Photo by Jonathan Bachman

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Despite not having found any evidence to support this on the internet, I’m thoroughly convinced that their’s some sort of direct correlation between the number of kickers a team cuts and its number of losses. As of right now, the Saints have cut not one, not two, but four kickers to date. The Saints record in that same span? 4–4.

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Photo by Jonathan Bachman

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There really is no way to hyperbolize the magnificence that is Drew Brees this season. He’s unquestionably the NFL’s best quarterback at the half-way point of the season. But with people throwing around words like “MVP“, it’s good time to really look at the case being made for Brees as MVP.

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First, though, I’d be remiss to ignore this amazing tidbit from the Elias Sports Bureau:

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Drew Brees completed 30 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints’ 37-32 victory over the Chargers. Only four other players in NFL history passed for at least 300 yards and three TDs in a victory in their first game against a former team: Steve McNair against the Titans (2006), Mark Brunell against the Jaguars (2006), Wade Wilson against the Falcons (1993), and Sonny Jurgensen against the Eagles (1964).

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Photo by Jonathan Bachman

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Remember how we talked about the NFL being a cruel mistress? Well, yesterday doesn’t change any of that. The Saints are still in last place in their division and they still need to win somewhere between six and seven of their final eight games. Their defense still had some glaring holes in it and the running game is still nearly non-existent. The Saints remain alive in the playoff hunt, but so are 10 other teams.

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Yes, the Saints still have a long road ahead of them, but a win is a win is a win and isn’t it makes the flight back a lot easier.

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Photo by Jonathan Bachman

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Forgive me for being a little late on this (thank you, Cox Cable) but yes, Deuce McAllister (along with Will Smith and Charles Grant) have reportedly violated the NFL steroids policy.

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And people thought this season couldn’t get any worse.

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Photo by Jonathan Bachman

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The NFL is a cruel mistress. One week, she lavishes you with praise, adulation and a floundering team for you to beat into submission. The next she’s suddenly smacking you around and throwing your stuff out the window, leaving you bewildered and confused and trying to figure out where it all went wrong.

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But rarely are the ups and downs so drastic as the Saints winning by 31 points one week and then losing by 23 the next. Unless you’re, say, the Carolina Panthers who lost by 24 points at Tampa before unleashing on the Black and Gold.

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So maybe this isn’t the end of the season.

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Photo lifted from Deadspin

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So the Saints decided to cut punter (and team timekeeper) Steve Weatherford after yesterday’s game (they had to have done it in the locker room to keep him from getting on the plane to London. That’s harsh.) Which should be little consolation to Saints fans after yesterdays’ 30–7 loss. The Saints’ cited Weatherford’s “poor outing”, as if his net punt average was the reason the Saints defense couldn’t cover Steve Smith or why Drew Brees had his worst outing of the season.

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Photo by Jonathan Bachman

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When we last saw Chef Who Dat, he was making the rounds outside the Superdome and cooking up his his specialty lutefish. Now, with the Saints in London to play a “home” game against the Chargers, Who Dat wants to make it so Saints fans have a place to watch the game and not feel like their team is playing eight timezones away.

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Photo by Jonathan Bachman

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Anyone who attended the Saints-Raiders game at the Dome last week and looked at the Saints sideline could see that the Saints’ biggest cheerleader was then-injured tight end Jeremy Shockey. Then, after today’s game at Carolina in which he caught five passes for 50 yards but also lost a fumble, Shockey shouldered a lot of the burden:

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“I had a fumble that hurt the team. I missed a backside cutoff block,” Shockey said. “That’s on me, 14 points I felt like I gave up today, not because of effort, but just because physically I’m not healthy.”

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For whatever reason, though, the Associated Press decided the best headline to describe Shockey’s post game comments was “After struggling in return, Shockey rips Saints.“

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Has anyone seen back-to-back performaces that were as strikingly different as the Saints last two games? They trounce the Raiders 34–3 one week and then travel to Carolina and put up a stinker against the Panthers. This game was supposed to a close, hard-fought division battle and it turned into a blowout. Then, adding injury to insult, Reggie Bush turned up with a knee injury that cost him a trip to London.

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And everything had been going so well.

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It’s Gambit’s guide to the 10th annual Voodoo Music Experience, with a pullout section that includes schedule cubes, a map, band profiles, and interviews with everyone from R.E.M.’s Mike Mills to Sharon Jones of Dap-Kings fame…along with TV on the Radio, Panic! At the Disco, Tokyo Police Club, and more more more.

• In our cover story, Alison Fensterstock explores the phenomenon of Lil Wayne — from the 17th Ward to the top of the charts….

• Noah Bonaparte Pais checks out the ways that the Obama/McCain race is shaping up on local college campuses….

• Clancy DuBos chronicles the rise and fall of Derrick Shepherd, and wonders if Shepherd’s resignation will help keep Bill Jefferson in office….

• Jeremy Alford notices that Bobby Jindal hasn’t exactly been front and center helping John Kennedy in his battle to unseat Sen. Mary Landrieu, and wonders: O Governor, Where Art Thou?….

• And the November issue of our monthly home and lifestyle magazine, CUE, is all about New Orleans food culture. Your guide is CUE editor Kara Nelson.

Pick up a copy on Sunday before the Saints/Panthers game (Alejandro de los Rios will be here blogging and doing color commentary on Brees v. Delhomme), or click back here on Monday afternoon for the online edition. Now get off the computer and go enjoy this beautiful weekend. (Is fall really, truly, finally here at last?) – Kevin