New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has reportedly agreed to join a high-profile list of plaintiffs if the NFL‘s players choose to file an antitrust suit against the league. Several media outlets, including ESPN, have reported that Brees will join Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Patriots guard Logan Mankins as named plaintiffs in the class-action suit, if it comes to that. There would be nine named plaintiffs, according to ESPN.The players union has not taken steps toward decertification and a possible lawsuit yet, though, as the players and owners have agreed to a 24-hour extension in their labor talks.
Tag Archives: New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees reportedly agrees to be named as plaintiff if players sue NFL
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on March 5, 2011
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2011 Super Bowl XLV: Baltimore Ravens Odds
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on March 1, 2011
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The Baltimore Ravens could be one of the better values in 2011 Super Bowl odds as a +1400 longshots to win the world championship of pro football this season. Baltimore finished with a record of 12-4 straight up and 8-7-1 against the spread to finish in a first place tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North but the Men of Steel got the tie breaker advantage. Heading into Super Bowl XLV predictions as underdogs, Baltimore went UNDER the total in 9 of their games this season and finished the season strong with 4 consecutive straight up wins and 3 payouts in that span.
The Ravens will open playoff action in Super Bowl odds on Sunday at Kansas City in the AFC wild card round. The Ravens were 5-2-1 against the spread on the road this year with 5 of their 8 away games going UNDER the total. Defense remains the strength of Baltimore as it has been for the past decade as the Ravens rank 10th overall in the NFL for total defense and 3rd for points allowed. Quarterback Joe Flacco will lead the Ravens as longshot in 2011 Super Bowl XLV predictions after having a nice bounce back season. Flacco finished the year with a 93.6 QB rating, a 62% completion percentage which was good for 3,622 yards and a 25/10 TD/INT ratio.
The Ravens are a well balanced team despite being longshots in Super Bowl odds especially with Ray Rice rushing for 1,223 yards and 5 TD’s. Among their signature wins this year Baltimore defeated the Jets at New York, the Steelers at Pittsburgh and the reigning champion New Orleans Saints at home. The Ravens have the combination of a balanced offense with excellent rushing and a proven defense that could make them a valuable commodity at +1400 in 2011 Super Bowl XLV predictions. Baltimore is well coached and a confident team that won at New England in the playoffs last season.
The good guys and bad guys of Week 12 in the NFL
Posted by admin
on November 27, 2010
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Good Guys: CLEVELAND BROWNS
Bad Guys: Carolina Panthers
Sunday, 1:00 p.m., Fox
Both the Browns and Panthers have underdog appeal, but only one of these teams has gone to the trouble of actually improving as the season’s gone on. For that reason, go Browns. Unfortunately, the game’s biggest beacon of hope, Colt McCoy, is likely out with an ankle injury, so that takes a little of the luster off of this ratings monster. I believe my local sports bar plans to show this game on an 13″ black-and-white TV in the bathroom stall with the dirty toilet that doesn’t flush.
Good Guys: San Francisco 49ers
Bad Guys: ARIZONA CARDINALS
Monday, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
Ah, a classic late-season Monday night gem. I’ll take the 49ers as good guys, because of Mike Singletary’s entertaining turn as the subject of Sound FX on the NFL Network this week. I hope I’m wrong about this, but that show might end up being Singletary’s most valuable post-playing career contribution to the world of professional football.
Good Guys: New Orleans Saints
Bad Guys: DALLAS COWBOYS
Thursday, 4:15 p.m., Fox
My disdain for the 2010 Cowboys has not been kept a secret, and I also believe that the Saints are in the midst of a mid-season shift to beatdown mode. I’ll be hoping for a 55-3 Thanksgiving bloodbath in favor of the Saints. And I hope it makes Wade Phillips’ pecan pie taste extra sweet.
Wild turkey: Pats come back, Saints steal win in Dallas, Jets roll
Posted by admin
on November 27, 2010
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NFL fans were treated to a football feast on Thursday, with three competetive games, one of which featured the wildest Thanksgiving finish in years. A rundown of the day’s action:
The appetizer: New England Patriots 45, Detroit Lions 24
When this game was announced in March, we ran the following headline about the game: “Patriots get to maul Lions on Thanksgiving.” Judging by the score of Thursday’s game in the Motor City, you’d think we were a mix of Nostradamus and Jimmy the Greek. But despite the 21-point margin of victory, this game was a pretty competitive affair that was in doubt for the first 45 minutes.
The Pats only pulled away after a 79-yard touchdown on third down tied the game and broke the Lions’ spirits. Second-year veteran Alphonso Smith(notes) played the role of turkey on that play, getting burned by Deion Branch(notes) and wildly flailing all over the field in his pursuit.
Tom Brady(notes) finished the game 21 for 27 with 341 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, giving him a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 (the second time in his career he’s achieved that mark).
Detroit lost its seventh straight Thanksgiving Day game, the longest streak in franchise history. The team has been outscored by an average of 23 points in those games.
The main course: New Orleans Saints 30, Dallas Cowboys 27
New Orleans stormed to an early 17-point lead and it looked like Thanksgiving in Dallas would be as exciting as your typical Turkey Day in Detroit. But a late first-half field goal gave the Cowboys a bit of momentum headed into the locker room and the team rallied in the second half to take a 27-23 lead.
It was to be one of Dallas’ great Thanksgiving comebacks, on par with Clint Longley’s 1974 miracle against the Washington Redskins. When Roy Williams snagged a key third-down catch, the game appeared all but over. New Orleans had one timeout and Dallas could have run down the clock to under a minute. But before Williams went down, the Saints’ Malcolm Jenkins(notes) somehow wrestled the ball away from him (above). The Saints recovered and Drew Brees(notes) quickly led the team 89 yards en route to a touchdown and a 30-27 lead.
New Orleans left 1:55 for Dallas to score, but the team mismanaged the two-minute drill (maybe it was poor cardiovascular endurance) and couldn’t get close enough for kicker David Buehler(notes), who yanked a potentially game-tying 59-yard field goal a little left. That let Saints coach Sean Payton breathe a sigh of relief. The coach has tried to take one of those pesky pre-field goal timeouts, but it went unseen by the refs. Had an official seen it, Buehler would have had another chance to win the game. Instead, the defending champs got a much-needed victory in their battle with Atlanta for the NFC South crown.
The dessert: New York Jets 26, Cincinnati Bengals 10
An ugly first half, possibly affected by too much turkey and stuffing, was followed by an explosive second. The lowly Bengals took a 7-3 lead into the locker room, but two Brad Smith(notes) touchdowns — one of an end around to start the third quarter and another on a kick return in which his shoe popped off — helped the Jets to what became an easy victory. At 9-2, Rex Ryan and the Jets are living up to the preseason expectations they helped set.
It’s the second-best start in team history.
In gloomy Cowboys season, Dez Bryant emerges as a star
Posted by admin
on November 25, 2010
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Dez Bryant has miles to travel before he can be considered The Second Coming of Michael Irvin, but some early comparisons are inevitable as the rookie wide receiver leads the Dallas Cowboys with eight touchdowns this season (six receiving, two punt returns) in 10 games.
First, there’s the iconic, at least in these parts, No. 88 worn by both (so, too, did Drew Pearson). Physically, Bryant and Irvin are similar in stature (6-2) and weight (at 217, Bryant is about 10 pounds heavier than Irvin was in his prime). Both are tireless workers who exhibit an inextinguishable passion for their sport.
Bryant, 22, has another trait that brings the Hall of Famer to mind: He is powerful, and freakishly talented, when a football sails near him and even more dangerous after he locks his mitts around it.
He’ll be on display when the Cowboys host the New Orleans Saints in the second act of the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day tripleheader (Fox, 4:15 p.m. ET).
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Quarterback Jon Kitna told The Dallas Morning News that he never has seen a receiver with Bryant’s attitude after the catch. Not even Irvin.
“It’s almost as if people around him are irrelevant,” Kitna said. “His goal is to get to the goal line and, if you just happen to be in the way, you’re in the way. He’s kind of like (Minnesota running back) Adrian Peterson out there. … It’s hard for me to even think about that. It’s like a Walter Payton-mentality.”
Dallas defensive end Igor Olshansky says Bryant is blessed with “God-given ability.”
“He is a star, no question,” he said.
Bryant needs only three catches against the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving Day to break the franchise rookie record for receptions held by Bob Hayes (46 in 1965).
In the Cowboys’ last six games, Bryant has outproduced the two receivers, Miles Austin and Roy Williams, who start ahead of him. During that span, the rookie has as many catches as the pair combined (27), and more yards (359) and receiving touchdowns (six), than the duo (267 and 5). Bryant’s 44 receptions for 547 yards trails only tight end Jason Witten (50 catches) and Austin (49).
“Dez is playing lights-out right now,” Austin told reporters.
Unlike Irvin, however, Bryant prefers the silent route when he is not gliding downfield on the go-route. The rookie is nowhere near as effervescent with the sports reporters as the playful, boastful former University of Miami Hurricane was back in the day.
Bryant again ducked the press Wednesday in the Cowboys locker room. He has refused to speak after the last few Cowboys’ games, believed to be still stung by criticism he received following his refusal to lug Williams’ shoulder pads during a rookie “hazing” ritual in training camp.
Rather than wag his gums, Bryant lets his legs do the talking. Still raw and unrefined, Bryant is slowly but surely developing into the impact wide receiver the Cowboys believed he could become.
Cowboys general manager Jerry Jones— he also owns the Cowboys and serves as team president — traded up with the New England Patriots in last spring’s draft to snatch the Oklahoma State underclassman. Bryant was the 24th overall selection, despite lingering doubts by some NFL teams regarding his alleged character flaws and a troubled background.
The NCAA had ruled Bryant ineligible three games into his junior season after he lied about his dealings with former Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders. He subsequently declared for the draft.
Jones, who once coveted a college star named Randy Moss but was deterred by character questions during a period when Irvin was giving the owner off-the-field headaches, remained undaunted this time.
As Bryant continues to try and absorb the basics and the nuances of his position, his reliability seems to have increased after the season’s first month. In late July, he suffered a high-ankle sprain, forcing him to lose out on valuable learning time in training camp. He did not play in a preseason game.
“For him to have missed all the time he missed during training camp and to have had the start he’s had, it has been very impressive,” said Jason Garrett, the Cowboys interim head coach.
“The other part about Dez that can’t go unnoticed is he has a tremendous passion and enthusiasm for the game. At practice, nobody catches more balls than Dez Bryant. He has the trainers throwing it to him, the backup quarterbacks, the coaches. He loves to play the game.”