NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 2009 WEEKLY MEDIA INFORMATION GUIDE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS VS. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS NOV. 30, 2009 @ LOUISIANA SUPERDOME GAME INFORMATION • ROSTERS • DEPTH CHART STATISTICS • MINIBIOS • CLIPS NEW ORLEANS SAINTS HOST NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS IN MONDAY NIGHT MATCHUP Following a 38-7 victory in Tampa Bay, plete only 17-of-33 passes for 126 yards with one where efficiency on offense, defense and special touchdown, three interceptions, one lost fumble teams carried them to the finish, the New lost and a 33.1 passer rating. DE Will Smith con- Orleans Saints will seek to at least retain their tinued his dominant play in the month of one game lead atop the NFC standings under the November with five tackles and one sack, his shine of Monday Night Football when they host sixth quarterback takedown in four games. He the New England Patriots (7-3) on a nationally leads the club and is tied for second in the NFC televised contest. and fifth in the NFL with 8.5 sacks and three The Saints enter the matchup against forced fumbles. Rookie CB Malcolm Jenkins one of the NFL’s top juggernauts, who have col- recorded an interception in his first NFL start, lected four Super Bowl appearances and three while he was joined in the pick parade by S Chris championships over the past ten years, with a Reis and LB Jonathan Vilma. 10-0 record, riding their first ten game win streak Monday’s matchup will feature two of in franchise history. The Saints and the the NFL’s most prolific offenses over the past Indianapolis Colts are the only unbeaten NFL three seasons, as both the Saints and the teams remaining entering week 12. Patriots rank among the league leaders in both The Saints outgained the Buccaneers points scored and net yardage during this period. 370-219 on Sunday, while holding an explosive 2009 is no different as the Saints, led by Brees, Tampa special teams unit at bay. The offense his weapons in the passing game and a vastly was powered by a run game featuring RBs improved running attack are ranked first in the Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell, who combined NFL in both yardage and scoring, averaging for 167 yards on the ground and two touch- 420.5 yards per game and 36.9 points per game. downs. QB Drew Brees was 19-of-29 passing for New England, led by QB Tom Brady and his vast 187 yards with three touchdown throws, zero arsenal of playmakers, is ranked second offen- interceptions and a 118.0 passer rating in just sively, averaging 416.1 yards per game and are over three quarters of work. Two of Brees’ scor- ranked third with 29.0 points per game. ing passes went to WR Robert Meachem, who Both clubs have also experienced suc- has grabbed four touchdowns in the last three cess on the defensive side of the ball as well in contests to give him six on the season. 2009. New Orleans has forced an NFL-high 29 Despite missing both starting corner- turnovers, while the Patriots have allowed 16.4 backs, the Saints put together one of their most points per game, the second-lowest figure in the dominating defensive displays of the season, league and have allowed only 296.7 yards per allowing Bucs rookie QB Josh Freeman to com- game to rank sixth defensively. SAINTS SCHEDULE/RESULTS GAMEDAY AT A GLANCE PRESEASON • DATE: Monday, Nov. 30 • TIME: 7:30 p.m. • SITE: Louisiana Superdome Date Opponent Time/Network • WORTH NOTING: The Saints will be trying to Aug. 14 CINCINNATI BENGALS W, 17-7 win six straight home games for the first time in Aug. 22 @ Houston Texans W, 38-14 club history...If Atlanta loses or ties on Sunday, Aug. 29 @ Oakland Raiders W, 45-7 the Saints would clinch the NFC South with a Sept. 3 MIAMI DOLPHINS L, 7-10 win...New Orleans ranks first in the NFL in REGULAR SEASON offense, fifth rushing and sixth passing the Sept. 13 DETROIT LIONS W, 45-27 ball...New Orleans is ranked 17th defensively, Sept. 20 @ Philadelphia Eagles W, 48-22 20th against the run and 15th versus the pass The Patriots are ranked second offensively, 15th Sept. 27 @ Buffalo Bills W, 27-7 rushing and second passing...New England is Oct. 4 NEW YORK JETS W, 24-10 ranked sixth defensively, 15th against the run Oct. 11 BYE and sixth against the pass...Monday night’s con- Oct. 18 NEW YORK GIANTS W, 48-27 test will be nationally televised on ESPN with Oct. 25 @ Miami Dolphins W, 46-34 Mike Tirico handling play-by-play, Jon Gruden Nov. 2 ATLANTA FALCONS W, 35-27 and Ron Jaworski serving as color analysts Nov. 8 CAROLINA PANTHERS W, 30-20 and Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya on the sidelines...The game can heard regionally on Nov. 15 @ St. Louis Rams W, 28-23 the Saints Radio Network (WWL 870 AM and Nov. 22 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers W, 38-7 105.3 FM locally) with Jim Henderson handling Nov. 30 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 7:30/ESPN play-by-play, Hokie Gajan serving as color ana- Dec. 6 @ Washington Redskins Noon/FOX lyst and Kristian Garic reporting from the Dec. 13 @ Atlanta Falcons Noon/FOX Saints sidelines...A Spanish language broadcast Dec. 19 DALLAS COWBOYS 7:20/NFLN can be heard on WFNO 830 AM with Emilio Dec. 27 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS Noon/FOX Peralta handling play-by-play and Marco Jan. 3 @ Carolina Panthers Noon/FOX Garcia serving as color analyst. WEEK 12: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS VS. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS SAINTS-PATRIOTS PREVIEW NEW ORLEANS-PATRIOTS SPECIFICS SUPERLATIVES THE COACHES A look at the top individual performances for Saints Saints coach Sean Payton has posted a record of players against the Patriots in the previous 11 meet- 35-23 in the regular season and 1-1 in the postseason. ings between the two clubs. New Orleans has never He is the lone head coach in club history to open a had a player post a 100-yard receiving day vs. New season with ten straight wins and post a ten-game win- England: ning streak, and has the top all-time winning percent- age (.604) for a Saints head coach. His 18-11 (.621) RUSHING YARDAGE vs. PATS (100+yards) home record and 17-12 (.586) road mark are both the • RB Rueben Mayes – 33 carries for 157 yards, top winning percentages in club history. Payton has @ the Louisiana Superdome, Nov. 30, 1986. recorded a 27-16 (.628) mark vs. NFC opponents. In • RB Mario Bates – 15 carries for 123 yards, @ 2006, he took the Saints to the NFC Championship Foxboro Stadium, Dec. 3, 1995. and was named the NFL Coach of the Year by most • RB Dalton Hilliard – 28 carries for 106 yards, @ major media outlets. Payton was hired as New Sullivan Stadium, Nov. 12, 1989. Orleans’ 14th head coach on January 18, 2006, after serving on the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff from PASSING YARDAGE vs. PATS (250+yards) 2003-2005. He has successfully overtaken a rebuild- • QB Aaron Brooks – 27 of 50 for 343 yards, @ ing project by reshaping the majority of the team’s ros- Foxboro Stadium, Nov. 25, 2001. ter, with only eight players remaining from the 2005 • QB Aaron Brooks – 16 of 39 for 307 yards, @ campaign. Prior to joining the Cowboys, Payton served Foxboro Stadium, Nov. 20, 2005. on the New York Giants staff from 1999-2002, includ- • QB Archie Manning – 24 of 39 for 301 yards @ ing the final three seasons as offensive coordinator. Schaefer Stadium, Dec. 21, 1980. His tenure was highlighted by a Super Bowl berth in • QB Danny Wuerffel – 25 of 47 for 278 yards, his first full season in New York as offensive coordina- @ the Louisiana Superdome, Oct. 4, 1998. tor. Payton’s prior NFL coaching experience came as quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles from LAST MEETING 1997-98. Nov. 20, 2005: Patriots 24, Saints 17 @ Gillette New England head coach Bill Belichick is in his Stadium – QB Tom Brady threw three touchdown tenth season as the head coach of the Patriots. He is passes and New England held off a fourth quarter rally the only head coach in NFL history to win three Super by New Orleans after the defending Super Bowl Bowls in four years, and his 15-4 record in the post- Champions jumped out to a two touchdown lead in the season in the postseason is the second-best in league first half. record books. He is in his 35th season as an NFL The Patriots held a 24-7 lead after a 37-yard field coach and was hired by New England on January 27, goal by K Adam Vinatieri with 7:52 left. New Orleans 2000. In 2007, Belichick led the Patriots to the NFL’s rallied with 10 points in the final five minutes and had first 16-0 regular season, becoming only the third a chance for a potential tie on the last play of the coach in NFL history to do so. Belichick has recorded game, but QB Aaron Brooks’ pass intended for WR a 160-93 record overall and owns a career winning Joe Horn was intercepted in the end zone by FS percentage of .632, which is third all-time. His overall Eugene Wilson as time expired. record of 123-48 with the Patriots gives him the most With 1:36 and one timeout remaining, the Saints victories and the best winning percentage (.719) of any took over at their 22 following a punt and marked to the head coach in franchise history.