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It's certain that the saturation coverage will
include many feel-good pronouncements that will
turn the 'Aints into this month's Andre Agassi.
For their part, the football players have succeeded
in giving the scribes and talking heads reason
to send the hyperbole even further over the top.
With a 2-0 record and rookie Reggie Bush on the
fast track to the gridiron version of beatification,
the Saints have the Crescent City hopeful that
good times may be in the forecast. The team followed
a 19-14 win at Cleveland in Week 1 with a come-from-behind,
34-27 victory in Green Bay on Sunday that featured
a 300-yard passing performance by new quarterback
Drew Brees. Next, the Saints face an opponent
in another league than the lowly Packers and Browns
in a game that could decide the NFC South in September.
The Atlanta Falcons have
won two games convincingly over division rivals
and if they beat the Saints on Monday Night Football
to go to 3-0, they will have a vice grip on the
South. Having two unbeaten division foes meeting
in the week's showcase game would be enough to
heighten anticipation; throw in the emotions involved
with a landmark moment in the recovery of Hurricane
Katrina - along with performances by U2 and Green
Day, and the home debut of Bush - and Falcons
at Saints deservedly explodes into more than a
football game.
"Everything is going
to be crazy, from the media, from the fans, from
everyone," Saints coach Sean Payton told
reporters after Sunday's game at Lambeau Field.
"But we just have to stay focused. We have
to be mentally and physically prepared to play.
Atlanta is 2-0. It's going to be a tough game."
It's also going to be a game
decided on the ground. Atlanta may have the best
running attack in the league, having rolled up
558 rushing yards in its two games. Michael Vick
and Warrick Dunn both scampered for more than
100 yards on Sunday, becoming the third quarterback-running
back duo to accomplish the feat in the same game.
New Orleans balances the
run and pass more than Atlanta, but because of
the Falcons' strong secondary the Saints are likely
going to want to control the clock, keeping the
ball out of Vick's hands by feeding Deuce McAllister
and Bush the rock. If they do have to throw, Brees
has shown he can go through life in the NFL without
Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson.
Green Bay limited the Saints
to 48 yards rushing, holding Bush to five yards
on six carries. Brees, though, delivered, striking
for 353 passing yards and two touchdowns. In his
first two games with New Orleans, he has shown
leadership qualities New Orleans has lacked for
most of the franchise's history. The signing of
Brees to a six-year, $60-million deal in the offseason
was criticized because of his lack of arm strength
and the belief that his success in San Diego had
much to do with the offensive talents around him
rather than his own ability. After all, the reason
the Chargers wanted Philip Rivers in the first
round two years ago was because of uncertainty
about Brees's skills. With each game, he affirms
his status as an outstanding pro quarterback.
On Monday, he gets the chance to play hero for
a city that's needed many helpers in the past
year.
"I've never played in
the Superdome before," Brees said after the
win over Green Bay. "I expect it just to
be absolutely crazy. Monday night, first home
game after Katrina, we're 2-0. Does it get any
better than that?"
In New Orleans, getting better
is what it's all about. Brees and his teammates
will be reminded of that fact often before kickoff.
Random Thoughts on Week 2 in
the NFL
* Daunte Culpepper has lost
it, and what's becoming more and more apparent
is that the "it" in question is named
Randy Moss. Without Moss last season, Culpepper
had six TDs and 12 INTs in seven games with the
Vikings before suffering a season-ending knee
injury. In two games with Miami, he has thrown
one TD and three picks, and the Dolphins - who
were predicted to do big things - are 0-2.
# Nothing shifts attention
away from misdemeanors and multiple counts of
felony quite like winning. The Cincinnati Bengals
have the Queen City talking Super Bowl, not about
the team's offseason appearances in the police
blotter or reports of a dysfunctional locker-room.
# So much for the revived
Rams' defense under Jim Haslett - or the easier-to-execute
playbook under head coach Scott Linehan.
# Roy Williams the receiver
got an intense tutorial on the Chicago blues,
learning why you should stick to talking about
how bad you've got it, not how great you're going
to be.
# Why did you think you
should take Larry Johnson ahead of LaDainian Tomlinson
in your fantasy football draft again?
# If you're smart, you shouldn't
risk embarrassment by knocking Eli Manning. The
kid's got smarts and can make plays that only
a few other quarterbacks can. The call and pass
on the winning TD strike to Plaxico Burress in
overtime on Sunday is the latest example.
# More nonsense from Terrell
Owens. Hey, T.O., you're a football player not
a hand model, tape up the fingers and play. Even
if you never get the ball, you provide a decoy
that allows the other Cowboys room to maneuver.
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The Undercard
That's
upsetting: David Carr is a
wasted talent. He continues to get
no support from his offensive line
or the Houston Texans' defense. Carr
will have to spend the fifth year
of his career, the way he spent the
first four: playing catch up and ending
up on his back more often than Jenna
Jameson. By now, every critic has
killed the Texans for passing on Reggie
Bush in the draft. So, no need to
mention that Bush would be a great
weapon for a team and quarterback
struggling to control the clock, or
that he adds an unpredictable dimension
that keeps defenses honest, or that
Mario Williams is a bust.
Proof
of disorder in the universe:
Rick DiPietro will be a New York Islander
even after the Apocalypse.
Coolest
song of the week: Baby, Please
Don't Go Down to New Orleans by Van
Morrison (last week: The Raven by
Lou Reed).
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TOP
PHOTO: Deuce McAllister is one of the Saints'
veterans who hasn't played in the Superdome since
Hurricane Katrina. (AI Wire photo)
Note: All
NFL lines subject to change.
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