The Magical 2006 Season kicks off with a trip to Cleveland.

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The best thing that could have happened for the Saints' STARTING the 2006 season was ...two road games vs. "beatable" teams.

That set the stage for the "Return to the Dome" on MNF ...with a 2-0 record vs. the high-powered running game Atlanta Falcons.

Best case scenario started in Cleveland. This game gave the team confidence vs. GB in week 2, and we know what that did for the rest of the season.

The Saints opened the regular season on the road against the Cleveland Browns on September 10. In the first half, kicker John Carney provided all of the Saints' first 9 points. He put up a 43-yarder in the first, along with a 25 and a 21-yarder in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the Browns offense finally got going as Cleveland QB Charlie Frye hooked up with TE Kellen Winslow on an 18-yard TD pass. Fortunately, the Saints would respond with a 12-yard TD pass from QB Drew Brees to WR Marques Colston. In the fourth quarter, the Browns came close with Frye getting a 1-yard TD run. However, the Saints put the game away with Carney kicking a 20-yard FG to give the Saints the win.
Despite not scoring a TD, RB Reggie Bush had a sound NFL debut, as he ran 14 times for 61 yards, caught 8 passes for 58 yards, and returned three punts for 22 Yards. In total, he piled up 141 all-purpose yards. (courtesy of Wikipedia.com)

Great posting, CD-1! Really 'preciate it, bro. :9:

:gosaints:

I remember those first two games. Many, many posters kept saying that Brees was too short during and after the first two games because he had passes batted down.

where can i download this game and the packer game from 06 those are the only 2 im missing.

The refs really made a bad call on our 1st drive., It was horrible they counted a play that they blew the wistle on. AMAZING. 3rd down was suppose to repeat.

I wonder how many people after this game were thinking that the Saints were gonna have 2 1000 yard rushers after watching the offence the 1st game. I don't think anybody would have believed you that the Saints were become a team that looked alot like Martz Rams and that Brees was gonna throw for the 2nd most yards over a 3 year span after this game.

Great thanks. I wanted to see this.

Defense was AMAZING! 5 sacks, 2 INT's... we constantly got pressure (with the two current DE's) and we were stout against the run. if Drew can have anything close to a defense like that... a DEEP playoff run is inevitable. and i was shocked that Bullock actually caught that ball.
nice post

Hmm, Reggie seemed to look like a real RB in that first game against Cleveland. I would go as far as to argue that he was running the ball better than Deuce, particularly in the first half. He finished the game with a 4.5 yard average and looked to be well on his way. Then the next week, Green Bay came out with a mission to limit Bush's effectiveness. I think he only had 5 or 6 carries the entire game. And from that moment, his carry load decreased and the sort of runs he got also seem to change. I've been somewhat critical but after watching that game, maybe truck man is on to something.

Another observation: For as much criticism as Will Smith gets, he's a pretty darn good player when he is healthy. I watched him get double and tripled team in this game. Last year, he had the hernia injury and I think people are unfairly giving him much more flak than probably is necessary.

Observation #3: We started out the season as more of a run-first team. We really committed to running the ball and had a lot of balance. However, we started passing the ball more during the season. Against Green Bay, we had to pass to get back into the game, and found that we could have success throwing the ball. I think that 500+ yard game against Pittsburgh later in the season really changed the identity of this team.

Observation #4: Having Bush split out wide added a dimension to our offense that needs to return.

Observation #5: We were getting pressure up front though we must keep it in the proper context. This was the Browns and Charlie Frye. But Brian Young made some plays inside. I think Sedrick Ellis is twice the player that Young was, and should really make a huge impact this season under Gregg Williams.

Observation #6: Roman Harper looked more athletic his rookie year and smaller. I can remember how well he played his first five games before getting hurt sort of like Tracy Porter last season. Hopefully, Porter does not regress like Harper did though Harper's decline was, in large part, due to how he was used.

Observation #7: Marques Colston looked like a veteran from day 1.