It won’t be the Big Easy, but Saints could rally

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, October 05, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

New Orleans Saints
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Reasons not to give up on the 0-3 New Orleans Saints just yet ....

1. Their division, the NFC South, is one of the worst in the NFL. It's not inconceivable that the Saints could spot Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Carolina a few games and still emerge with a playoff berth at the end.

2. They still have Drew Brees. A big problem for Brees this year has been that the Saints have gotten off to poor starts in all of their first three games, forcing them into obvious passing situations. Brees' game is the adept spreading around of short, quick throws, but he's been abandoning that in favor of trying for the big score. Not his style.

As offensive tackle Jamaal Brown put it earlier this week: "It makes it tough when you have to go into your two-minute offense in the third quarter."

3. The pressure is off. With expectations swollen by all the pundits who had New Orleans in the Super Bowl (perhaps they should form an underachievers' support group with San Diego), the Saints were supposed to hand Indianapolis its comeuppance, then dominate their next two opponents. Now that reality has arrived, fans now know that this season won't be the Big Easy.

4. Deuce McAllister's injury might help. That sounds like a strange thing to say, because Deuce is not only a New Orleans icon but an excellent running back. The problem was, various nagging injuries were keeping McAllister from being himself. He was struggling, and maybe it's better this way.

5. Reggie Bush needs his endorsements. The former Heisman Trophy winner feels the hype slipping away, and a new role as featured back could be just what he needs to rekindle his mojo.

6. The defensive line can't get any worse. Even with supposed sack artists Will Smith and Charles Grant manning the ends, the unit has no quarterback takedowns. Zero. But they're still the same guys who dominated last season.

7. The chemistry is still there. Unlike Carolina, which comes to town Sunday, the Saints are falling over themselves taking responsibility for the dreadful start. No one is pointing fingers. In contrast, Panthers DT Kris Jenkins called out his teammates after Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay for having "no heart."

This Sunday could be the game New Orleans needs to get on track. Coach Sean Payton has had a bye week to get his team ready. Carolina QB Jake Delhomme is expected to be sidelined with a bad elbow, and David Carr was ineffective -- to say the least -- against Tampa Bay (19 for 41 passing for 155 yards) last week.

Plus, nobody goes 0-16 anymore.
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