Observations on the Saints and the NFL after Week 2 of the preseason as they face the Cincinnati Bengals, this weekend:

• The problem with the preseason is that you never have any idea of what it means.
• The Saints will go 9-7 this season, which might be good enough to win the NFC South or at least qualify them for a playoff spot as a wild card.
• Joe Horn's ego has driven him out of New Orleans and Atlanta.  His search for employment will continue until he finds a team that is short on receivers. He'll get one more chance.
• I can't name a person in NFL history who had more impact on the game than Gene Upshaw, who left us this week. He had two different careers in the league and was a giant in each.
• So far, it appears that the Saints have overpaid their defensive ends.
• Marques Colston, David Patten, Robert Meachem, Lance Moore and Devery Henderson will be the wide receivers the Saints will keep if Adrian Arrington goes on the injured reserve list. The Saints are deep at wide receiver without Arrington this season.
• Solid play by defensive tackle Orien Harris may earn him some playing time this season. After two preseason games, he leads the Saints in solo tackles with 11 and has a sack.
• Henderson is the Saints' No. 1 deep threat, better than Meachem.
• Even if the Saints lose to Tampa Bay in the opener, their next three games are winnable. After Tampa Bay the Saints play at Denver and at Washington before returning home against San Francisco, The Saints play better on the road than do at home for some strange reason.
• The Who Dats will go 43 days between home games in the middle of the season, unless they catch a flight to London for the eighth "home" game. If they overcome that stretch, I have every reason to believe the Saints will be in the playoffs this season.
• Drew Brees should have some incredible statistics again this season because it looks like he's going to have to throw the ball as much as he did last season if the Saints are going to stay in games.
• The Saints' pass rush will be improved on paper, but it will have to be to take some of the heat off the secondary.
• Jason David will not make the Saints' final 53-player roster, but how much better are the other corners with the exception of Mike McKenzie are better than him?
• Jeremry Shockey will play about a half against Cincinnati on Saturday night (6:30 kickoff) because the third preseason game is when you put the pieces together for he regular season.
• Deuce McAllister will be called on the carry the ball 10-15 times a game because the Saints have too many other playmakers, including Reggie Bush and Shockey.
• Sedrick Ellis will have a very solid career for the Saints and is worthy of the draft pick the Saints made with him. He'll give the Saints the penetration they need up the middle.
• I'd rather see Marcus Phelps in a Speedo than Hollis Thomas.
• The Saints will not keep two kickers. They want Taylor Mehlhaff to win the job, but Martin Gramatica hasn't done anything wrong on his kickoffs or field goal attempts.
• The Saints must be concerned about safety Josh Bullocks to pick up Lance Schulters this late in his career. He plays only safety.
• If middle linebacker Jon Vilma returns to full health, he can become the best middle linebacker the Saints have had in a long time.
• Maybe it's the players the Saints are signing or drafting, but I don't see any swagger among them.
• As much as I'd like for it to happen, I don;t see Skyler Green make the final roster. The Saints have capable kick returners in Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker and punt returners in Bush and Moore.
• Saints fans in a recent pool, voted Bobby Hebert as the greatest player in franchise history. Give the Cajun Cannon for leading the Saints to their first-ever playoff experience. But Hebert only threw for 20 touchdowns in a season once and his best quarterback rating was 82.9. Archie Manning finished second in the voting. My votes would go to tackle Willie Roaf, linebacker Rickey Jackson or McAllister, Give Brees a few more years with the Saints and there won't be any debate.

SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Eli Manning met Brett Favre in a bar of the Gulf Coast 11 years ago. Manning was only 16 when he was introduced to the quarterback who ruled the NFL at that time. "Where I grew up, I loved watching him play," said Eli, who will play against the Jets' new quarterback on Saturday night. "I was a big fan. He was with the Packers, they had just won a few NFC championships and he was in his MVP seasons. He was at the top of his game. I was fired up to see him." Favre also remembers the meeting that took place at his uncle's bar. Just don't ask him how he got the underage Manning got in. "I can't remember if I helped him get in or what," said Favre. "But that's a different story."Manning and Favre are the reasons why New York has become the epicenter of the NFL universe. And even though it's Manning who is now in the prime of his career at 27, he might still feel like a wide-eyed teenager looking to Favre in awe. "I'm a big Brett Favre fan," said Manning." Peyton's favorite quarterback was Miami's Dan Marino...

Lou Holtz will have a personal highlight on Sept. 13 when the former coach gets his first statue dedication at Notre Dame. "They needed someplace for the pigeons to land,: said Holtz. "I just hope people don't look at it and think I'm Robert Redford. That happens to me all the time in airports." Five favorite Holtzisms:

• "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song."
• "A lifetime contract for a coach means if you're ahead in the third quarter and moving the ball, they can't fire you."
• "It's not the load that breaks you, it's the way you carry it."
• "Life is 10 per cent what happens to you and 90 per cent how you respond."
• "No one has ever drowned in sweat."

A new state-of-the-art FieldTurf surface has been installed at Pan American Stadium in City Park, Pan American is part of the City Park complex which was virtually wiped out by the damage incurred by Katrina, Funds for the installation were provided by the NFL League Youth Football Fund on behalf of the Saints. The new surface will enable Pan American to host a myriad of local sporting events, primarily at the high school level. The first high school game this season is Jesuit vs. Reed on Sept. 4...Saints cornerback Tracy Porter, the team's second-round draft choice, has been a Saints fan from childhood in Port Allen, so when watching last year's Saints, he caught seeeral glimpses of a secondary prone to surrendering a lot of pasing yards. "As a fan, once you see any big play with your favorite team, you ae going to be disappointed," said Porter, who is recovering afrom a hamstring pull, but is expected to play against Cincinnati on Saturday night. Here's coach Sean Payton's take on Porter's play against Houston: "There were some effort plays that bothered us that he needs to clean up. There was a cross where he lost his guy across the field. He's now had a couple of weeks of practice and we'll give him pkenty oif snaps, and also as a returner." "Every day is a job interview," said Porter. "Nothing is given. I have a good opportunity here and i'm going to take advantage of it."...My time is up. Ed Staton can be reached at edcoachstaton@yahoo.com.