The Saints and the Chargers play in London's Wembley Stadium at noon on Sunday and hit the city on Monday.They had Tuesday off to sight see and resumed preparations for the Chargers on Wednesday.
Everything is old in London. And they speak something called the King's English there. They drive on the wrong side of the road. Pedestrians are in continuous peril.
Saints running back Pierre Thomas was almost struck by an auto. Defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, who will play Sunday, said he was going to see some historical sights: the gallows where they had public hangings and the torture chambers. Nobody argued with him.
Sunday's game in Wembley will be a sellout, but do those who don't attend really care? There is no buzz about the game on the streets. There are a few posters of Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson on display, but they might as well be Martin and Lewis as far as the Brits are concerned.
A morning edition of The Daily Telegraph featured soccer on the front of the sports page, soccer on the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth pages. Then rugby, tennis, more rugby, horse racing, golf, then Formula One. Saints-Chargers didn't make the cut.
American football madness -- the do not call it the NFL there -- has draped London like a fog.
"I think the basic premise is trying to advance the football into the opponent's end zone," Saints coach Sean Payton said when asked by a British pressboxer to explain American football.
Brees was asked the NFL trying to promote this game abroad like other sports do.
"I think it's great," said the quarterback. I've been to a rugby match in South Africa. I've been to Aussie Rules Football in Australia. I'll have to get myself a soccer jersey from here."
The Chargers will face the NFL's top offense on Sunday. Brees, a former Charger, now in his third season as the pass happy leader of the Saints, likely salivating at the thought of facing the Chargers soft secondary. I'm certain the Chargers regard the Saints secondary the saw way.
London will have to be magical to stop the Saints' and Chargers' topsy-turvy seasons.
The Saints and the Chargers are in London to once again (for the last time?) to salvage a season.
The Saints (3-4) lost at Carolina and San Diego (3-4) lost at Buffalo last Sunday.
The Saints and the Chargers seem resigned to the fact they will come home on Monday either still a contender or a team with little hope of making something of the season. They believe they must be even going into the bye week that follows Sunday's game.
"Both teams are saying that," said Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. They're coming off a tough loss. We're both 3-4 and hanging on at having shot down the road.. It's big. We've got to quit trading wins and losses or we'll be 8-9 and going home. We've got to get this one this week, find a way to bounce back, zero in, get to the off week at .500 and go on a tear. What else is there?"
The weather forecast calls for rain and windy playing conditions.
Like the Saints, the Chargers have struggled with health issues, underperformed to their talent, compiled a better than a 3-4 record and head across the Pond directly from an especially difficult loss Sunday. Like the Chargers, the Saints are still trying to recover from three excruciatingly close losses in the early going. Both were beaten by Denver and Carolina and both beat Oakland.
The Chargers will spend most of their attention on Brees, who's leading the NFL in passing yardage with 2,224. He has the Saints first in total yardage and second in third-down efficiency. Brees is also third in the league with seven interceptions. Intense and intrepid in any case, he's got even more motivation on Sunday.
By name, they are Deuce McAllister, Pierre Thomas and Aaron Steckler, and their legs combined likely can't do for the Saints what injured Reggie Bush's did out of the backfield. The Saints grew even more reliant on him in the absences of tight end Jeremy Shockey and wide outs Marques Colston and David Patten
McAllister could get 20 carries and Thomas and Steckler 8 each on Sunday. "With the weather like it's going to be, we'll need to work on securing the football and the running game more," said Brees.
Lance Moore is only 5-foot-9 and he's no Bush, but he's the logical choice to be Brees' new favorite target.
Numbers
145 -- How many of the Saints' 450 plays from scrimmage this season had Bush carrying the ball or being the intended target of a pass.
7 -- Sacks given up by the Saints this season.
317 -- Yards passing per game by Brees.
83.3 -- Per cent of passes (65-of-78) completed by Brees against AFC teams this season.
31 -- Yards per catch by wide out Devery Henderson, who has 15 total receptions.
Colston who had two drops and was shut out against Carolina, hopes he has made progress in recovering from thumb surgery.
"This week, I definitely want to make a lot of progress. I didn't have my best game in my first game back. This is an important game for the team and a game where I have to step up," said Colston.
Why did Colston have a bad game against Carolina? "There isn't one thing I could point to about whey I didn't play to my potential. It's about getting into the timing and rhythm of things and hopefully I'll be able to do that Sunday,." said Colston.
"I think anytime you miss that significant amount of time like Colston and Jeremy Shockey did. there's an adjustment and a rhythm, practicing and playing with confidence that just needs to be regained a little bit," said Brees. "I'm not worried one bit about either of those guys. It's only a matter of time before we get back on the same page. and take our game to the next level. even better than we have been before."
Brees is going to miss Bush. "He's a big part of our offense. I think just like we've done all season like when Colston and Shockey being out, other guys have stepped up and done a great job. I'm confident that Deuce, Pierre and Aaron will pick up the slack and we'll be just fine."
Brees said he Rivers are friends. "We'll talk occasionally and I see him in the offseason. My wife and I still have a home in San Diego. It's a great community and we spent five years there, five really good years. I'll go back and see him. Things are fine between us. I think everybody always tried to make awkward between us by saying shouldn't you guys not like each other because you're competing against each other. No. I said, because in the end, I think we were both mature enough to handle it. At this point, everything has has worked out best for both guys and both organizations."
LSU
LSU continued its preparations for Georgia with a workout in shorts and shoulder pads indoor Wednesday. The Tigers will scale bu their practice schedule on Thursday and will then wrap up the on-field portion of their preps on Friday with a walk-thru indoors. "Today was a good practice," said Les Miles. "Everybody played and practiced. Ricky Jean Francois praticed all week and is expeted to play against the Bulldogs."
GM Survey: Fun to Watch, Skills
Will the Celtics be the first team to repeat as champions in the NBA since the 2002 Lakers? Perhaps it will be the late version of the Late Show to stop them? Is this the year that the King gets crowed MVP? Which team helped themselves the most this summer? Will the Rookie of the Year come from this year's draft or last year's?
NBA.com posed these questions and more to the league's general managers. Here's what the guys who call the shots think will transpire this season:
Which player is fastest with the ball?
1. Chris Paul -- 37 %
2. Tony Parker -- 18.5 %
3. T.J. Ford -- 14.8 %
4. Leandro Barbosa 11.1 %
5. Allen Iverson -- 7.4 %
Which player is the best offensive rebounder?
1.Tyson Chandler 38.5%
2. Dwight Howard 30.8 %
3. Reggie Evans -- 11.5&
Others receiving votes: Carlos Booser, Elton Brand, Jeff Foster, Paul Gasol and Luis Scola.
Which player is best in open court?
1.Lebron James 37 %
2.Chris Paul -- 22.2%
3. Steve Nash -- 11.1 %, Dwayne Wade -- 11.1%
5. Kobe Bryant -- 7.4%
Others receiving votes: Manu Ginobili, Jason Kidd, Deron Williams.
Which player is the best passer?
1.Steve Nash -- 44.4 %
2.Chris Paul -- 22.2%
3. Jason Kidd -- 18.5%
4. Deron Williams --3.7%
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Since the BCS was formed in 1998, only two teams that debuted at No. 1 went on to win the national title -- Florida State in 1999 and USC in 2004. Starting out on top is not necessarily an amen or an omen. By contrast, LSU in BCS history, has won two national titles despite spending only two total weeks at No. 1. Nobody has closing speed like the Tigers. It will be seriously tested this season. Last year, LSU was No. 7 in the BCS on the final Saturday and No. 2 on the final Sunday. In 2003, the Tigers opened at No. 12 in he first BCS standings and came all the way back. Ask Oklahoma and USC about it...
The Chiefs have claimed former Saints punter Steve Weatherford. He said he would be filling in for for Chiefs regular punter Dustin Colquitt, who is injured. So this might be a temporary gig...Ex-Tulane quarterback Steve Ramsey has be declared out for the season at Denver. He re-injured his right throwing elbow, which had been bothering him since the third preseason game...Jim Haslett, new Rams coach with a 2-0 record, on how he looks at the NFL: "I really don't know the records of the league right now because I know we're not in the mix so I'm not really worried about it." When he goes home on Sunday and Monday nights and watches television, he views games for entertainment only...LSU has lost two commitments over the past several days, but neither is a top 20 prospect at their positions, according to Rivals.com. Willie Ferrell, the No. 29 outside linebacker in the nation out of Tallahassee, Fla., is no longer committed to the Tigers. He is now considering Ole Miss among others. No. 25 receiver Rantavious Wooten of Belle Glade, Fla. changed his mind about LSU and signed with Georgia.
