Chris Johnson Tennessee Titans running back was named National Football League’s 2009 Offensive Player of the Year. He is the sixth player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
Johnson received 38 1/2 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Saints quarterback Drew Brees came in second with 9 votes.
Johnson, 24, rushed for a franchise-record 2,006 yards to join Eric Dickerson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis and O.J. Simpson as the only NFL running backs to reach the 2,000-yard mark in a single season.
The New Orleans Saints are having a great year in spite of their first loss of the season to the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys came out strong right from the beginning, yet it looked as if the Saints would make their comeback, again, in the last few minutes. The Saints took their first loss of the season 13-1.
(Bloomberg) — The Dallas Cowboys beat New Orleans 24-17 to prevent the Saints from becoming the fourth team to start 14-0 in National Football League history, two days after the Indianapolis Colts became the third.
Even with their first loss of the season, the New Orleans Saints are having a great year. The Cowboys came out with a bang right from the start. It looked like the Saints might make their comeback, again, in the last few minutes, but the Saints took their first loss of the season 13-1.
(Bloomberg) — The Dallas Cowboys beat New Orleans 24-17 to prevent the Saints from becoming the fourth team to start 14-0 in National Football League history, two days after the Indianapolis Colts became the third.
No Matt Ryan? No Michael Turner for the Falcons? No problem for the Saints, right?
The Falcons gave the Saints all they could handle in a thrilling 26-23 game that was not decided until the final seconds. Saints LB Jonathan Vilma made two key defensive plays to seal the win, including a huge tackle on Falcons RB Jason Snelling on fourth down to end Atlanta’s final drive.
If there’s been one moment that epitomizes the New Orleans Saints’ football season, it came last Sunday afternoon outside the nation’s capital. With under two minutes to play and a seven-point lead, the Washington Redskins drove deep into New Orleans’ territory and set up for a chip shot field goal to put the game on ice.
It seemed certain the Saints’ 11-game winning streak was about to come to an end. But in a stunning turn of events, the Redskins’ kicker pushed the ball wide right. The Saints marched down he length of the field in less than a minute to tie the game and then prevail in overtime.
Chris Johnson, the incredible Tennessee Titans running back dashing at a 2,000-yard pace, doesn’t have a chance.
Neither does Philip Rivers, the puckish San Diego Chargers quarterback who has led his team on a seven-game winning streak, rendering irrelevant its 2-3 start.
Even Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, the ancient miracle man of the frozen North, is finding it difficult to compete with the two beasts devouring the rest of the NFL.
With the season officially entering its fourth quarter, though, we shouldn’t dismiss Favre.
Despite the lucky breaks they enjoyed all game, the New Orleans Saints’ bid for an unbeaten season was all but cooked. The Washington Redskins, leading by seven, nursed the ball into range for an easy field goal that would put the game away with less than two minutes to play.
Then Shaun Suisham missed. Wide right from 23 yards out.
“We thought he would make it,” Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said.
If you put the neutral-site game in a dome — which would suit both teams, I’m sure — I’d have to give the edge to the New Orleans Saints right now. Both teams have astonishingly good quarterbacks, and offenses that take good-to-great receivers and make them transcendent, but the Saints have the advantage in their Achilles’ heel. Both teams have one obvious flaw. In Indy’s case, it’s the inability of their running game to get anything consistent going. New Orleans has a vulnerable run defense as their primary liability.
For the second time this season, Saints QB Drew Brees has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance Monday night. Brees finished the game with a perfect passer rating on the strength of completing 18 of 23 passes for 371 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Brees became the second player in NFL history to complete at least 75% of his passes and throw for at least 350 yards,five touchdowns and no interceptions.The only other player in league history to pull off that feat – his opponent Monday night – Tom Brady.
Despite losing to the New Orleans Saints in their NFL preseason opener 17-7, the Cincinnati Bengals had a lot to be happy about. Most significantly, they were elated over the return of QB Carson Palmer after he’d missed most of the last NFL season. His solid performance gave them even more to be happy about despite being on the wrong end of the final score. When you live in Cincinnati, however, you’re used to having to take what you get so Palmer’s serviceable performance led to mass celebration in the streets of ‘The Queen City’.
