Madden Franchise - New Orleans Thread

[Dogphins]

15 WINS IN A ROW AND COUNTING


The New Orleans Saints secured the number 2 playoff spot and a week's bye, after cruisng to a 40-14
win over the Texans at the Superdome Sunday afternoon. The win was the team's 15 straight, after
losing their opening game of the season against Dallas.


RB Reggie Bush celebrates with a team mate after scoring the opening touchdown

[Dogphins]

RUSTY, BUT EFFECTIVE


The New Orleans Saints looked rusty early against the Arizona Cardinals, but in the second half took control with 2 Drew
Brees TD passes. The highlight of the game was WR Devery Henderson's 58 yard reception touchdown which all but sealed the win for the Saints. New Orleans now go on the road to Dallas for the NFC Championship and one step closer to the Super Bowl

[Dogphins]

HISTORY IN THE MAKING


The New Orleans Saints have made history by making it to their very first Super Bowl
after defeated the Dallas Cowboys 38-24 in the NFC Championship Sunday. The Saints
will play off against the AFC's Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XLII in what should be a cracking game.

[Dogphins]

WORLD CHAMPIONS!


The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl XLII Champs after defeating the Miami Dolphins 35-31. The Saints
won the game with a late touchdown by WR Donte Stallworth, who ended up being the SB MVP. Who Dat Saints!

[Dogphins]

2007 TEAM REVIEWS

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Record: 15-1 (1st NFC South) Playoffs: 3-0

W1: Lost at Dallas 18-37
W2: Won at Seattle 52-31
W3: Won at Tennessee 48-10
W4: Won at Carolina 48-35
W5: Beat Atlanta 40-17
W6: Beat Chicago 30-27
W7: Won at Atlanta 20-10
W8: Bye
W9: Beat San Francisco 24-7
W10: Beat Tampa Bay 48-10
W11: Beat St. Louis 56-3
W12: Beat Carolina 28-24
W13: Won at Tampa Bay 51-17
W14: Won at Jacksonville 52-7
W15: Won at Arizona 38-31
W16: Beat Indianapolis 17-3
W17: Beat Houston 40-14
----------------------------------------
NFC Divisional: Beat Arizona 27-13
NFC Championship: Won at Dallas 38-24
Super Bowl XLII: Beat Miami 35-31

Home: 8-0, Road: 7-1
Div: 6-0, Conf: 5-1, AFC: 4-0

TOTAL POINTS FOR: 610, ave= 38.1 ppg
TOTAL POINTS AGAINST: 283, ave= 17.7 ppg

OFFENCE

TOTAL YARDS: 7,602
TOTAL OFFENCE: 6,114 yards (PASSING: 3,602 yards; RUSHING: 2,512 yards)

PASSING: Drew Brees: 158/318, 3,146 passing yards, 36 TD’s, 27 int’s, 49% completion, 87.0 passer rating, 196.6 yards per game, sacked 31 times (47 TD’s total, 34 int’s total, 45 sacks total)

RUSHING: Reggie Bush: 327 att, 1,896 rushing yards, 10 TD’s, 5.7 ave, 118.5 yards per game, 118 broken tackles, 917 yards after 1st hit, 4 fumbles (20 rushing TD’s total)

RECEIVING: Donte Stallworth: 67 rec, 1,772 receiving yards, 22 TD’s, 26.4 ave, 110.7 yards per game, 409 yards after catch, 6 drops.
Joe Horn: 35 rec, 686 receiving yards, 7 TD’s, 19.6 ave, 42.8 yards per game, 137 yards after catch, 3 drops
(19 drops total)

BLOCKING: Jammal Brown (LT): 135 pancakes, 4 sacks allowed

DEFENSE

TOTAL YARDS: 3,778 (PASSING: 2,451 yards; RUSHING: 1,327 yards)

MOST TACKLES: Eric Barton (MLB): 85 tackles (3 sacks, 2 big hits, 3 int’s, 10 deflected passes, forced fumble, TD)
MOST SACKS: Will Smith (LE): 21 sacks (45 tackles, int, 4 deflected passes, 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 3 TD’s)
MOST INTERCEPTIONS: Mike McKenzie (CB): 11 interceptions (36 tackles, 2 sacks, 20 deflected passes, forced fumble, 3 TD’s)
DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS: Fred Thomas (CB): 1 TD (18 tackles, int, 2 deflected passes, fumble recovery). Eric Barton (MLB): 1 TD, Will Smith (LE): 3 TD’s, Mike McKenzie (CB): 3 TD’s.
OTHER DEFENSIVE NOTABLES:
Jason Craft (CB): 54 tackles, 6 big hits, 8 int’s, 14 deflected passes, forced fumble
Anthony Simmons (LOLB): 45 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 big hits, 3 int’s, 3 deflected passes
Josh Bullocks (SS): 42 tackles, sack, 2 big hits, 5 int’s, 9 deflected passes
Dwight Smith (FS): 40 tackles, 3 big hits, 6 int’s, 15 deflected passes, forced fumble
Brian Young (DT): 39 tackles, 10 sacks

KICKING: Sebastian Janikowski (K): 31/31 FG’s (100%), longest FG: 57 yards

PUNTING: Mitch Berger (P): 42 punts, 1,879 yards, 44.7 ave, 15 inside 20, 1,643 net yards, 39.1 net ave, longest punt: 57 yards

SPECIAL TEAMS: Reggie Bush (KR/RB): 46 kick returns, 1,051 return yards, 22.8 ave, longest kick return: 51 yards. Bethel Johnson (PR/WR): 27 punt returns, 221 return yards, 8.1 ave, longest punt return: 20 yards

WHAT WENT RIGHT:

The Saints had their greatest season in their history, by making and winning their very first Super Bowl; 35-31 against the Miami Dolphins. New Orleans have made the past two NFC Championships and improved considerably in 2007. It really all came together for them in ’07, building on a great season in ’06 after the distraction and destruction of Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, New Orleans were 8-0 at home and 6-0 against division opponents and have also won 18 games in a row, including the playoffs and Super Bowl.

QB Drew Brees led his team with pride after a shaky start, but went on to finish strongly, completing 158/318 for 3,146 passing yards and 36 TD’s. His passer rating of 87.0 is pretty good, while he was sacked just 31 times (45 in total, ranked 7th in the league). The star of the Saints offence was none other than WR Donte Stallworth, who won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award among others including Best Offensive Player and MVP in their Super Bowl win. Stallworth jumped from the blocks from the get go and held a high standard for the entire season. Obviously Stallworth also made the Pro Bowl, considering he caught 67 passes for 1,772 receiving yards and 22 TD’s. RB Reggie Bush was given the #1 starting job in front of Deuce McAllister. Bush played well, finishing with 1,896 rushing yards from 327 attempts and scored 10 TD’s (20 in total, ranked equal 7th in the league).

As for the offence overall, they scored a total of 610 points, with an average of 38.1 ppg (ranked 2nd in the league). The Saints had 7,602 total yards, ranked 4th in the NFL, with 6,114 yards of total offence (ranked 3rd). The offence is ranked 4th in passing yards with 3,602 and again ranked 4th in rushing yards, with 2,512. The offence have 5 players selected to the Pro Bowl, including WR Donte Stallworth, QB Drew Brees, LT Jammal Brown, C Jeff Faine and FB Mike Karney.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Saints D allowed just 283 points, an average of 17.7 ppg (ranked 4th in the league). New Orleans is ranked 5th in the NFL in terms of defensive total yards, with 3,778, including 2,451 passing yards (ranked 7th) and 1,327 rushing yards (ranked 8th). The defense sacked opposing QB’s 61 times, ranked equal 8th, while they took the ball away 48 times (ranked equal 6th). Out of those 48 takeaways, 43 of them were interceptions (ranked 6th). The turnover differential equalled +11 which is ranked equal 4th in the league, while the Saints were the second least penalised team in the NFL, with 15 yellow flags and 177 penalty yards (ranked 3rd). Individually, LE Will Smith led the team in sacks with 21. He also had 45 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries. Smith is one of three defenders to make the trip to Hawaii. The other two, FS Dwight Smith and CB Mike McKenzie enjoyed solid seasons, with Smith getting 15 deflected passes, 40 tackles and 6 picks; and McKenzie grabbing 11 interceptions, 36 tackles, 20 deflected passes and 3 defensive touchdowns. Once again MLB Eric Barton lead the D in tackles, with 85. He also had 3 sacks, 3 picks and 10 deflected passes. DT Brian Young bobbed up with 10 sacks, while CB Jason Craft was unlucky not to make the Pro Bowl after having a great season (54 tackles, 8 picks, 14 deflected passes). Lastly LOLB Anthony Simmons had 45 tackles, 4 sacks and 3 picks, while SS Josh Bullocks finished with 42 tackles, 5 int’s and 9 deflected passes.

WHAT WENT WRONG:

Not much could have gone wrong for the Saints, considering they are the Super Bowl Champs for season 2007. New Orleans’ 37 giveaways is ranked equal 16th in the league and includes 34 interceptions (27 from Drew Brees). The 34 picks is ranked equal 23rd in the NFL. The Saints defense could only recover 4 lost fumbles, ranking them in at equal 27th place.

WR Joe Horn’s production fell away in 2007, to where he finished with just 35 receptions for 686 receiving yards and 7 TD’s, compared to his 61 receptions, 1,517 receiving yards and 15 TD’s in 2006. The drop off could be due to Horn slowing down somewhat, being in the twilight of his career and also the emergence of Donte Stallworth. RB Deuce McAllister was also used sparingly in 2007, compared to his efforts in 2006. Obviously making way for Reggie Bush to become the #1 halfback, but while there is still many seasons left in the Deuce, he does want to play and may look elsewhere to get the starting gig. It may be tough for the Saints to trade away Deuce, as he still has 5 years remaining on his current contract and New Orleans could be up for some hefty cap penalties if they decide to trade him.

2007 EARNINGS

TOTAL EARNINGS: $182.50M
MINUS NFL SHARED REVENUE: $118.15M
FINAL TOTAL: $64.35M ($42.90M in ticket sales)

TOTAL EXPENSES: $144.00M
NET INCOME: $38.50M

PRO BOWL REPRESENTATIVES: Will Smith (LE), Drew Brees (QB), Jammal Brown (LT), Mike McKenzie (CB), Jeff Faine (Ce), Donte Stallworth (WR), Dwight Smith (FS), Mike Karney (FB)

PLAYERS OUT OF CONTRACT:

Brian Young (DT): 80 OVR, $10.00M, 30 years old
Fred Thomas (CB): 80 OVR, $6.80M, 33 years old
Michael Bennett (RB): 76 OVR, $3.00M, 29 years old
Mitch Berger (P): 92 OVR, $5.10M, 35 years old
Jonathan Goodwin (LG): 69 OVR, $2.10M, 28 years old
Jeff Faine (Ce): 91 OVR, $7.00M, 26 years old
Bethel Johnson (WR): 76 OVR, $4.00M, 28 years old
Jon Stinchcomb (RT): 74 OVR, $1.35M, 27 years old
Mike Karney (FB): 86 OVR, $1.55M, 26 years old
Devery Henderson (WR): 76 OVR, $2.60M, 25 years old

WHAT THEY NEED FOR 2008:

1. Out of contract – The Saints have some important players that are out of contract at season’s end that they need to re-sign. This is a Saints team that is right at their prime and less players leaving is better for the team.

TEAMS SCHEDULED TO PLAY IN 2008:

Carolina (twice), Tampa Bay (twice), Atlanta (twice), Oakland, Kansas City, Denver, San Diego, Green Bay, Detroit, Minnesota, Chicago, Dallas and Arizona