NFL Feature Capsules: The undefeated Saints lift spirits in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — They ain’t the Ain’ts anymore. And ain’t that grand for New Orleans.

Football’s once-hapless New Orleans Saints are on a roll at 11-0, lifting spirits in this hurricane-battered city four miserable, down-in-the-dumps years after Katrina. In fact, folks in the Big Easy are feeling so good about their team’s chances that they are actually canceling or rearranging Mardi Gras events to keep Super Bowl Sunday clear.

"The whole city is floating right now. We’re all on a cloud. Cloud nine," said 68-year-old Lynn Compter, standing next to his mustard-yellow 1939 Chevrolet, which was decked out in fleurs de lis with the Saints’ record in magnetic numbers on its doors. "The day after a win is like a steroid shot."

Football is a passion that goes beyond words in Louisiana, where Y.A. Tittle, Billy Cannon, Eddie Robinson and the Manning family are legends. But Saints fever goes deeper than that.

With their come-from-behind wins and gritty play, the Saints have become symbols of hard work, toughness and camaraderie in a city that has seen all too much despair and backbiting.

"This team doesn’t give up, even when they’re behind. This team has been in every game," said Lamar Callaway, a 69-year-old retired bridge inspector who lives in Lakeview, a New Orleans neighborhood badly flooded by Katrina. Plus, he said, the Saints offer a "break from the doldrums of rebuilding."

The Saints were long one of the worst teams in the NFL, playing so badly that they became known as the "Ain’ts." Since they started in 1967, they have never reached the Super Bowl, and they did not even have a winning season until 1987, the year Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at the Superdome in September.

Since Katrina, the Saints have been a bright light amid the dreariness. The Superdome, where tens of thousands of people were trapped in the days after the storm, was repaired quickly and became a symbol of rebirth in 2006. Then, the Black and Gold did the unprecedented: They went to the conference championship in 2007.

This season, the team has taken it to a whole new level.

Everywhere, people are high-fiving and chanting, "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?!" Huge midnight crowds welcome the undefeated team at the airport after road games.

"I’ve collected every sports page with their win on it this year. I’m keeping them all. I’ve got my Saints flag in the window. I’m loving it," said Annette Corneiago.

Even Mardi Gras is making way. One parade was canceled because it was set to roll on Feb. 7, the day the Super Bowl will be played in Miami. Another parade will be moved to the following Tuesday if the Saints make it to the big game.

When Katrina struck in August 2005, about 80 percent of the city flooded. The population is still only 350,000, compared with the pre-storm level of 454,000, and some neighborhoods are still in ruins.

"We expect corruption, we expect mediocrity, we expect potholes," said Sidney Arroyo, a local political consultant. "The Saints are showing us that just because it hasn’t happened before doesn’t mean it can’t happen now. Anything’s possible. It’s bliss."

The No. 1 bliss maker is No. 9 Drew Brees, the quarterback with the rocket arm.

He is himself a symbol of renewal. Brees got a second chance after suffering a serious injury while playing for the San Diego Chargers. After arriving in New Orleans in 2006, he and his wife restored an old hurricane-damaged house in the Uptown neighborhood, and his "Rebuilding Dreams" campaign raised more than $2 million for playgrounds, athletic fields and schools.

He said he believes it was more than coincidence that he ended up in New Orleans.

"Everything happens for a reason, you know? Seriously. It’s a calling," Brees said.

For long-suffering Saints fans, he looks a lot like a savior.

"If Jesus was on one side of the street and Drew Brees on the other, walking down Magazine Street today, I think more people would mob Drew Brees," Angela Pate, a saleswoman at Storyville, a T-shirt shop, said with a laugh.

In suburban Metairie, where the Saints practice, Pam Randazza runs the Black and Gold Sports Shop, which specializes in all things Saints. She said the Saints spirit has replaced the sorrow of Katrina.

"We’re past being, ‘Poor us,"’ she said. "We’re now the strong city and the strong team."

Dockett says he’s not a bad guy, just relentless

TEMPE, Ariz. — Darnell Dockett knows there are people who don’t like him, even though they don’t know him as more than anything but a big, rough football player for the Arizona Cardinals.

"They go by what you see or what you’ve heard," he said. "‘Oh, here’s a black guy with tattoos and dreds, he’s from the ghetto in Atlanta.’ You paint this picture. (But) you’d be surprised. He’s much more than a football player. The more guys who really see through that understand that Dockett’s a cool dude."

Dockett’s lapse into referring to himself in the third person betrays his desire to be liked, or at least appreciated. He wants people to understand where he’s come from, how many he’s helped along the way and how good a player he’s become.

He talks of charitable work no one knows about and of helping "about 40 family members" who were in need. He is a prolific user of Twitter, showing his irreverent side to all who care to see.

In the NFL, more and more people are recognizing his talent as the relentless 6-foot-4, 285-pound heart of Arizona’s defensive line.

His stature grew in the Super Bowl, where his three sacks against Pittsburgh tied a record held by Reggie White.

This season, his seven sacks are the most for a defensive tackle in the league. He had a career-best three against the elusive Vince Young in the Cardinals’ 20-17 loss at Tennessee last Sunday. He also had six tackles, four quarterback hits and three tackles for loss against the Titans.

In his sixth NFL season, Dockett has 46 tackles and 15 tackles for loss.

"Boy, he is really an explosive, athletic inside pass rusher that looks like he can play obviously over a tackle and give that guy problems," said Minnesota coach Brad Childress, whose Vikings play the Cardinals Sunday night.

Dockett’s road to the NFL was as rough as it gets. When he was 13, he came home in Decatur, Ga., to find his mother dead from a gunshot wound to the head. The killer was never caught. Dockett’s father died of pancreatic cancer.

His uncle, Kevin Dockett, took him in and provided him with the stability and guidance that led him to a football scholarship at Florida State. Dockett was drafted by Arizona in the third round in 2004.

He signed a five-year, $22 million contract extension in 2006, then made the Pro Bowl as an alternate the next season.

"I just play hard," Dockett said. "I just honestly feel it’s in my heart and my nature to just play and give it everything I’ve got."

Bill Davis was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator this season, and says he has seen sides of Dockett he didn’t know.

"The thing that’s impressed me about Darnell is how hard he works and how much he loves the game," Davis said. "He practices hard. He asks a lot of questions and he really tries to do it the way you ask him to do it. It was kind of a pleasant surprise ... He’s been great for me."

Dockett likes to joke around in practice but he’s deadly serious when the game starts.

"Practice is supposed to be fun," he said. "You get your work in but you’re supposed to laugh and relax and be cheerful. Do a good job and do your work but I try to make it fun. Then on Sunday we’re not on joke time anymore. It’s us and them."

He is a favorite of the television crews for his sometimes off-the-wall comments. He said people misunderstood him when he talked about making "minimum wage" recently. He said he realizes he is blessed to make a lot of money, but was referring to his salary compared to that of other top players at his position.

It’s an issue that gnaws at Dockett. He joined disgruntled wide receiver Anquan Boldin in sitting out mini camp with a so-called groin injury last summer and didn’t participate in the voluntary workouts.

But before training camp started, he announced via Twitter that he was putting his contract issues aside and would not let them affect his play.

Dockett has two years left on his contract after this season and he talks about playing it out and leaving as a free agent rather than re-signing with the team. But that could all change if the Cardinals decide to enter serious negotiations with a player so important to their defense.

He believes he deserves more money because he has shown he ranks with the best defensive tackles in the game.

He may have a point. In the past three seasons, Dockett’s 20 sacks are more than those of Albert Haynesworth (17.5), Kevin Williams (17.5), Tommie Harris (14.5) or Shaun Rogers (13.5).

Second-year pro Calais Campbell took over at defensive end this season when Dockett’s good friend Antonio Smith signed a lucrative free agent deal with Houston. Campbell credits Dockett with helping him, both with advice and by drawing lots of attention from the offense.

"I think a lot of my early success came because they were double-teaming him a lot, the same with the outside linebackers coming down off the edge," Campbell said. "Dockett brings a lot of attention. They’re always making sure where he’s at."

Dockett sure got a lot of attention from Seattle coach Jim Mora, who insinuated he was a dirty player after he shoved his elbow into the throat of Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck got up gasping for air, and Dockett was fined $7,500.

Dockett said the incident was an accident and that he respects Hasselbeck as a tough player, but he avoided getting into a war of words with Mora, something he said he wouldn’t have done earlier in his career.

"I’m going to let him talk about me how he wants to," Dockett said. "But ... I tell you what, if he had a chance, he’d put me on his team."

-- Bob Baum

Vikings defense starts to assert itself

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — With big names, and big paychecks, at every level of their defense, the Minnesota Vikings expected be dominant on that side of the ball this season.

Those expectations have been realized. It just took the stingy group a little longer to get there than they would have liked.

While Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and the rest of the offense continues to light up the scoreboard, Jared Allen, the Williams Wall and the rest of the defense has definitely held up its share of the bargain over the last three weeks.

In five weeks leading into their bye, the Vikings defense surrendered an average of 376.4 yards — including 96.2 yards rushing — and 20.6 points a game, not counting the two defensive touchdowns that Pittsburgh scored on Oct. 25.

Since their bye week a month ago, however, the Vikings have allowed an average of 226 yards — 46.7 on the ground — and just 9.7 points. They currently rank eight in total defense and second against the run heading into Sunday’s game at Arizona.

"They are playing swarming defense," coach Brad Childress said. "They are getting a bunch of guys to the ball."

Just ask the Chicago Bears. Last week in the Metrodome, the Bears managed just 2 yards of offense in the second half of a 36-10 loss. They didn’t earn so much as a first down in the final 30 minutes.

"I think the last three games we’re playing the type of defense that really all along we expected to play," linebacker Chad Greenway said.

Allen has 12½ of the team’s league-leading 40 sacks. Kevin and Pat Williams are stuffing the run as usual and linebacker E.J. Henderson is starting to look more like the playmaker he was before a foot injury early last season.

And they have done it without Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield, who has missed the last five games with a right foot injury. The Vikings (10-1) hope to have to have their little leader back on the field this week against the Cardinals (7-4), who will no doubt test that secondary with receivers Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.

While the combined record of their last three opponents is 10-23, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is still encouraged by the increased production. During the self-scouting portion of their bye week, Frazier cringed at the number of missed tackles he saw that led to big gains by opposing offenses.

It had to stop, Frazier told his defenders. And it has.

"Our guys have done a really good job in that area coming back," Frazier said. "Our yards after catch have decreased tremendously and we just got to keep it going week after week and this will be a big week for it."

The Bears were 2 for 8 on third downs last week and the Seahawks were 1 for 10 two weeks ago. All told, Vikings opponents are holding the ball for just 22 minutes a game over the last three weeks, which is indicative both of the defense’s ability to stop drives before they start and the offense’s ability to sustain long, time-consuming drives.

"I think we’re starting to come together," Henderson said. "Turnover-wise, pressure up front, tackling, getting back to what we do and smashing the run, everything is starting to come together."

Favre has been given much of the credit for the team’s success this year, and it appears that the 40-year-old quarterback’s presence even brings benefits to the defense as well. Give Favre, Peterson and the offense an assist for hogging the ball.

"The best defense is an offense that stays on the field," Henderson said. "If they keep doing that, it’s great. We feel way more fresh. Better on Monday, better on Tuesday. I like watching those boys play and see No. 4 and the boys go to work."

Just how far the defense has come will soon be evident. With Arizona and division-leading Cincinnati on the schedule, the tests will only get tougher.

"We have a tougher stretch coming up now with some offenses that are having some luck and a lot of weapons," Greenway said. "We’ll see where we stand after these next few weeks, but we feel good with where we’re at since the bye."

-- Jon Krawczynski

Younger Favre a chip off the old Brett

JACKSON, Miss. — There’s a guy named Favre who’s having an MVP season, owns all the records you can name and has his team poised to win a title.

Sounds like Brett Favre, right? Think again.

We’re talking about Dylan Favre, the 17-year-old high school senior who lives in the long shadow of his famous relative but has had such an amazing career he deserves to stand alone. He’s faced the "what’s it like?" question about Uncle Brett so many times, it has gotten wearisome.

"It’s not a big deal," Dylan Favre said. "People make it out to be way bigger than it really is. He’s just an ordinary uncle who goes to work every day. His job just happens to be playing football."

When it comes to football, the Favre family has something special. Brett Favre came from tiny Kiln, Miss., had a fabulous college career and has gone on to have one of the greatest NFL tenures of any quarterback — one that continues as the 40-year-old guides his Minnesota Vikings toward the playoffs.

The younger Favre, son of Brett’s brother, Jeff, also comes from Kiln. But the 5-foot-11, 195-pound quarterback is far ahead of his uncle when it comes to early success.

While the elder Favre was a wishbone quarterback in high school, his nephew is the accomplished conductor of Mississippi’s most powerful offense. His numbers are "mind-boggling," St. Stanislaus coach Forrest Williams says.

Dylan Favre holds 10 state records, shattering most by silly margins, is in the top five nationally for a handful of career marks and was named the Gatorade player of the year for Mississippi on Thursday.

He has a chance to add the ultimate entry to his resume Saturday when he leads the 13-1 Rockachaws into the Class 4A state championship game against Lafayette County.

When it comes to high school quarterbacks in Mississippi, no one — not even Uncle Brett — can compare.

"I think he has done a great job of making a name for himself," Brett Favre said after Thursday’s practice. "I never did close to what he has done in high school. He’s going to go down as one of the very best quarterbacks in Mississippi history, which is something to really be proud of."

The elder Favre has never seen the younger Favre play in person and has been limited to a few glances at highlight tapes. Football talks between uncle and nephew are usually limited to topics like leadership and work ethic, and they communicate mostly by text before and after games.

Brett Favre says he’d love to be in Jackson for Saturday’s game, but as usual his job will keep him in the far north as Dylan scorches opponents in the Deep South.

Dylan state marks include career total offense (13,755 yards), touchdowns responsible for (164) and touchdown passes (141). This season alone he has passed for 5,170 yards with three 500-yard games (and a fourth for 498), rushed for another 1,177 yards, and is responsible for 76 touchdowns, including 60 through the air.

And he’s been putting up those kinds of numbers long enough to show up in the National Federation of State High School Associations record book as well.

He’s second in average total yards per game in a single season (453.4), third in total yards in a single season (6,347 yards) and an average passing game away from second place. And he’s fifth in total yards for a career (13,755).

"The numbers come with winning," said Dylan, who speaks in the familiar accent and cadence of his uncle. "I feel in order for us to win I have to play well. Winning ball games is way more important than throwing touchdowns or anything like that. Having an opportunity to play in the state championship is far more exciting than any record I’ve broken."

Yet despite all those gaudy numbers and that team-first attitude, Dylan does not yet have a scholarship offer to a Football Bowl Subdivision school. His height, he’s told, isn’t what the big schools are looking for, though interest is starting to grow as national signing day approaches. He knows he’s got a home in Division II if no one comes forward, but he believes he can play at the highest level and wants the chance.

"It’s disappointing," Dylan said. "I’m not going to say it’s not, because I have all the confidence in the world that I can play and make throws at the Division I level. In my opinion height is the most overrated thing when it comes to playing quarterback. I don’t see how a couple inches is going to help you win ball games. That’s just the way it is nowadays."

Williams thinks schools overlooking Favre are making a mistake. The coach says the quarterback — who also starts at outside linebacker, punter and several special teams positions — is a true 5-11, and at 17 he’s likely to continue to grow. But more importantly, they’re missing out on all the intangibles that helped make Brett Favre the most successful quarterback in NFL history.

It all starts with the family’s trademark toughness.

"Brett set the ironman streak in professional football and Dylan’s the same way," Williams said. "It don’t matter what kind of lickin’ he takes, he keeps on coming back. He threw a block the other night for one of his running backs to spring him for a 50-yard touchdown that I tell you would’ve knocked out a mortal man. But he was on the field a second, jumped up and was ready to go back in on defense the next series."

AFC

Different country, same woes for Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Even with plenty of Canadian support, turns out the Buffalo Bills have the same problems on both sides of the border.

In what has become a familiar plight, an inexperienced offensive line and porous run defense contributed to Buffalo’s 19-13 loss to the New York Jets at Toronto on Thursday.

A fairly loud announced crowd of about 51,000 — there were numerous ticket giveaways — was enthusiastic and energetic in a contest that the Bills had a chance to win as the fourth quarter began.

"The fans were great," receiver Terrell Owens said. "They were into it, and there was definitely some excitement."

But after scoring 24 fourth-quarter points in last Sunday’s win over Miami, the Bills could not build off that momentum or the vocal crowd. They instead reverted back to form and let the game slip away in the final 15 minutes.

Down a touchdown with 2:32 to go, Buffalo (4-8) saw its chance evaporate in two plays when quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was sacked by Jets defensive lineman Shaun Ellis and then threw an interception to cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Fitzpatrick was hurried throughout the game, and was sacked three times as he completed just 9 of 23 passes for a 98 yards. He wasn’t helped when starting right tackle Kirk Chambers left the game in the first half with an injured left ankle, and was replaced by Jamon Meredith.

The Bills were able to start the same five offensive linemen for the second straight game for only the second time this season, but it didn’t last.

"It showed in our protection and our inability to run the ball effectively in the second half," interim coach Perry Fewell said on Friday before adding that Chambers should be fine. "Because of the lack of continuity and consistency, we struggled with Kirk going down."

"I got hit a little, but you’re always going to get hit," Fitzpatrick said. "You have to be able to step into those and make the throws. It was just frustrating all around. Some of it was them out-scheming us and bringing guys that we couldn’t block. That was an issue, but it wasn’t our only issue."

Indeed. The Bills offense converted just one of its 11 third-down opportunities and the defense again was gashed by an opponent’s running attack that sliced and diced its way to 249 yards.

Coming in, Buffalo had allowed a league-worst 165 yards-per-game rushing.

"We’re not happy with that," middle linebacker Paul Posluszny said. "When it came down to it, we didn’t get off the field. We felt like we fought hard, but didn’t stop the run as well as we wanted to."

Adding to the Bills’ misery was New York’s ability to keep drives alive with key plays. Quarterback Mark Sanchez hit Jerricho Cotchery for a 45-yard gain on third-and-5 two plays before Braylon Edwards caught a 13-yard touchdown pass to give the Jets (6-6) a 16-10 halftime lead.

The Jets then converted a third-and-12 at the Buffalo 42 late in the third quarter on a drive that was capped by Jay Feely’s 37-yard field goal to make it 19-10 early in the fourth.

"They had a really good scheme," Fewell said. "We definitely missed some opportunities to get off the field, which let them continue to run the ball and pound the ball at us."

Fewell said linebacker Chris Draft, who didn’t finish because of a neck injury, was going to be fine.