When I glanced at the second quarter score of the Miami Dolphins vs. New Orleans Saints game this afternoon, I was shocked but convinced the Dolphins—with a 24-3 lead—were for real and had found a way to put the brakes on the NFL’s highest-scoring offense. I reasoned that the Saints were, perhaps, not the same explosive team outside the friendly confines of the New Orleans Superdome. Then I quickly gathered my senses, remembering how quarterback Drew Brees and company rallied for 17 points in the 4th quarter to beat the Buffalo Bills four weeks ago.
So why wouldn’t they do the …read more

Did you have Drew Brees on your fantasy team today? Good for you. Drew tied a New Orleans Saints record (as well as tying his personal best) with six touchdowns in a 45-27 thumping of the Detroit Lions. He also had 358 yards passing. Which means Drew is merely picking up where he left off last season—he threw for 5,069 yards (just 15 measley yards shy of Dan Marino’s record for a single season) and was the NFL’s 2008 Offensive Player-of-the-Year. Of course, before Saints fans start making their Super Bowl reservations, they need to remember they …read more

The San Diego Chargers made a verbal commitment to quarterback Philip Rivers when they let Drew Brees escape to New Orleans three years ago. Today they made a financial commitment, giving Philip a six-year contract extension good for $92 million ($38.5 million is guaranteed). Clearly, this is the quarterback of the future for the San Diego Chargers.
The deal makes sense. Philip is one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL and his 36-18 record (including the playoffs) proves it. So the Bolts were determined not to let him get away. And they put him in a happy place for …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year today. Drew was a great choice. All he did was re-write the Saints’ record books this season. He became just the second player in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards in a single season and he had a team-record and league-leading 34 touchdown passes. Naturally, he spoke of team first:
“I don’t come out from week to week and say I have to throw for 300 (yards). I don’t think about that. It’s really about what I can do to …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Of all those players who were unfortunately snubbed for the 2009 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl (and there will always be a bunch), San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has to be the most glaring omission. I mean, be serious. Philip leads the entire NFL with a 101.4 passer rating and touchdown passes thrown with 28 (tied with Drew Brees). Obviously, the fact the disappointing Chargers are just 6-8 and about to miss the playoffs worked against him, but if these are individual honors (which they are), Philip should be on the AFC roster.
Source: NFL.com

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Here is the NFC Pro Bowl roster. Starters are listed in bold.
OFFENSE
QB: Kurt Warner, Cardinals; Drew Brees, Saints; Eli Manning, Giants
RB: Adrian Peterson, Vikings; Michael Turner, Falcons; Clinton Portis, Redskins
FB: Mike Sellers, Redskins
WR: Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals; Anquan Boldin, Cardinals; Steve Smith, Panthers; Roddy White, Falcons,
TE: Jason Witten, Cowboys; Chris Cooley, Redskins
T: Jordan Gross, Panthers; Walter Jones, Seahawks; Chris Samuels, Redskins
G: Chris Snee, Giants; Steve Hutchinson, Vikings; Leonard Davis, Cowboys
C: Andre Gurode, Cowboys; Shaun O’Hara, Giants
DEFENSE
DE: Justin Tuck, Giants; Julius Peppers, Panthers; Jared Allen, Vikings
DT: Kevin …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees received 951,246 votes to lead all NFL All-Stars in fan balloting for the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl. N.Y. Jets quarterback Brett Favre (880,833 votes) ranks second overall, while N.Y. Giants quarterback Eli Manning (821,852 votes), Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis (767,817 votes) and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner (673,710 votes) round out the top-five. Here is the list of Top-Ten vote-getters for the 2009 National Football League Pro Bowl:

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Brett Favre, N.Y. Jets
Eli Manning, N.Y. Giants
Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins
Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
Larry …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Bad news for New Orleans Saints receiver Marques Colston. He had surgery on his left thumb yesterday and will be out 4-6 weeks. Marques tore a ligament after taking a helmet-first hit to his hands from Tampa Bay Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber last Sunday. Head coach Sean Payton assessed the damage to his top receiver:
“He has a left thumb that he had a procedure done on yesterday. It’s a ligament in his left thumb and basically the surgery was to stabilize the thumb. It’s going to take some time. He had that done yesterday. It’s …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Finally, the other guys. After two weeks of going against teammates in training camp, all NFL clubs will be able to see a real, live opponent this weekend. It’s the first full weekend of NFL preseason football, bookended by nationally televised games tonight and Monday night.
Tonight – New Orleans at Arizona (ESPN, 8 p.m.) New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who has completed the most passes for the most yards in the NFL over the past two years, thinks there is always room for improvement — by himself and his team. He wants to get back …read more

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL
ESPN.com blogger Pat Yasinskas watched New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey and quarterback Drew Brees working overtime together after both team practices today. Some speculation is that Jeremy is lobbying for passes to be thrown his way. Or that maybe he’s making a conscious effort to be a good teammate. Either could be true, but I think it’s more likely that:

Jeremy needs the extra time getting to know the Saints offense.
Jeremy needs more time to “bond” with his quarterback. Every QB throws the ball differently and the extra time spent with Drew …read more