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Gustav had yet to strike the Gulf coast and the Saints to Los Angeles chatter had already kicked off.

Wrote Sports Illustrated's Peter King: "I wouldn't be surprised to hear the Saints to Los Angeles rumors starting this week. I'd imagine the Rose Bowl and Coliseum would be frothing at the mouth to get Reggie Bush to be playing at home on fall Sundays."

King said a local New Orleans bank pays the team $1.2 million for sponsorship. He noted that the Cowboys received $12 million a year from a Dallas bank for a sponsorship.

What King fails to realize is that few teams in the NFL have a better "deal" than the Saints. Last year the Saints received $28 million from the state of Louisiana in inducements and game day revenue. Unlike many NFL teams, the Saints have no stadium debt.

Tom Benson's Saints may play in a small market, but my guess is they are at the very least in the middle of the pack in net revenue. I say guess, because the NFL will never open its books. Only 1 team, Green Bay, discloses such because they are publicly owned by thousands of stockholders.

The Saints will be back where they belong this Sunday, in the Superdome, representing our great , resilient city.

In the meantime, I wonder if Brazos Urethane, the folks who rebuilt the Dome roof after Katrina,
have interest in building levees?

Ed Daniels
New Orleans, Louisiana
7:13 pm

I have gone thru the tape of the Saints 24-20 win over the Bucs. Here's some of the interesting nuggets.

1) Reggie Bush had a terrific game, as a receiver. Bush had 112 yards in receptions. In space, he's won of the best players in the NFL. Bush made a pair of nice decisive runs, but: he still missed some holes. Running inside, out of the I formation, is not Bush's best stuff.

2) The Saints did a very nice job of pressuring Jeff Garcia with a four man rush. The Bucs were only 2 of 12 on third down conversions.

3) On the Tampa Bay defensive touchdown, the Saints protection broke down : guard Jamar Nesbit and Reggie Bush both blocked one of two blitzing Buc linebackers. #51 Barrett Ruud had a free path to Brees, who was hit when he threw. Philip Buchanon picked off the wobbling pass and ran it back 26 yards for a touchdown.

4) The Saints must do a better job of tackling. In the third and fourth quarters, tackling was poor. On Earnest Graham's 45 yard run, Tracy Porter and Scott Fujita both missed tackles.

Ed Daniels
8:22 pm

MINUTES BEFORE THE SAINTS KICKED OFF AT WASHINGTON, THE TEAM ANNOUNCED THE SIGNING OF HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON TO A FIVE YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION.
REPORTEDLY: ONLY A HANDFUL OF NFL HEAD COACHES, ALL WHO HAVE COACHED A TEAM TO THE SUPER BOWL, EARN MORE THAN SEAN PAYTON.
WHEN THE NEWS BROKE: I ASKED , WHY?
SEAN PAYTON TOOK THE SAINTS TO A PLACE THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN BEFORE, BUT SINCE THE SAINTS 5-1 START IN OH SIX, THE TEAM HAS WON ONLY 13 OF ITS LAST 28 REGULAR SEASON GAMES. NOT EXACTLY A GLOWING RESUME'.
SEAN PAYTON MAY BE A GREAT HEAD COACH: BUT, WE DON'T KNOW THAT YET. SEAN PAYTON MAY BE A SOLID TALENT EVALUATOR, BUT WE DON'T KNOW THAT YET, EITHER.
THIS I DO KNOW: IF PAYTON COACHED THE SAINTS TO PLAYOFFS THIS SEASON, THEN ITS TIME TO RE -DO HIS CONTRACT.
SAINTS OWNER TOM BENSON HAS EXTENDED COACHES BEFORE: THE MIKE DITKA EXTENSION WAS MINDBOGGLING, THE JIM HASLETT ONE, CURIOUS.
THIS ONE? PREMATURE. SEAN PAYTON'S RECORD AS SAINTS COACH IS 18 WINS, 16 LOSSES.
SOLID, BUT HARDLY SCINTILLATING.

I attended two games Friday night. I saw the first quarter and a half of St Aug vs O Perry Walker. Chargers are a very talented football team. Their running game was pretty good , even without star Tyrone Duplessis, who is out with a knee sprain. Duplessis may not play this week against Hahnville. Walker quarterback Torrance Massey does a really good job of running their offense. Chargers could get to the dome in 4A. But that depends on their kicking game, their playoff draw, and injuries: but, they definitely are good enough to get there.

St Aug has some good young players, but they need more size on defense. In the past, when the Knights were really good, they had the big guys like James Hall and Raynoch Thompson who could run to the football.

I then attended the Shaw Brother Martin game at Gormley. Brother Martin has really good running game with Dalton HIllard and Dante Butler. Jay Pittman has done a solid job of building a program at Martin. Crusaders can win Catholic league, and compete well in 5A playoffs. Head coach Jay Pittman said this week his team wants to compete for championships, and I don't think he was talking about district.

Last night, Covington couldn't close out Denham Springs, losing 17-14 on a last second field goal. But, Lions under Malter Scobel will improve quickly. Scobel is a Hank Tierney disciple. And every Tierney protege' has heard this from the boss: "Teams don't win games, programs do.."

On the way to Auburn, as Les Miles says, "have a great day..."

Regards,

Ed Daniels

I have to laugh when I hear that Sean Payton's play calling and decision making cost the Saints a victory at Denver.

Let's face it. The Saints are a 9-7 when they are healthy, a 7-9 or 6-10 team when they aren't. The offense and the head coach lost the game? The Saints scored 30 points on offense, without their best receiver Marques Colston, and still lost. The Broncos averaged 4.4 yards a rush and 12.6 yards a pass play.

The Saints biggest problem is their roster isn't good enough. With one of the top 6 quarterbacks in the league, Drew Brees, healthy for 2 seasons and 3 games, the Saints are 18 wins, 17 losses under Sean Payton. The Saints don't have enough playmakers, period. How many guys on offense and defense, other than Reggie Bush, are effective in space?

In the meantime...here's some items about the game tape vs Broncos...

1) today Payton complained that Denver was offside on the key third and one before Grammatica's missed 43 yard field goal attempt. He's right. Denver's play on the far right of the Saints formation was offside, but he was cleanly blocked and made no impact on the play.

2) I thought Kevin Kaesviharn was a pretty good player, but he was burned again Sunday on the double move by Brandon Marshall.

3) In the second quarter , on the goal line Pierre Thomas made a big mistake. He put his head down too early, when he had a chance to jump the pile and score.

4) You may not want to believe this but: the Saints red zone offense will improve when wide out Marques Colston returns.

5) Zach Strief did a nice job in place of injured Jammal Brown at left tackle. The holding call on Strief, on a Saints screen, was bogus.

Please email me at ed@abc26.com with questions or comments.

Regards,

Ed Daniels

After two "pretty" losses to Alabama and East Carolina, the Green Wave had an ugly win 34-27 over SMU Thursday night.

Tulane played very well in the first half leading 31-7 at the break. The Wave played poorly in the second half. But, when the game was on the line , the Wave was able to close it out with Andre Anderson running for 219 yards and Ross Thevenot making a key 43 yard field goal to pad the lead to 7.

SMU quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell played well. His receivers were terrible, with numerous drops.

Tulane had too many penalties and two costly two costly turnovers, but still won.

Tulane held the football for over 38 minutes.

Your thoughts? email at ed@abc26.com

Regards,

Ed

After looking at the tape Sunday of 49ers Saints here's what I saw:

1) Rookie left guard Carl Nicks had an outstanding game. Nicks was effective as a run blocker. At one point he pancaked blocked his man on a 10 yard run by Deuce McAllister.

2) JT O'Sullivan did just hold on to the ball too long. Because of some early pressure, O'Sullivan didn't step into some throws. He floated the ball over the middle and was intercepted twice. Roman Harper dropped an interception as well.

3) Saints have to get Robert Meachem on the field. On the 52 yard flea flicker pass from Drew Brees, Meachem was doubled covered. But he still came down with the ball.

4) Here's a number for you: Deuce has carried 20 times in 6 games in the Sean Payton era. Saints have won all six.

Ed Daniels