How fitting if the football gods repaid the Saints' horrible 2005 with a wonderful 2006. Between Drew Brees and Reggie Bush looking so, so good while Daunte Culpepper and Mario Williams look so, so bad, there must be serious buyer's remorse today in Miami and Houston. The Saints' early blocked-punt touchdown was not only a sweet play but conformed with TMQ's immutable law of punt defense: Send Eight to Make a Punt Go Backward. As this column has pointed out before, NFL coaches rarely send more than five rushers after the punter. It's blame-shifting: if the coach calls an all-out rush and the kicker is roughed then a coaching decision is blamed, whereas if there's a light rush, a return and the offense fails to move the ball, then the players are blamed. On the first Atlanta punt, New Orleans overloaded the line with eight men in tight, and all eight came: Thunk! For the rest of the contest, New Orleans rushed only five. NFL special teams coaches, take heed.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...erbrook/060926

ssmitty

do you really think reggie would not be hurt by now playing with houston?
they remind me of us.................not too long ago..........
my heart goes out to them........smitty