The Saints came up with woeful road performance and may have lost Reggie Bush for four weeks in a 30-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Bush suffered an injury to his left knee returning a punt and will miss next Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers in London. Coach Sean Payton said Bush will undergo an arthroscopic examination on Monday in Birmingham by note surgeon Dr. James Andrews, an LSU grad. He likely will require surgery and will miss three-four weeks.
Bush, who didn't speak to pressboxers after the game, finished with 76 all-purpose yards, including 55 rushing on 9 carries. Starting center Jonathan Goodwin also suffered a injury to his left knee, but it was not believed to be as serious as Bush's.
Bush was having his best NFL season with three punt returns for touchdowns and was the league leader in receptions with 41.
Rookie defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis suffered a torn medial meniscus, underwent surgery, and could return for the game with the Chargers.
Steve Weatherford's poor punting against the Panthers cost him his job. He was cut after the game after averaging 35.4 yards per punt and 30.1 net, which means the Saints will have to sign a punter while they are in London. Wow!
With Bush out of the game, the Saints couldn't get their offense going, failing to score in the second half after trailing 13-7 at intermission.
"I thought we got beat in every area," said Payton. The Who Dat Nation agreed.
The return of receiver Marques Colston and tight end Jeremy Shockey from injuries didn't give the offense an anticipated boost. Shockey lost a fumble led to a Panthers' touchdown. Colston, playing with a plastic splint protecting his left thumb, dropped two passes and and didn't have a catch for the day. Panthers safety Ken Lucas didn't allow Colston much separation.
Carolina stopped the Saints twice on fourth half in the second half. Defensive end Julius Peppers recorded a sack and forced a fumble.
Shockey was frustrated after the game and told the media, "I feel 60 per cent worse now than before the game, and questioned how his team has handled the injury (hernia). "It's embarrassing because I have a reputation I want to uphold," barked the tight end, who also was unhappy as a Giant. "i play hard, but it's hard to do on one leg."
Former Saints quarterback Jake Delhomme is 7-2 against his former team and threw a 39-yard scoring pass to to a double-covered Steve Smith, and a a 4-yard TD to DeAngelo Williams in the third quarter when the Panthers pulled away."
Brees, who had thrown for at least 320 yards in four straight games, completed 21-of-39 passes with 1 interception and zero touchdowns.
"That interception was a big turning point in the game," said Brees. "I put that on myself.
"We're going to miss Reggie. I hope he's not out very long."
The Panthers lead the NFC South with a 5-2 record. Here's Steve Smith take on the game, "It’s just another game that we get to put in the W column to get to 10. It gets easier and easier and we can relax and start looking to games in January and February."
At 3-4 and two games out of first in the division, the Saints will need to pick up the pace in order to contend, said fullback Mike Karney, who scored the Saints' only touchdown.
Statistics show that only 20 per cent of teams with 3-4 records ever made the playoffs.
"You can't turn the ball over and mis-execute," said the fullback. "You're goinng to get your butt beat. no matter who you're playing."
The Saints losses to Denver and Minnesota, games they should have won, likely will become very important to the Saints' playoff hopes.
Deuce McAllister appears to be ready to carry the running load with Bush out. He carried 9 times for 47 yards against the Panthers. He moves a pileup at the line better than most backs in the league.
"I thought I saw more pep in Deuce's step today," said Brees.
Tigers' defense too much for Gamecocks
LSU's defense lost its swagger in a blowout loss to Florida, but the Tigers weren't going to let this one on Saturday night get away.
The Tigers (5-1, 3-1 SEC) allowed the South Carolina Gamecocks only 42 yards in a second-half shutout and got back of their winning ways, 24-17, at Columbia, S.C. South Carolina (5-3, 2-3 SEC), which had its four=game winning snapped, lost by 7 points for fifth time this season.
The LSU-Georgia game on Saturday in Tiger Stadium will be televised by CBS (Ch. 4) at 2:30 p.m.
LSU's defense recorded six sacks for minus-49 yards, helping the Tigers to allow only 39 yards rushing on 312 carries. USC was 1-of-9 on third down.
Starting Tigers quarterback Jarrett Lee finished 16-of26 for 189 yards with an interception that led to a USC touchdown. Lee was spelled in certain situations to backup Andrew Hatch, who was 2-for 3 passing for 10 yards including the game-tying 7-yard TD pass to tight end Richard Dickson with 44 seconds to play in the third quarter.
The Tigers' two-headed running attack of Keiland Williams and Charles Scott provided a powerful punch. Williams, who lost his starting job to Scott before the season because of too-fancy running an his inability to secure the ball, had 72 yards on 15 carries while Scott pounded in touchdown runs of 5 and 2 yards. The second was the game-winner with 4:16 to play in the game.
Wide receiver Demetrius Byrd led the Tigers with 65 yards on 3 catches. Brandon LeFell had 4 catches for 55 yards, while Dickson had 2 catches for 24 yards and a TD.
LSU safety Curtis Taylor intercepted a Stephen Garcia, a freshman making his start at quarterback for the Gamecocks, pass at the USC 42 with 3:57 left. LSU drove to 1-yard line before taking a delay-of-game penalty and kneeling to end the game.
"There was an edge this team had," said Tigers coach Les Miles. "A toughness they needed to vent."
The Tigers players challenged each other in their dressing at halftime to save the season.
"The defense had a lot of swagger," said Miles. "They were awfully strong that second half.
"If our offense, defense and special teams play like they did in the second half, we'll play anybody in the country."
Tigers defensive end Tyson Jackson's take on the game: "We did what our coaches asked us to do at the half. Run around and have fun out there. Something we haven't done in a long time. I think it paid off. Regardless, especially on defense, you just have to have fun. We ran around and made some plays."
The Tigers are still in control of their destiny in the SEC West race.
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: The Hornets have teamed with the Susan G. Karmen Foundation in the fight against breast cancer. A portion of all individual and group ticket sales will go to the Komen foundation. The Hornets are asking their fans to "Pack the Hive in Pink. for the Hornets-Pacers game at 7 p.m. Poms-poms courtesy of Adidas to the first 8,000 fans as well as breast cancer literature and free t-shirts to all survivors. Am Adidas fashion show from 5:30-6:45 p.m. for women is another feature of the evening...
From German to Spain, the Hornets trashed the Wizards in Europe again. Melvin Ely had 19 points with 8 rebounds and the undefeated Hornets routed the Wizards for the second straight night, 102-80, Tuesday night in Berlin. "It's always great to win preseason games, but the most important things is the team's mentality," said Bees coach Byron Scott. "The team's mentality is strong and I think they're getting out to a better start than last season."
HOLLYWOOD SOUTH: The Sony Pictures feature film "Zombieland," starring Woody Harrelson will begin pre-production in Baton Rouge during the last week in October...The HBO television series "Treme" will begin shooting in the first quarter of 2009...The independent feature film "My Own Love Son," starring Renee Zellweger and Forest Whitaker is in pre-production here and in central Louisiana with shooting scheduled from Oct. 20-Dec. 13....The Scott Free Productions feature film "Welcome to the Rileys," starring James Gandolfini and Kristen Stewart is shooting in Jefferson Parish through No. 11...The Faulkner McLain Entertainment feature film "Alabama Moon," starring John Goodman is in pre-production in Covington with shooting scheduled from Oct. 27-Dec. 16.
he Saints came up with woeful road performance and may have lost Reggie Bush for four weeks in a 30-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
