Week 6 Detroit Lions Pride Report

By Sonja Greenfield // @Mom23RN

Lions 38 – 52 Saints

The Lions were in New Orleans today to take on the Saints. In the recent past, the Superdome hasn’t been a bad place to play for the Lions. The last 2 times they played there, they’ve won. They’ve one the last 3 games against the Saints. Coming off of a loss at home to the Carolina Panthers, the Lions came into the Superdome to try and right the ship. Well, that didn’t go to well. Tons of injuries, turnovers, and just “Shanahan-igans” all around. It was a regression from earlier in the season. Not exactly what the team was going for this week.

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Previewing Lions vs Saints

By Sonja Greenfield // @Mom23RN

Coming off of a loss at home to the Carolina Panthers, the Lions get to travel to New Orleans to take on the New Orleans Saints. I decided to chat with an old friend, Greg Barber. Greg is a huge Saints fan. We’ve had him on our podcasts and webcasts before, and it’s always fun getting to talk to Greg! Then at the end, he switched it up and asked me some questions! Continue reading “Previewing Lions vs Saints” →

Cue The Adrian Peterson Era in Arizona

by Page Gerrick Denny // @PDenny29

The Arizona Cardinals made a stunning move this morning by trading a conditional 2018 sixth-round draft pick for New Orleans Saints running back Adrian Peterson, and for the second time this year have released running back Chris Johnson.

This move to add a running back comes a month after their September roster addition of former Patriots running back D.J. Foster, who played college football just 30 minutes away, at Arizona State University.

Trade! The New Orleans Saints have traded Adrian Peterson to the Arizona Cardinals for a conditional pick per sources

— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) October 10, 2017

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Watch Out For The Saints

By Christy Chauvin // @WhoDatWarriors
Saints 34 – 13 Panthers

On a day when hope seemed to slip away, hope peeked over the clouds at Bank of America Stadium and turned on a dime. There were dark whisperings; the Panthers’ offense was sputtering but none knew how much until it was exposed in a familiar matchup.

The Saints defense took advantage of the Carolina offensive struggles and absence of strategic players. But the surprise of the afternoon was how the dominance of the Saints offense (sans their strategic players) held sway over the vaunted Panthers’ defense. Continue reading “Watch Out For The Saints” →

Panthers Good, Bad, Ugly and Beautiful

By Kristen Swift // @kswift_RN

Saints 34 – Panthers 13

Charlotte, NC– Entering their third game of the 2017 season, the Carolina Panthers had defensive momentum on their side. That momentum dissipated quickly on Sunday. After two impressive first series, that momentum disintegrated into two field goals. Here is the Good, Bad, Ugly and Beautiful from Sunday’s game.

The Good: Running back Jonathan Stewart ran extremely hard on Sunday. He now only trails former Carolina Panther running back (breast cancer advocate extraordinaire) Deangelo Williams by 46 yards for the franchise record. Running back Christian Mccaffrey had the first 100-yard receiving game by a running back in Carolina since 2011. ( Hey, Stewart!!)

Wide receiver Samuel Curtis has the longest rush of the season for 30 yards.

Only one penalty for each team. Kicker Graham Gano is 8 for 8. He should be 9-9 (see the bad)

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Patriots Right the Ship vs Saints

By Traci MCartney // @traciamc

Sunday, September 17: 36 – 20 Win

After the home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on the national stage last week, the New England Patriots needed to come out of Week 2 with a convincing win. They completed that task with a win in New Orleans over the Saints, 36-20. Tom Brady looked like well, Tom Brady, throwing for over 400 yards and three touchdowns, completing 30 of 39 pass attempts, earning him an impressive 139.6 passer rating.

With Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola out on offense, and Dont’a Hightower out on defense, it was unclear how the team was going to perform. But faith in Bill Belichick and the rest of the coaching staff insured that the Patriots, even on the road, would bounce back from their loss the week before.

The offense really came to life, with three touchdowns in the first quarter, with passes to Rex Burkhead, Rob Gronkowski and Chris Hogan respectively. Brady even played referee, making a case for the crew to pick up the flag thrown for an illegal pick since the block was within one yard from the line of scrimmage limit. Mike Gillislee scored a fourth touchdown in the second quarter following fullback James Develin into the end zone, and with a 28 yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal, the Patriots had 30 points by halftime, allowing only 13 for Drew Brees and the Saints.

But as good as the offense was, there was a price – injuries. Rex Burkhead and Rob Gronkowski both left the game with rib and groin injuries respectively. Gronk’s injury was particularly concerning, as it looked at first like he might have reinjured the back which caused him to miss the end of the 2016 season and the Super Bowl. Continue reading “Patriots Right the Ship vs Saints” →

Saints Versus Vikings Week One 2017 NFL Season

By Christy Chauvin // @WhoDatWarriors

Vikes! Yikes!!

It all went terribly bad quickly on a bad, bad, terrible night in Viking land.

Shades of Brett Favre and the 2009 NFC Championship game haunted this game when comparing how the franchises seem to be going in opposite directions. Even memories of the famous kick by Garrett Hartley could not make this game palatable.

Not only was the loss of Zach Strief and Terron Armstead felt but Max Unger and Larry Warford both struggled mightily according to Profootball Focus (PFF) stats. The run game was non-existent (Adrian Peterson–come on down) and the loss of Willie Snead was felt. Most players stayed in on offense to protect Brees leaving precious few wide receivers against the Vikings secondary.

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New Orleans Saints Sign Orlando Franklin to One Year Deal

By Christy Chauvin // @WhoDatWarriors

The New Orleans Saints break out into a rendition of “O, Canada” once again as they sign Canadian raised Orlando Franklin to a one-year deal.

Franklin is a Jamaican-born professional football guard raised in Toronto who now plays for the New Orleans Saints.

This veteran guard started all 16 games for the San Diego Chargers last year. Franklin’s release this offseason by the Chargers was seen as a cost-cutting move. But the truth may lie deeper than that. Prior to being on the Chargers roster, he was an offensive lineman for the Denver Broncos. With the Broncos, he excelled in their zone-blocking scheme; whereas the Chargers employ a power-gap scheme.

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Quick 5 With Christy Chauvin, Saints OR

Come chat Saints with me // @WhoDatWarriors

NF: Where did you learn about football – When? and from Who?

CC: I learned football on my Pop’s knee. He was a semi-pro player, and our family went to football games all the time. It is woven into the very fibre of my being. We went to high school games on Friday, Tiger Stadium on Saturday and before the New Orleans Saints came into existence, we rooted for the Detroit Lions.

My Dad took us to the first Saints game in Tulane Stadium, and he has been a Saints ticket holder since day one. He would put two TVs side by side to watch two games at once and have the radio on as well. He is a wild man when it comes to football. On Thanksgiving he and my younger brother come over and we watch football all day together.

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New Orleans Saints Select Al-Quadin Muhammad

By Christy Chauvin // @WhoDatWarriors

The New Orleans Saints selected Al-Quadin Muhammad with their last pick of the 2017 NFL draft. There was faint expectation for this pick given its position in the draft but the Saints, who never fail to surprise, pulled off a bit of an upset with the selection of Al-Quadin Muhammad.

His ESPN draft profile reads like a dream for a pass rusher.

Pass Rush Skills	3	Shoots hand inside and jacks up blockers with initial punch. Above average initial quickness and flashes ability to win with speed to power. Tracks quarterback as he works upfield and sheds in proper direction. Average bend and adequate closing speed. Room for improvement when it comes to double and quick inside moves. Appears to have long arms and gets hands up when doesn’t get to the quarterback.
Versus the run	3	Flashes ability to shoot gaps and disrupt plays in the backfield. Lean lower body and gets overwhelmed at times but does a better job of setting edge than other edge defenders with similar size. Strong and plays with good pad level for the most part. Shoots hands inside and stacks much bigger blockers though needs to shed quicker at times. Effective wrap-up tackler between the tackles. Some tightness in hips and concerned about ability to regularly make open field tackles. Good effort and sound angles but quicker than fast and struggles to chase down backs on a straight-line.
Versatility	2	Ideally fills out frame but best long-term projection is at LDE. That said he is a 3-4OLB candidate with experience lining up in two-point stance and off the line. High-cut and more effective attacking upfiield but has experience dropping and has enough range to hold up in underneath coverage.
Instincts/Motor	2	Plays with a chip on shoulder and good fight taking on bigger blockers. Relentless would be an overstatement but good effort chasing the run and average to slightly above average effort rushing the passer. Flashes ability to fight through double teams.

Al-Quadin Muhammad’s issues off the field have hampered his ability to develop on the field. He has missed two of the past three seasons because of a suspension and dismissal. The University of Miami suspended him for the 2014 season after he allegedly punched a former student in the face in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot. Al-Quadin Muhammad was dismissed from the team because the university believed a Miami Beach car dealership gave him free use of an exotic car, which is an NCAA violation.

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