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BUFFALO BILLS at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 10TH, 2007
SUPERDOME, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
8:00 EDT (7:00 CDT)

CBS Sports HD
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Gus Johnson
COLOR ANALYST: Solomon Wilcots

RADIO: Buffalo Bills Radio Network
PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Murphy
COLOR ANALYST: Mark Kelso
SIDELINE REPORTER: Paul Peck

New Orleans Saints Radio Network
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Jim Henderson
COLOR ANALYST: Hokie Gajan
SIDELINE REPORTER: Kenny Wilkerson

Sirius Sunday Drive: Channel 181 (Buffalo feed) / Channel 126 (New Orleans feed)


SERIES RECORD: 3-3 preseason, 4-4 regular-season. Bills are 3-3 overall at the Superdome since it opened for business in 1975, including losses in both preseason contests held there.

LAST MEETING: October 2, 2005 – Saints 19, Bills 7, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX
The Bills won the coin toss and marched down the field to a one-yard Willis McGahee touchdown run on their opening drive, but never got past the goal line in the remaining 55 minutes of play. John Carney's first field goal of the day cut the lead to 7-3 early in the second quarter. On Buffalo's next play from scrimmage, J.P. Losman, under pressure, tossed the ball up for grabs deep downfield. Jason Craft made the easy interception and ran it back to the Buffalo 23; five plays later, Aaron Brooks scrambled for a 4-yard touchdown to give New Orleans a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Carney added another field goal with ten seconds left in the half... which gave Pro Bowl kick returner Terrence McGee just enough time for a runback. His spectacular 82-yard return looked destined for the end zone, but he got caught up in traffic at the New Orleans five, and finally went down at the three long after time had expired.

The Bills did nothing on Losman's two drives in the third quarter, so when they got the ball back early in the fourth, Kelly Holcomb trotted onto the field with the offense. He couldn't provide the “spark” Mike Mularkey was looking for, though: Buffalo managed just one first down on their three fourth-quarter drives, and lost their last chance to score when Saints DE Charles Grant sacked Holcomb and linemate Tony Bryant recovered the ensuing fumble.

Losman went a horrific 7-15-1 for 75 yards before being benched; he wouldn't throw another pass until Holcomb was knocked out of the Chiefs game five weeks later. McGahee ran well, piling up 84 yards on just 16 carries, but the Bills stumbled and bumbled their way into far too many bad down-and-distance situations to take advantage of their success on the ground.

New Orleans had no such problems, giving the ball to Deuce McAllister 29 times (27 carries, two receptions) for a combined 146 yards. Even with Joe Horn sidelined (hamstring injury), the Bills – and especially Nate Clements – had no answer for Donte' Stallworth, who racked up 129 receiving yards on eight catches.

LAST TIME IN NEW ORLEANS: December 27, 1998 – Bills 45, Saints 33
With a playoff berth safely in hand, Rob Johnson got his first start since a rib injury in week 5 earned him a front-row seat to “Flutiemania”. He didn't disappoint this day, lighting up the Saints defense for three touchdown passes and adding a 12-yard run for another score.

Bruce Smith (literally) got the ball rolling early, recovering a Kerry Collins fumble and returning it to the New Orleans one-yard line. (He also picked up his tenth sack, hitting double digits for the twelfth time in his career – a mark achieved only by Reggie White before him.) Antowain Smith's score put the Bills up 7-0 just 35 seconds into the game; a 66-yard Johnson-to-Eric Moulds hookup made it 14-0 slightly over two minutes later, and the rout was officially on. By the time Billy Joe Tolliver replaced Collins in the second quarter the Bills were up by 28, and would keep at least a ten-point cushion the rest of the way.
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SAINTS OVERVIEW (2006 FINAL RANKINGS)
OFFENSE (#1 total yardage, #19 rushing, #1 passing, #5 scoring):
The Saints offense looks dramatically different than it did in the last meeting, thanks to some interesting personnel decisions by two AFC teams. Miami could have signed Drew Brees as a free agent, but instead traded Minnesota their 2006 second-round draft pick to acquire the services of Daunte Culpepper. (Think they'd like a do-over on that call?)
While the Dolphins discovered Culpepper's rebuilt knee wasn't ready for prime time, Brees merely led the league with 4,418 passing yards. He's not the biggest or the fastest quarterback you'll ever see, but the guy the Chargers gave up on – twice – took the Saints to their first conference championship game in franchise history.

And when the Houston Texans decided they needed help on the defensive line more than the most exciting player in college football, New Orleans was happy to snag Reggie Bush with the 2006 #2 overall pick. Bush's run stats aren't overwhelming – mostly because he platoons with the team's all-time leading rusher, Deuce McAllister – but he's a threat to go all the way every time he touches the ball. Bush also led the team with 88 catches last year, the most by any rookie RB in league history. McAllister recovered well from the torn ACL that ended his 2005 season after five games, coming on strong at the end of the year with three 100-yard games in December and another against Philadelphia in the playoffs.

Aaron Stecker and fourth-round pick Antonio Pittman (Ohio State) give the team decent depth at the position; FB Mike Karney is a solid blocker, and also scored as many receiving touchdowns (two) as Bush. Jamie Martin serves as Brees' backup, with Jason Fife and rookie Tyler Palko (Pitt) battling for the #3 spot.

The passing attack, tops in the league in 2006, could be even better this year: with surprise Rookie of the Year candidate Marques Colston and first-round pick Robert Meachem (Tennessee) in the fold, longtime Saint Joe Horn – not getting any younger, and with injury issues the last couple of seasons – was allowed to leave for division rival Atlanta. But if Meachem (coming back from knee surgery in June) wants that other starting spot, he'll have to beat out Devery Henderson, who averaged a stunning 23.3 yards per catch last season. Terrence Copper and free agent pickup David Patten are also in the mix, although Patten is dealing with turf toe.
Tight end Eric Johnson (49ers) was added in the offseason; if he manages to stay healthy, he'll most likely pass old friend Mark Campbell on the depth chart.

Longtime LT starter Wayne Gandy was traded before last year to make room for Jammal Brown, the team's 2005 first-round pick. That turned out to be another good decision – the Saints finished fourth in fewest sacks allowed, and Brown made his first trip to the Pro Bowl. He banged up a knee earlier this week and won't play against Buffalo, but should be all right by the start of the regular season.

More proof that the Cleveland Browns franchise is cursed: the star of their 2006 free-agent class, center LeCharles Bentley, didn't make it through a single training-camp practice last summer before shredding his knee... but his replacement in New Orleans, former Brown Jeff Faine, managed to start all 16 games for the first time in his career. (Knew it couldn't last, though – he injured a calf muscle against Pittsburgh, and will also sit out this game.)
Jahri Evans, like Colston, was a little-known name from a small school when the Saints used their fourth-round pick on him last year. He's developed into a solid starter, and the team hopes to have similar success with 2007 picks Andy Alleman (G – Akron) and Jermon Bushrod (T – Towson).

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins