Madden Franchise - New Orleans Thread

[Dogphins]

SAINTS OFF-SEASON NEWS


SECOND PHASE OF RELEASES


The Saints have trimmed their roster after signing free agents and drafting rookies over the past few weeks. Out of the 7 draft picks selected by New Orleans, only 4 of them were signed.

Round 3 pick, FS Sidney Dickerson; round 6 pick, ROLB Otis Witt; and round 7 pick, FB Gary Jones were all waived by the Saints.

Round 1 pick, WR J.J. Brown was signed to a 5-year deal, worth $32.45M
Round 4 pick, LT Xavier Blount was signed to a 3-year deal, worth $4.86M
Round 4 pick, RG Mike Graham was signed to a 3-year deal, worth $3.70M
Round 5 pick, CB Antoine Chapman was signed to a 3-year deal, worth $4.61M

The following is a list of released players from the second phase trimming:

Released RB Aaron Stecker
Released C Dwayne Ledford
Released MLB Alfred Fincher
Released RG Jahri Evans

New Orleans also traded CB Joey Thomas to Dallas, for QB Drew Henson

[Dogphins]

SAINTS OFF-SEASON NEWS


SECOND ROUND OF FREE-AGENCY


The New Orleans Saints have made one acquisition in the second round of free-agency. They acquired the following player:

LG Fred Matua

Fred Matua was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2006, but was cut soon after and placed on the Tennessee Titans practice squad. He didn't last long there and was placed on the Cleveland Browns squad where he played the 2006 season. Matua was released at the end if the season.

Fred Matua was signed to a 2-year deal, worth $1.89M.

[Dogphins]

SAINTS PRE-SEASON NEWS


SAINTS PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE


The League announced the Pre-Season schedule today, with fans celebrating the return of Pro Football.

Here is the Pre-Season schedule for the New Orleans Saints:

W1: vs Kansas City
W2: at St. Louis
W3: vs Denver
W4: at Houston

[Dogphins]

SAINTS PRE-SEASON NEWS


PRE-SEASON: WEEK 1


SAINTS CHIEFS
Superdome


"SAINTS SURVIVE STRONG FINISH"

The New Orleans Saints opening their 2007 pre-season with a win against the Kansas City Chiefs, surviving a strong finish by the Chiefs in the final quarter. New Orleans showed some good signs as they win their first pre-season game, 34-28.

The Saints got up early on the Chiefs, leading 10-0 during the second quarter before falling behind, 14-10. A touchdown before halftime, put New Orleans back in front at the break, 17-14.
Another two TD's later by the Saints saw them in a commanding 31-14 lead in the final quarter before the Chiefs came home with a wet sail, at one stage down by just 3 points before the Saints steadied the ship with a FG just before end of regulation.

Scoring

1st Quarter

NO: 20 yard FG, Janikowski

2nd Quarter

NO: 66 yard TD pass, Stallworth
KC: 9 yard TD pass, McIntyre
KC: 87 yard TD pass, Johnson
NO: 5 yard TD pass, Bush

4th Quarter

NO: 66 yard TD pass, Johnson
NO: 72 yard TD pass, Henderson
KC: 11 yard TD pass, Rogers
KC: 5 yard TD pass, Rogers
NO: 44 yard FG, Janikowski

Drew Brees played well in limited time, throwing for 210 yards and a TD. Newly added via trade, QB Drew Henson, also played well, throwing for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns.

WR Joe Horn had a decent game, with 3 receptions for 133 receiving yards, while Donte Stallworth had 77 receiving yards and a TD.

On defense, ex-Cowboy LOLB Al Singleton finished with 4 tackles, while ex-Chief SS Sammy Knight had 2 tackles and a deflected pass. DT Brian Young the best of the defenders, finishing with 5 tackles and 2 sacks.

Rookie CB, Antoine Chapman finished with 3 tackles and a sack in a good performance.

Stats:

Total Offence: 424 yards
Rushing Yards: 68
Passing Yards: 356
1st Downs: 7
Kick Return Yards: 89
Total Yards: 527
Giveaways: 1
Takeaways: 1
3rd Down Conversion: 2/11
T.O.P: 17:25

Next week, New Orleans are at St. Louis to face the Rams

[Dogphins]

SAINTS PRE-SEASON NEWS


PRE-SEASON: WEEK 2


RAMS SAINTS
Edward Jones Dome


"SAINTS PUSH ASIDE RAMS"

The New Orleans Saints improved their pre-season record to 2-0 after a convincing 37-14 win at St. Louis. At halftime, the Rams led the Saints 14-6, but in the second half New Orleans held the Rams scoreless and piled on 31 points themselves for the impressive win.

Scoring

1st Quarter

NO: 51 yard FG, Janikowski
St.L: 68 yard TD pass, Holt
NO: 22 yard FG, Janikowski

2nd Quarter

St.L: 3 yard TD run, Jackson

3rd Quarter

NO: 23 yard TD pass, Henderson (Conversion Successful)
NO: 53 yard TD pass, Brown

4th Quarter

NO: 49 yard FG, Janikowski
NO: 34 yard FG, Janikowski
NO: 23 yard FG, Janikowski
NO: 47 yard TD pass, Henderson

QB Drew Brees played well in his limited time, finishing with 7/11, 123 passing yards. QB Drew Henson also played well, throwing for 81 yards and 2 touchdown passes.

RB's Michael Bennett and Reggie Bush combined for a total of 128 rushing yards, while rookie WR J.J. Brown performed well finishing with 83 receiving yards from 3 receptions, and a TD. WR Devery Henderson also played well, finishing with 70 receiving yards and 2 TD's.

Other draft picks, RG Mike Graham had 3 blocks in the game, while rookie CB, Antoine Chapman had 2 tackles and 2 deflected passes. CB Jason Craft led the team in tackles, with 6, while FS Roman Harper had 2 tackles and 2 interceptions. Finally, CB Mike McKenzie played well in limited time, with 4 tackles and a sack; and LE Will Smith finished with 2 tackles and 2 sacks.

Stats:

Total Offence: 397 yards
Rushing Yards: 163
Passing Yards: 234
1st Downs: 15
Kick Return Yards: 31
Total Yards: 428
Giveaways: 0
Takeaways: 3
3rd Down Conversion: 2/9
T.O.P: 24:04

[Dogphins]

SAINTS PRE-SEASON NEWS


PRE-SEASON: WEEK 3


SAINTS BRONCOS
Superdome


"SAINTS LUCKY ESCAPE"

The New Orleans Saints just managed to scrape past the Denver Broncos in their third pre-season game, with a final second game winning FG by Sebastian Janikowski. The Saints beating the Broncos, 16-13. New Orleans did not score an offensive touchdown, but Janikowski did manage to boot 3 FG's.

Scoring

1st Quarter

NO: 19 yard FG, Janikowski

2nd Quarter

NO: 58 yard int return TD, Bullocks
NO: 20 yard FG, Janikowski
Den: 55 yard FG, Brown

3rd Quarter

Den: 7 yard TD run, Green

4th Quarter

Den: 50 yard FG, Brown
NO: 22 yard FG, Janikowski

QB Drew Brees played OK in limited time, finishing with 8/16 and 76 passing yards. RB Reggie Bush found the day hard, finishing with 44 rushing yards. TE Dan Campbell was the best of the receivers, finishing with 4 receptions for 42 receiving yards.

Free-agent pickup, Kenyatta Walker played well against Denver, leading the team in blocks with 7. On defense, ROLB Barrett Green led the team in tackles, with 6. Green also had a sack. DT Cedric Woodard also played well, finishing with 5 tackles and a sack. LE Will Smith and MLB Eric Barton both had 4 tackles, with a sack credited to Smith and 3 big hits to Barton.
RE Charles Grant finished with 3 tackles and a sack, while DT Willie Whitehead had 2 tackles and 2 sacks. In all, the Saints defense had 7 sacks on the day and forced 3 turnovers, including the 58 yard interception return by SS Josh Bullocks.

Stats:

Total Offence: 177 yards
Rushing Yards: 72
Passing Yards: 105
1st Downs: 9
Kick Return Yards: 94
Total Yards: 287
Giveaways: 3
Takeaways: 3
3rd Down Conversion: 3/12
T.O.P: 19:29

[Dogphins]

SAINTS PRE-SEASON NEWS


PRE-SEASON: WEEK 4


TEXANS SAINTS
Reliant Stadium


"NEW ORLEANS UNDEFEATED, CRUSH TEXANS"

The New Orleans Saints have gone 4-0 in the pre-season, finishing their final game with a crushing defeat of the Houston Texans, at Reliant Stadium. The Saints held Houston scoreless in the first half and blitzed in the second half, scoring 42 points. The Texans managed 21 points in the second half, but New Orleans ran out huge winners, 55-21.

Scoring

1st Quarter

NO: 56 yard FG, Janikowski

2nd Quarter

NO: 59 yard TD pass, Stallworth
NO: 39 yard FG, Janikowski

3rd Quarter

NO: 23 yard TD run, Bennett
NO: 30 yard fumble return TD, Young
NO: 63 yard TD pass, Henderson
Hou: 75 yard TD pass, Hackett

4th Quarter

NO: 48 yard TD pass, Brown
NO: 23 yard TD pass, Brown
Hou: 74 yard TD pass, Daniels
Hou: 60 yard TD pass, Johnson
NO: 5 yard TD pass, Hilton

QB Drew Brees and back up Drew Henson both played well in this game. Henson had 6/14, 87 passing yards and a TD, while Brees (who didn't start until late in the 3rd quarter) had 4/10, 139 passing yards, 4 TD's and an interception.
RB Reggie Bush finished with 89 rushing yards from 13 attempts, and back up Michael Bennett had 63 rushing yards and a TD from 11 attempts.

Rookie WR, J.J. Brown had a great last quarter, finishing with 2 receptions for 71 receiving yards and 2 TD's. Donte Stallworth finished with 67 receiving yards and a TD, while Devery Henderson also had a TD reception, finishing with 63 receiving yards.

Jon Stinchcomb led the team in blocks, with 5, while Jammal Brown had 4.

On defense, DT Willie Whitehead had a top game, finishing with 5 tackles. Whitehead also had a sack. Fellow DT Brian Young also had 5 tackles and a sack, and also had a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a defensive touchdown.
Rookie CB Antoine Chapman played a good game, finishing with 5 tackles, while SS Sammy Knight finished with 4 tackles, an interception and 2 deflected passes. RE Charles Grant had 4 tackles and a sack, while SS Josh Bullocks had 2 tackles and a pick. MLB Eric Barton had 4 tackles, while FS Dwight Smith had 3. Finally, DT, Cedric Woodard finished with a tackle, sack and forced fumble.

Stats:

Total Offence: 411 yards
Rushing Yards: 180
Passing Yards: 231
1st Downs: 13
Kick Return Yards: 42
Total Yards: 474
Giveaways: 1
Takeaways: 4
3rd Down Conversion: 5/16
4th Down Conversion: 2/2
T.O.P: 21:25

Combined 4-game Stats:

Total Offence: 1409, ave= 352.3
Rushing Yards: 483, ave= 120.8
Passing Yards: 926, ave= 231.5
1st Downs: 44, ave= 11
Kick Return Yards: 256, ave= 64
Total Yards: 1716, ave= 429
Giveaways: 5, ave= 1.3
Takeaways: 11, ave= 2.8
3rd Down Conversion: 12/48 = 25%

New Orleans will announce their starting lineup for the regular season shortly...

[Dogphins]

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS STARTING LINEUP


QB - Drew Brees (Reserves - Drew Henson, Adrian McPherson)
RB - Reggie Bush (Reserves - Deuce McAllister, Michael Bennett)
FB - Mike Karney
WR - #1 Joe Horn, #2 Donte Stallworth, #3 J.J. Brown*, #4 Devery Henderson, #5 Bethel Johnson
TE - Zach Hilton (Reserve - Mark Campbell)
LT - Jammal Brown (Reserve - Xavier Blount*)
LG - Montrae Holland (Reserve - Fred Matua)
C - Jeff Faine (Reserve - Jammal Jackson)
RG - Mike Graham* (Reserve - Jermaine Mayberry)
RT - Kenyatta Walker (Reserve - Jon Stinchcomb)

LE - Will Smith (Reserve - Jimmy Verdon)
RE - Charles Grant (Reserve - Tony Bryant)
DT - Brian Young, Cedric Woodard (Reserve - Willie Whitehead)
LOLB - Anthony Simmons (Reserves - Al Singleton, James Allen)
MLB - Eric Barton (Reserve - Colby Bockwoldt)
ROLB - Barrett Green (Reserve - Scott Fujita)
CB - #1 Mike McKenzie, #2 Jason Craft, #3 Antoine Chapman*, #4 Fred Thomas, #5 Josh Lay
FS - Dwight Smith (Reserve - Roman Harper)
SS - Josh Bullocks (Reserve - Sammy Knight)

K - Sebastian Janikowski
P - Mitch Berger
KR - Reggie Bush
PR - Bethel Johnson

Captains for 2007:

Drew Brees
Donte Stallworth
Eric Barton


NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 2007 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE


Week 1: at Lost 18-37
Week 2: at Won 52-31
Week 3: at Won 48-10
Week 4: at Won 48-35
Week 5: vs Won 40-17
Week 6: vs Won 30-27 (OT)
Week 7: at Won 20-10

Week 8: Bye

Week 9: vs Won 24-7
Week 10: vs Won 48-10
Week 11: vs Won 56-3
Week 12: vs Won 28-24
Week 13: at Won 51-17
Week 14: at Won 52-7
Week 15: at Won 38-31
Week 16: vs Won 17-3
Week 17: vs Won 40-14