No Shockey, Saints Win 13-0

Many Saints' fans were hoping to see Jeremy Shockey (above) make a few good plays Saturday night against the Bengals, but they ended up seeing him on the sideline in street clothes. Just before the game, it was announced that the former Giants tight end wouldn't be playing in the game.

Even without Shockey, the offense seemed to be playing just fine, well, at least the passing part. Duece McAllister rushed 6 times for nine yards, Reggie Bush rushed two times for six yards, Pierre Thomas rushed five times for 46 yards, and Aaron Stecker rushed six times for 29 yards. The late start seemed to be attributed to the insufficient run blocking.

On the passing side side of the offense, Drew Brees completed 14 out of 22 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown, Mark Brunnell completed two of four passes for 19 yards, and Tyler Palko completed 11 of 16 passes for 113 yards and a interception.

Lance Moore had a very active night, catching four passes for 79 yards. Moore seemed be inspired to play better by the cuts that the Saints and other NFL teams will be making soon to get their rosters down to 53 players. The Saints will have to cut five players by Tuesday. Robert Meachem also caught four passes for 71 yards.

After giving up 405 yards to the Texans last week, the Saints defense came to play Saturday night. They accumulated four sacks, an interception (by newcomer Lance Schulters), and forced 10 punts by the Bengals, but you better not put your money on the defense yet because the top three Bengals' wide receivers were out with injuries, but still, it was encouraging to see the secondary make a few plays.

The defensive line seemed to have pressure on Carson Palmer and the others Bengals' quarterbacks all night long, pressuring Jordan Palmer (Carson Palmer's brother) into throwing the interception to Lance Shulters.

The Bengals only racked up 39 yards of rushing Saturday night but that was most likely because of the injury of Bengals starting halfback Rudi Johnson.

As for embattled corner back Jason David, he had one tackle. Rookie corner back Tracy Porter started in his place after his horrible performance last week. Porter had three tackles and one fumble forced.

Mike McKenzie showed the fans that he was doing okay after suffering a season ending ACL tear last year. On one play, he nearly made an interception, diving to make the catch, but it was ruled, incomplete.

Final Score:

New Orleans Saints    13

Cincinnati Bengals        0