Saints down for the count
December 17
Biloxi Sun Herald
" Comparing the differences between the way the Saints played when being the home or road team has been glaringly apparent from the top of the roster (Drew Brees) to the bottom (Martin Gramatica or Taylor Mehlhaff). The lone road glory came against the hapless Kansas City Chiefs, with the Saints dropping their other six road tests.
Injuries
Scott Fujita said no one in the league is feeling sorry for the Saints because of the team’s rash of injuries, and he’s spot on. Fellow linebacker Scott Shanle said he’s never seen a rash of injuries like the Saints have endured this season, and he’s spot on, too.
Reggie Bush, Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey, Charles Grant, Sedrick Ellis, Mike McKenzie, Tracy Porter. This isn’t a list of potential Pro Bowlers. Rather, all of these players have missed at least three games because of injuries and nearly all of these playmakers missed more than three contests.
As erratic as the defense has been, the only game in which the Saints lined up with all their starters healthy was in Week 4 against San Francisco. Oh, by the way, the Saints earned six sacks in the 31-17 win past the 49ers.
Jonathan Vilma, Kendrick Clancy, Scott Shanle and Kendrick Clancy are the only four defensive regulars to start every game this season. The Saints had 10 different starting defensive lineups for the first 10 games on 2008 and 11 overall.
With McKenzie, Porter and Aaron Glenn all on injured reserve, the Saints are down to playing their fourth, fifth and sixth cornerbacks on the depth chart. We all saw how that worked out in Chicago.
Offensively, Brees’ success is quite amazing considering the key injuries to the team’s skill positions.
Bush hasn’t been right since his knee injury in Week 7 and may sit out the final two games. Deuce McAllister hasn’t been right all season. Aaron Stecker is out for the season. And that’s just at running back."
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