Peter King
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The Brees Effect case Shadow of Doubt over Rodgers for MVP (Peter King)
Romeo Crennel's Chiefs knock off Packers in interesting Week 15 - Peter King - SI.comBrees, after one of the best games of his career in Minnesota (32 of 40, 412 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, on the bench for the final 12 minutes) is 305 yards shy of Dan Marino's single-season passing yards record with two games left.
"I didn't know how close I was,'' he said from the team bus after New Orleans' rout of the Vikings. "Thanks for clarifying that. It's sort of the elephant in the room, obviously, because it's a record people talk about a lot. But I will not let it influence how we prepare, or how I make decisions in games. When all is said and done, if I have a chance to break it, I'll be happy about it, but it's not going to be the focus of this team.''
New Orleans has won six straight. The Saints might be the toughest playoff obstacle for Green Bay, because they can win in many ways. They've got four running backs who can run in any weather, in the potential January muck of San Francisco or the ice rink of Green Bay. And they have an incredibly accurate passer who's threatening to break the accuracy record he set in 2009.
It might be too late, because Aaron Rodgers has been so good for 14 games, and so consistently good until Sunday in Kansas City. But let's look at the holy trinity of MVP candidates:
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I'd still give it to Rodgers this morning. The MVP should be his to lose at this point. But let's see how it plays out the next two weeks. If Brees sets records for accuracy and passing yards this year, and the Saints finish the year on an eight-game winning streak, it should be a contest.
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November 29, 2011
Posted by Saints News in New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Saints News, Opponents, Packers, Peter King
Peter King Previews Saints vs Packers II
The Saints are so loaded on offense that a running back who didn't dress, fourth-stringer Chris Ivory, would have been the best back for the Giants on Monday. (Heaven knows what's happened to tippy-toeing Brandon Jacobs, who used to be a bruising star. Now, except for an occasional glimpse of the physical back he used to be, Jacobs is a string-the-run-outside, wait-for-a-big-hole-that-never-comes waste of a starting spot. But that's another story.)
Drew Brees has one big star in the passing game: tight end Jimmy Graham. As for wideouts, he can distribute to five good ones who know how to adjust their routes to know what their superior quarterback wants. You can't execute a passing game better than Brees did Monday night, except for one throw -- his 18-inch overthrow of a sure touchdown to Lance Moore in the first half. (Talk about picking nits.)
After the game, I found myself thinking back to the season opener in Green Bay, won by the Packers 42-34. That night, each team scored a special teams touchdown -- New Orleans on a Darren Sproles punt return, Green Bay on a Randall Cobb kickoff return.
Other than the returns for touchdown, each team scored five times that night. The difference: Green Bay scored five touchdowns, while New Orleans scored three touchdowns and kicked two field goals. There were two turning points in the game, one early and one late. On the Saints' first possession, trailing 7-0, Marques Colston fumbled at his 36, and Green Bay quickly scored to make it 14-0. And in the last two minutes, down eight, New Orleans drove the length of the field, 79 yards, to the Packer one-yard line. On the last play of the game, Mark Ingram was stuffed at the one-foot line.
So the final score says Packers by eight, but the Saints were a yard away from a touchdown and possible two-point conversion that would have forced overtime.
My point: I'd love to see these two teams, the 8-3 Saints and the 11-0 Packers, meet again in January. Let's forecast the NFC playoffs.
Green Bay's a near-lock for the top seed, with the 9-2 Niners and 8-3 Saints likely at two and three (San Francisco has a cake schedule remaining, plus one conference loss versus the Saints' three, which would come in as the first playoff tiebreaker with the Saints.) Dallas has to be favored to win the East and be the fourth seed. In this scenario, a New Orleans win in the wild-card round would make them face San Francisco in the divisional round before a possible rematch in the championship game against Green Bay.
It's fun to consider, particularly when you look at the weapons Drew Brees has. They're richer in offense than they were in their Super Bowl-winning season of 2009. Graham is a top-three (and maybe top-one) offensive weapon at tight end, better than Jeremy Shockey. Darren Sproles is more electric and explosive than Reggie Bush. The Saints are four-deep at running back, far better than in '09.
"When you look at 2009, and you look at the guys we've added since 2009 -- Jimmy Graham, Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram -- it's not too shabby,'' Brees said after the rout of the Giants.
It's an offense even Aaron Rodgers could love.
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The Rise of Jimmy Graham - Peter King (SI.com)
In the category of unlikeliest stories of the 2011 season, New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham's journey to premier player status has to be in the top 10. Graham realizes he has no business being an NFL star right now. But after the last three games -- all Saints victories, all 100-yard receiving games for him -- that's certainly what he is. The proof:
| Jimmy Graham's last three games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It's not just the production -- it's the significance of Graham to an explosive offense. In those three New Orleans wins, Drew Brees has looked for Graham 34 times, 11 more than any other receiver in his stable. Graham's 32 catches and 496 yards through five weeks lead all NFL tight ends.
"I've been incredibly blessed,'' Graham told me the other day. "To go from being a college basketball player for four years to playing one season of college football, to the Senior Bowl, the Scouting Combine, and then to one of the most electric offenses in the NFL, with the greatest leader I've ever been around.''
Graham played four years of college basketball at the University of Miami and was a marginal NBA prospect. He might have got invited to an NBA camp after his final basketball season but instead chose to take the advice of Miami football coach Randy Shannon and retired Hurricane and Cleveland quarterback Bernie Kosar, both of whom told him he should use a fifth year of college to try his hands at football.
"I always wanted to come out of the smoke," said Graham, referring to the pyrotechnic display that greets Hurricane football players when they run onto the field for home games. "I also really admired the camaraderie of all the football players who played at Miami. It's such a unique thing."
So he played tight end for the Hurricanes in 2009 and had some modest success: 17 catches. Then came the invitations to the Senior Bowl and to the Scouting Combine. Graham's size (6-foot-6, 260 pounds) and startlingly fast 4.5-second time in the 40 gave the Saints reason to pick him in the third round. After being schooled at the position by another former Hurricane, Jeremy Shockey, for a season, Graham had the training wheels taken off this year by New Orleans coach Sean Payton. The Saints didn't bring the oft-injured Shockey back, and trusted the inexperienced Graham enough to hand him the starting job. Great decision. Brees' faith in him shows through at the biggest times, as in a close game at Carolina Sunday. On one third-quarter series, Brees went to Graham three times, even though Graham had either a safety or cornerback on him.
"It is surprising," Graham said of his ascension to favored receiver status with an offensive juggernaut. "Drew is easily the smartest football player I've ever played with. Each week, our offense evolves and is different ... That's the biggest thing I've had to get used to. We do so many different things each week, and you know on any pass play that Drew can come to you.''
I'll be writing about Graham more in the coming weeks, because his story is an inspirational one about not giving up despite some ridiculously long odds in his adolescence.
The Saints wouldn't be where they are right now without him.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/10/11/week.5/index.html#ixzz1ae2aZ0w8
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Peter King gives Marques Colston some Love
I think before we move too far away from Thursday night's game, I have to give a nod to New Orleans wide receiver Marques Colston. I know he fumbled on the Saints' first series, leading to a short field and an easy second touchdown for the Packers. But late in the fourth quarter, with the Saints down eight and driving to try to tie it up with no timeouts left in the last minute, he did something pretty brave, and smart. Drew Brees threw him a 23-yard post, and Colston made a diving catch with 31 seconds left. The dive fractured his collarbone. If he lay on the turf with, say, 27 seconds left, the officials would have called for an automatic 10-second runoff because the Saints had no timeouts left. Then the Saints ran to the line, Colston knowing his collarbone was broken, and he lined up because there wasn't time to get off the field, and Brees threw a short pass to Darren Sproles, and then Colston had to get back to the line again for Brees to spike the ball. Tick, tick, tick. Finally, with three seconds left, Colston was able to get off the field. Now he's out for at least a month. Those are the kinds of sequences you remember about a player. At least I will. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/09/11/week.1/index.html#ixzz1XmLxrrAE0
January 7, 2011
Posted by Saints News in Featured, New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Saints News, Peter King, SI.Com
SI Writers make Playoff Predictions
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| NFL contributors Peter King, Don Banks, Jim Trotter, Tim Layden, Damon Hack, Jerome Bettis, Joe Posnanski, Kerry J. Byrne, Andrew Perloff & Dominic Bonvissuto provide their playoff predictions. (Send comments to [email protected]) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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December 23, 2010
Posted by Saints News in Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints News, Peter King, Sports Illustrated, Video
Peter King's Report on the NFL Playoffs
Peter King's midweek report focused on the NFL Playoffs. He comments that it is unlikely that Drew Brees would not allow his team to be beaten by a 7-9 NFC West division team.
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December 6, 2010
Posted by Saints News in Featured, New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Saints News, Peter King
Mr. Peter King gives Saints some love this week
Mr. Peter King, of SI.com, give the New Orleans Saints some love this week in his Monday Morning Quarterback segment on SI.com.
H ranks the Saints as #8 overrall in the NFL Didn't we beat the Steelers? Her considers Drew Brees as the #5 MVP candidate. Here is more:
• Drew Brees is very good at the No-Brainer Freeze. Pat Sims is not.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/12/05/monday-morning-qb-week-13/index.html#ixzz17LlD0dbg
• How did Pat Sims fall for No-Brainer Freeze? It'll be a long time before Cincinnati defensive tackle Sims lives this one down. Fourth-and-two, 34 seconds left, Bengals up 30-27, Drew Brees at the line of scrimmage, barking out signals for the Saints in a rising and falling cadence. The play is called "No-Brainer Freeze,'' simply, because every one of the 10 players aside from the quarterback is not supposed to use his brain, and every one is supposed to freeze. No movement is required because there's not going to be a snap, and the play is designed to have the play clock run out or the quarterback call a timeout just before it does. The Saints practice Brees' cadence -- sharp, then lower, then rising, then barking, then slower, then fast.
"There's no way we're snapping the ball,'' New Orleans coach Sean Payton told me from the Saints' lead bus in Cincinnati after the game. "We work on it. You try to bark it out and hope you can get them to jump. Against the Jets last year, it worked; we got their big tackle to jump. But usually teams know what you're doing. In this case, we were going to take the delay and then just try to kick the field goal to tie it and send it to overtime.''
But as Brees got to a particularly loud part of his snap-count, Sims took one false step across the line, drawing a Saints lineman across, and flags flew, and the Bengals got penalized, and Brees, on the ensuing first down, hit Marques Colston for the winning touchdown. "We work on that every week,'' Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said. "We worked on it Wednesday. We told them the Saints did this and to watch for it.''
It's the kind of mistake bad teams make. It's the kind of incredibly miniscule, boring piece of practice that every player dreads. But on Sunday in Cincinnati, it won the Saints a game, and kept them within one game of the NFC South-leading Falcons. That's what draws me to plays like this. I love the minutiae that win and lose games. After 59 minutes, the Super Bowl champs were trailing a 2-9 team, and the crowd was whipped into a frenzy, and it was fourth down, and it looked like the Saints were going for it to win it right here, and here was the cool Brees drawing a lesser player offside to win the game. That's some great stuff right there.
Last week, it was Saints defensive back Malcolm Jenkins chasing after and stripping Dallas wide receiver Roy Williams that led to the Saints' 30-27 victory in Dallas. This week, it was Brees drawing a gullible lineman offside that led to the Saints' 34-30 victory in Cincinnati. That's how good teams play, and win.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/12/05/monday-morning-qb-week-13/index.html#ixzz17LlD0dbg
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October 15, 2010
Posted by Randy Savoie in Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Saints News, NFC South, nfl, Peter King, Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, Sean Payton
Saints Vs. Bucs: SI.com's Peter King on the Saints Biggest Problems
Sports Illustrated's Pete King says he can not help but think of Bill Parcells as he watches Sean Payton attempt to navigate the New Orleans Saints through a potential "crisis of confidence."
"I covered the Bill Parcells Giants for four years in the '80s, and I remember thinking how odd it was to be around the team after a big win and see Parcells growling and unhappy about all the little things they were doing wrong; or sometimes when the team was in a tailspin, he'd be Dale Carnegie, convincing them they were on the cusp of something great if they'd only clean up this or that," wrote King today on SI.com.
King says that the Saints offense looks so out of whack these days it's hardly surprising to find the defending Super Bowl champs in the bottom half of the NFC South after five weeks.
After all, this division has a last-to-first and first-to-last reputation.
King sees the Saints woes as one of those four-headed Bayou monsters.
- The Saints are averaging twelve points less a game this season.
- The Saints interior offensive line, namely All-Pro Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks, are caving in on a regular basis. Evans is the highest-paid O-lineman in the NFL.
- Drew Brees is not throwing the ball effectively downfield and King says this may be a result of the knee brace on his strained left knee.
- The absence of Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas is devastating their offense (a feeling Jon Gruden stated as well this week on ESPN Radio).
"The Saints were sixth in the league in rushing last year, creating lots of favorable second-down situations (second-and-four, second-and-three) that allowed play-calling Payton the luxury of doing whatever he wanted on a quasi-free down several times a game," writes King on SI.com.
"But when you're last in the league on the ground, and averaging an awful 3.26 yards per rush, all of a sudden the pressure to do everything on offense falls squarely on Brees. And you can see the pressure is taking a toll."
And who said the NFL is nothing but a passing fancy these days?
Also, King notes the dropoff in Brees 2010 production. In the yards per-passing-attempt, Brees ranks 15th in the league at 7.09 yards, trailing Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman. One year ago, Brees averaged 8.54 yards per-attempt as he led Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in that all-important category.
After last weeks disappointing loss to Arizona and their novice QB Max Hall, Sean Payton did what his mentor Parcells used to do—accentuate the positive—according to Peter King.
"You guys might look at me cross-eyed but there are the things we're actually doing better than last year." Payton told his team.
Payton proceeded to point out that the Saints much maligned run defense is actually stopping the run a whole lot better this year, 0.4 yards per carry better to be exact. Payton also let his team know that they are surrendering 51 yards less per game in 2010 than they were one year ago.
"In some big-play categories, they're improved," writes King.
Says King: "But in terms of opportunity, they're not better. The Saints had 38 takeaways last year. This year they have eight. They gave the ball twice to Arizona deep in the red zone last week. Some fluky things killed them—like Hall fumbling at the Saints two yard-line and it bouncing fortuitously into the hands of an offensive lineman for a Cardinals touchdown—and stats show that there's no rhyme or reason to fumble recoveries. But it's just one way now that 2010 is different than 2009."
"When you win the Super Bowl,'' Payton told King, "the next year it's either crisis or a carnival. We're taking on a little water right now. But I like this team—not a little, a lot. I have to do a better job as a playcaller. We've got to do a better job protecting Drew, and we've got to give him a consistent pocket. The two greatest allies for a quarterback are a good defense and a running game, and we've obviously got to run it better with who we have."
Yet Payton tells King he sees the glass as half-full.
Hey, things can change quickly in this league. Look at the Giants. Weren't they running Tom Coughlin out of town a couple of weeks ago? One of the biggest challenges that has come into the game in the last five years or so is all the outside influences on trying to do this job well—the media, the influence of the agents and the families. But like I say, I really like this team. We'll be fine.''
However, Peter King writes that Sean Payton may be just sporting a brave face.
"Payton said all the right things, and he said it's early," writes King. " But he has to wonder deep down whether defenses have found a way, without the threat of Bush in space and in motion, and without the interior presence of a strong back like Thomas, to win more than they lose now against the artful Brees. All you have to do to wonder the same thing is to watch the Saints for a few series. They haven't been the same as last year all season -- even when Thomas and Bush were together in the lineup in the first two games."
With late season games against Dallas, Baltimore and Atlanta, the Saints can't afford to surrender much more ground.
Read more New Orleans Saints news on BleacherReport.com
Click to read the original Saints article by Bleacher Report - New Orleans Saints
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October 15, 2010
Posted by Randy Savoie in Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Saints News, NFC South, nfl, Peter King, Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, Sean Payton
Saints Vs. Bucs: SI.com's Peter King on the Saints Biggest Problems
Sports Illustrated's Pete King says he can not help but think of Bill Parcells as he watches Sean Payton attempt to navigate the New Orleans Saints through a potential "crisis of confidence."
"I covered the Bill Parcells Giants for four years in the '80s, and I remember thinking how odd it was to be around the team after a big win and see Parcells growling and unhappy about all the little things they were doing wrong; or sometimes when the team was in a tailspin, he'd be Dale Carnegie, convincing them they were on the cusp of something great if they'd only clean up this or that," wrote King today on SI.com.
King says that the Saints offense looks so out of whack these days it's hardly surprising to find the defending Super Bowl champs in the bottom half of the NFC South after five weeks.
After all, this division has a last-to-first and first-to-last reputation.
King sees the Saints woes as one of those four-headed Bayou monsters.
- The Saints are averaging twelve points less a game this season.
- The Saints interior offensive line, namely All-Pro Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks, are caving in on a regular basis. Evans is the highest-paid O-lineman in the NFL.
- Drew Brees is not throwing the ball effectively downfield and King says this may be a result of the knee brace on his strained left knee.
- The absence of Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas is devastating to their offense (a feeling Jon Gruden stated as well this week on ESPN Radio).
"The Saints were sixth in the league in rushing last year, creating lots of favorable second-down situations (second-and-four, second-and-three) that allowed play-calling Payton the luxury of doing whatever he wanted on a quasi-free down several times a game," writes King on SI.com.
"But when you're last in the league on the ground, and averaging an awful 3.26 yards per rush, all of a sudden the pressure to do everything on offense falls squarely on Brees. And you can see the pressure is taking a toll."
And who said the NFL is nothing but a passing fancy these days?
Also, King notes the dropoff in Brees 2010 production. In the yards per-passing-attempt, Brees ranks 15th in the league at 7.09 yards, trailing Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman. One year ago, Brees averaged 8.54 yards per-attempt as he led Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in that all-important category.
After last weeks disappointing loss to Arizona and their novice QB Max Hall, Sean Payton did what his mentor Parcells used to do—accentuate the positive—according to Peter King.
"You guys might look at me cross-eyed but there are the things we're actually doing better than last year." Payton told his team.
Payton proceeded to point out that the Saints much maligned run defense is actually stopping the run a whole lot better this year, 0.4 yards per carry better to be exact. Payton also let his team know that they are surrendering 51 yards less per game in 2010 than they were one year ago.
"In some big-play categories, they're improved," writes King.
Says King: "But in terms of opportunity, they're not better. The Saints had 38 takeaways last year. This year they have eight. They gave the ball twice to Arizona deep in the red zone last week. Some fluky things killed them—like Hall fumbling at the Saints two yard-line and it bouncing fortuitously into the hands of an offensive lineman for a Cardinals touchdown—and stats show that there's no rhyme or reason to fumble recoveries. But it's just one way now that 2010 is different than 2009."
"When you win the Super Bowl,'' Payton told King, "the next year it's either crisis or a carnival. We're taking on a little water right now. But I like this team—not a little, a lot. I have to do a better job as a playcaller. We've got to do a better job protecting Drew, and we've got to give him a consistent pocket. The two greatest allies for a quarterback are a good defense and a running game, and we've obviously got to run it better with who we have."
Yet Payton tells King he sees the glass as half-full.
Hey, things can change quickly in this league. Look at the Giants. Weren't they running Tom Coughlin out of town a couple of weeks ago? One of the biggest challenges that has come into the game in the last five years or so is all the outside influences on trying to do this job well—the media, the influence of the agents and the families. But like I say, I really like this team. We'll be fine.''
However, Peter King writes that Sean Payton may be just sporting a brave face.
"Payton said all the right things, and he said it's early," writes King. " But he has to wonder deep down whether defenses have found a way, without the threat of Bush in space and in motion, and without the interior presence of a strong back like Thomas, to win more than they lose now against the artful Brees. All you have to do to wonder the same thing is to watch the Saints for a few series. They haven't been the same as last year all season -- even when Thomas and Bush were together in the lineup in the first two games."
With late season games against Dallas, Baltimore and Atlanta, the Saints can't afford to surrender much more ground.
Read more New Orleans Saints news on BleacherReport.com
