joel a. erickson

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Drew Brees saw it before the rest of the Superdome, reached back and let fly, and as the ball spun through the air, the crowd saw it too, saw Tre'Quan Smith running all alone down the right sideline and started to buzz even louder in realization that history...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate A lot of big names made an appearance on the New Orleans Saints injury report this week.But it looks like all of them will play.While linebacker Manti Te'o will miss his second consecutive week due to a knee injury, rookie defensive end Marcus Davenport...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. was the only Saint who did not practice on Wednesday. Ginn has been battling a knee injury,but he has not missed any game time.Linebacker Manti Te'o, who has missed the past two games with a knee injury, returned and practiced on...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Injuries have been a part of Terron Armstead's story with the New Orleans Saints for so long that a few pockets of the fan base seem to have forgotten why the gifted left tackle is so important in the first place.When Armstead was playing hurt, he was...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate WHEN: 7:15 p.m.WHERE: Mercedes-Benz SuperdomeTV: ESPNRADIO: WWL-AM, 870; WWL-FM, 105.3 in New Orleans; KMDL-FM, 97.3 in Lafayette; WDGL-FM, 98.1 in Baton Rouge; en español: WGSO-AM, 990; WVDU-FM, 97.9RECORDS: New Orleans 3-1; Washington 2-1COACHES...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Drew Brees told reporters on Sunday that he's trying to keep his pursuit of the NFL's all-time passing yards record from becoming a bigger deal than it already is.His head coach agrees.While ESPN spends the week touting Monday night's game against the...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The sight of Mark Ingram standing outside of security at the New Orleans airport on Sunday night added an extra layer of celebration to the Saints' third straight win.Ingram adds a back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher to an already-potent Saints offense.He's...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — When the Saints landed in New Orleans in the middle of the night on their way back from dismantling the New York Giants on Sunday, the final piece of their offensive puzzle was waiting for them on the other side of security at the...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New Orleans Saints had a couple of options after losing nickel back Patrick Robinson to a broken ankle last week.Frustrated by problems in coverage and suddenly missing one of their most reliable cover men, the Saints could have...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For the first time this season, there were no heart-pounding theatrics in the final minutes for the Saints.New Orleans was in control of this game nearly from start to finish.Backed up by the first solid wire-to-wire performance...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The NFL finds itself under fire in the early weeks of the season for the league's emphasis on roughing the passer, which has produced 34 flags for the infraction through the first three weeks of this season, as opposed to 16 a year ago.Of those calls, the...

By Joel A. Erickson | The AdvocateThe wear and tear of the NFL season is starting to take its toll on the New Orleans Saints.Running back Alvin Kamara (knee), defensive end Cameron Jordan (biceps) and wide receiver Cameron Meredith (knee) were added to the injury report. All three were...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Drew Brees is playing like he's frozen in time, or at least aging far slower than anybody other than Tom Brady.Brees has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in a 43-37 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.Brees threw...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The New Orleans Saints signed Patrick Robinson this offseason to fill a specific role.Now that Robinson is on injured reserve after suffering a broken ankle against the Falcons on Sunday, the Saints have to find a way to replace him.New Orleans shifted...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate ATLANTA — One of the NFL's most hallowed records looms larger and larger on the horizon for Drew Brees, the man set to take over as the NFL's all-time passing leader.While he's on his way to the big prize, Brees broke another major NFL passing record on...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate ATLANTA — A Falcons punter is never safe in a game against the New Orleans Saints.Steve Gleason's iconic blocked punt against Atlanta in the Saints' first game back after Hurricane Katrina is memorialized in a statue outside the Superdome. Michael Mauti...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate A game between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons always carries a little something extra.But this Week 3 matchup between the two teams could end up being pivotal down the road.New Orleans and Atlanta both opened this season regarded as...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Michael Thomas put a title to his third NFL season on his Twitter account earlier this week.No Record Is Safe Tour, Vol. 3.The first two stops on the tour have lived up to the advanced billing. One week after setting a franchise record against Tampa Bay...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The New Orleans Saints narrowly averted disaster on Sunday.Punchless on offense for most of the day, New Orleans spent most of the day trailing a Cleveland Browns team that hasn't won a game since Christmas Eve of 2016.Then Michael Thomas and Marcus...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate By lore and acclamation, Von Miller and Khalil Mack are arguably the two best edge rushers in the NFL right now. Ezekiel Ansah, Jason Pierre-Paul and Vic Beasley are all in the next tier, capable of tearing apart a team's game plan on any given day.All of...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Three New Orleans Saints who were not spotted at practice on Wednesday were back on Thursday.Wide receivers Michael Thomas (illness) and Ted Ginn Jr. (knee) both returned to practice, and left tackle Terron Armstead (knee) was there for the start of...

WHEN: NoonWHERE: Mercedes-Benz SuperdomeTV: FoxRADIO: WWL-AM, 870; WWL-FM, 105.3 in New Orleans; KMDL-FM, 97.3 in Lafayette; WDGL-FM, 98.1 in Baton Rouge; en español: WGSO-AM, 990; WVDU-FM, 97.9RECORDS: New Orleans 0-1; Cleveland 0-0-1COACHES: Saints, Sean Payton, 11th season, 105-71...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate Finding somebody who can step in for one of the five terrific members of the Saints offensive linemen was a priority this offseason after Senio Kelemete signed a deal to start with the Houston Texans.Veteran Josh LeRibeus got the first chance on Sunday...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate The barrage of points Ryan Fitzpatrick hung on the Saints early in the season opener forced New Orleans to deviate from its plan on offense.And as the plan changed, Alvin Kamara's workload rose.Kamara took a career-high 52 snaps on offense in Sunday's...

By Joel A. Erickson | The Advocate A record-setting performance got lost among all of Tampa Bay’s offensive fireworks Sunday.Or at least it was lost on the man who set it.Unstoppable except for a pair of mistakes of his own making, Michael Thomas served as the engine that kept the New...