CB Jason Craft

Notes: McCoy Added, Stats Padded
Brees' incredible Week 9 performance against the Jaguars wasn't even the best of his own Saints career; Moore, Patten, McKenzie get firsts

posted November 4, 2007 - print me!
neworleansprofootball.com

McCoy Beamed In: The Saints signed linebacker Matt McCoy on Sunday and threw him onto kick coverage teams against the Jaguars, where he made a good late tackle to draw welcoming applause.

McCoy, a starter for the Eagles since he was drafted in the second round of the 2005 draft out of San Diego State, lost his starting job and was cut by Philadelphia last Monday..

McCoy drew a $7500 fine for a late hit on Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. McCoy missed time last year with a neck stinger and in 2006 due to hip and shoulder injuries. Undersized at 5'11", 230, McCoy makes up for his lack of bulk with a non-stop, motor. Aggressive sometimes to a fault, McCoy was a fast riser in the 2005 draft but was made expendable with the ascension of Omar Gaither and the trade for Takeo Spikes.

The Saints placed LB Alfred Fincher (concussion) on injured reserve, and McCoy took the place of the Saints' 2005 third round pick on kick coverage teams.

Brees Fantastic: Brees' outstanding, laser-guided 71.4 completion percentage (35 of 49) is only the sixth best as a Saint. He's already passed for completion percentages of 71.42, 73.68, 72.97, 75.0 in 2006 and last week set his own personal best of 79.49%... Brees' 445 yards on 35 completions would have both been bests in Saints history, if not for his own 510 yard, 37-completion performance last year on November 19 against the Bengals. The seven touchdowns over the past two games are a Saint career best for Brees, though in 2004 he had nine over a two-game stretch including wins over the Raiders and Saints... His 346 yards in the first half was a team record for passing yards in one half...

Touchdown Firsts: Sunday saw WR Lance Moore's first receiving touchdown as a Saint (he had a rushing touchdown in Week 6 in Seattle). It was also WR David Patten's first touchdown as a Saint. It was also - more surprisingly - CB Mike McKenzie's first touchdown as a Saint and only his third career touchdown, his first since 2003. McKenzie has already set a personal career best with 108 interception return yards so far in 2007, including his 75-yard return Sunday. In 2003, McKenzie had a 90-yard return for a touchdown.

Tough Day for Mare: Tough day for Olindo Mare. Facing off against John Carney, the Saints' former kicker, Mare successfully executed a surprise onside kick after nailing a 46-yarder to open scoring, but at the end of the first half missed from 43 yards, then after Jason David intercepted Quinn Gray and Brees hit on three straight passes to move the Saints back into position, Mare missed again from 52 yards, both wide right. Mare later finished scoring with a 34-yard field goal and nailed all five extra points, though like some of his kickoffs, his first extra point conversion was a low-trajectory knuckle-ball laser that often gets blocked. Boos escorted Mare off the field after both misses, though in pregame warmups Mare was making booming kicks that would have been good from from better than 60 yards.

Notes: All three of Steve Weatherfood punts on Sunday were downed on or inside the 20-yard line... Weatherford averages 43.8 yards per punt, only good for 15th in the league. Former LSU standout and Baton Rouge native Donnie Jones of St. Louis leads the NFL in punt average with 50.3... Former Saint first round pick Chris Naeole - the first pick of the Mike Ditka era - started for Jacksonville but suffered an apparent left quadriceps injury and couldn't put weight on his leg. He was carted off the field to some applause and could be lost for the season... The stingy Saints rush defense prevented Fred Taylor from reaching 10000 career yards. He needed 67 and only gained 54 yards against the Saints... The Saints were called for only three penalties on Sunday, and one was declined. The very easygoing referee crew missed a blatant block-from-behind-con-take-down-tackle by Jags backup OL Dennis Norman on Maurice Jones-Drew's 100-yard kick return touchdown in the first quarter... The Saints picked off Quinn Gray three times, doubling the defense's season total, the most team interceptions since last December 3 when they picked 49ers QB Alex Smith three times... Flexible scheduling in the NFL begins in Week 10, but its unlikely any of the next two matchups will be picked up by NBC Sunday night football. The Saints face 0-8 St. Louis at home, then travel to 4-5 Houston. Flex scheduling to move games from noon or 3pm CST kickoffs to Sunday night occurs 12 days before game day... The Sunday after Thanksgiving the Saints will be in Carolina to start critical three-game NFC South stretch that will make or break their playoff hopes. The Saints sit at 1-2 in the division but play Carolina and Atlanta on the road, the latter on Monday Night. New Orleans at 4-4 is tied with the Panthers for second place in the NFC South, and are a half-game behind Tampa Bay (5-4).

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