Name: J.D. Gold
Email: jdgold@idatasports.com
Date: Tue Sept 19 8:30:48 2006

Headline: Saints Bring Bad Mojo to Packerland
Game MVP:
Offensive Player of the Game: Donald Driver
Defensive Player of the Game: Aaron Kampman

Like a witch doctor with needles and a Packer puppet, the New Orleans Saints tortured the Green Bay Packer fans with a 34-27 comeback at Lambeau Field Sunday afternoon. The Packers jumped out to an early 13-0 1st quarter lead due to some stellar defense play by Aaron Kampman only to see the Saints roar back scoring 20 unanswered points. As soon as the Packers pulled even with a touchdown to make it 20-20 the bad mojo cranked back up again. In a blink of an eye, 26 seconds as a matter of fact, the Saints were back up 34-20 leaving the Pack scrambling to make up a two touchdown deficit late.

OFFENSIVE MVP: "24 KARAT GOLD PLAYER of the GAME" DONALD DRIVER - 8 solid gold catches for 153 yds.

DEFENSIVE MVP: "GOLDEN AXE AWARD" AARON KAMPMAN - chopped down the Saints for 3 Sacks, A forced fumble and recovery, and 4 solo tackles.

"SUSAN B. ANTHONY GOLD COIN PLAYER of the GAME" NICK COLLINS - You kept Reggie Bush hedged in but your pass coverage against the Saints get you the dress this week Nick.

QB: 3 GOLD BARS - Favre was brilliant at times through out the game. Showing anyone who cares he still has the canon, touch, and mobility needed to lead a winning team. 340 yds and 3 tds are a great line but other things still need to be looked at. Let's start with 1-7 on third down conversions in the first half. He also was over shooting receivers all day. Look at the games last series.

RB: 1 GOLD BAR - Ahman Green looked like a player who hasn't played a lot of football in the past year. Like last week he still looks a little rusty in the passing game. He dropped at least three balls he should have and has caught in the past. Look for Green to be sharper with his hands, cuts, and decisions as the season progresses and he shakes off the rust. Yet 16 carries for 42 yds and a fumble, late in the game, need to be improved upon.

WR/TE: 2 GOLD BARS - Donald Driver again showed why he is one of the top receivers in the game. Week in and week out Driver does nothing but bring his lunch pail to work and get the job done. Greg Jennings had a decent game. But he still shows why rookie receivers have a tough time in the NFL. Getting jammed at the line to much or bumped off his routes to easily. Robert Ferguson had nice TD catch. Bubba Franks played so poorly he was benched in the 4th quarter in favor of David Martin. Martin actually had a good game receiving and seemingly played ok at fullback. Mike McCarthy showed a variety of formations and motion to get Martin where he needed him in the running game as the fullback.

OFF. LINE 2-1/2 GOLD BARS - The line played solid at times yet couldn't get much going in the running game. Daryn Colledge played ok in his debut. Rookie guard Tony Palmer made his debut also. A 7th round draft choice of the Rams claimed off waivers a couple of weeks ago , he was asked to bring his 6-1 350 pound body to help out in the running game for a few snaps for the 285 pound rookie right guard Tony Moll. Chad Clifton seems to be a little off early on this year.

DEF. LINE: 3 GOLD BARS - Aaron Kampman was huge. KGB had a sack and a forced fumble which was recovered by Cullen Jenkins. Jenkins was active all day along the line. Corey Williams played more then last week at the expense of Kendrick Allen. Colin Cole should be hanging his head today. Some how he seems to have escaped the wrath of other media outlets for his non-play Sunday. But on Deuce McAllister's 26 yd touchdown run Cole let him right through his arms at the line of scrimmage. But as a unit Drew Brees still had too much time. D-backs can only cover for so long. After the first qtr the pass rush was much more subdued. You can't blame just the d-backs for 353 yds passing. Again the line was tough against the run. Looks as it can be something for them to hang there hat on through out the season.

LINEBACKERS: 2 GOLD BARS - Same things as last week. Great against the run. Not so great in pass coverage. Each week AJ Hawk looks better. As he grow s in the defense he will only get better. He still looks stiff in pass coverage as the entire unit does right now. Including Nick Barnett. It seems as if Poppinga shouldn't be on Joe Horn but it happens at times during games. He needs to bury him at the line. When Barnett is left to roam free and be reckless is when he's at his best. Not in zone coverage were he leaves way to much space and didn't react well to TE's and RB's in his area.

DEF.BACKS: 2 GOLD BARS - A uneven performances by the def. backfield. Woodson and Harris played ok. As did safety Marquand Manuel Even though he looked out of position on more then one occasion. But Ahmad Carroll and Nick Collins looked terrible in pass coverage on multiple occasions. The saving grace for both players Sunday was there refusal to be intimated by Reggie Bush. As both of these guys made several open field tackles on Bush. They also are not afraid to mix it up in run support. This applies to the entire secondary as a whole. But until Carroll and Collins stiffen up in pass coverage look for problems with third receivers, running backs, and TE's isolating these two.

SPECIAL TEAMS: 3 GOLD BARS - Coverage was decent for the most part. The return game was average. Koren Robinsons debut was non descript. Charles Woodson had two nice plays in the punt return game. Late in the game he took a punt up the gut for 7yds knowing he'd get drilled instead of fair catching the ball helping set up good field position. He also showed the presence of mind to not let a gunner down a punt by the goal line. When Woodson saw he was going to down the ball at his 2 or 3 yard line he drilled the guy so he couldn’t make the play. Did Antonio Chatman even know you could do that? How often do you see other returners do that? Heads up play. Jon Ryan keeps booming the ball. 6 punts for 47.7. Dave Rayner drilled the ball as well with three touch backs and two field goals from 24 and 36 yards.

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