Inspired Saints win season opener for their fans

Published 5:00 am Monday, September 12, 2005

Saints coach Jim Haslett read a letter to his players from NewOrleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin the night before they were set to playthe Carolina Panthers.

Haslett relayed what Nagin saw: dead babies, torn-apartfamilies, a city in ruins following Hurricane Katrina. Yes, theSaints would do everything in their power to win the season opener,to provide a glimmer of hope to all those who lost so much.

They delivered, in thrilling fashion. John Carney kicked a47-yard field goal with 3 seconds left, giving the Saints a 23-20win over the Panthers on Sunday.

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”He talked about the things he had seen, babies dying,”receiver Joe Horn said. ”You would only see it in a horror story.People were crying on his shoulder, saying they don’t know wheretheir son is, where the daughter is.

”I can’t speak enough about how our heart goes out to them. Theletter had an impact. We respect and acknowledge what everyone hasgone through.”

In New Orleans, a dozen weary police officers, on duty sincebefore the hurricane hit, clustered around a police car to listento the game.

”Man, this is what we needed,” said James Porter, a patrolofficer. ”This almost makes you feel normal again.”

At a small bar on Bourbon Street, where a Saints football helmetwas painted on the ceiling, Steve Bartley was among several FrenchQuarter residents listening to the Saints game on a battery-poweredradio.

”On Sundays, I’m usually at a bar watching the Saints. It wouldbe nice if we could see them, but this is the best we could do,”he said.

They listened as Deuce McAllister ran for two touchdowns, andAaron Brooks put the team in position for the game-winner withpasses of 11 and 25 yards to Horn. After Carney made his kick, theSaints rushed out on the field to celebrate, their first joy sinceKatrina tore through New Orleans on Aug. 29.

Like the thousands of evacuees, the storm left them homeless andsearching for a little bit of normalcy.

They found it on the field, scoring an important victory over anNFC South rival and an emotional win for their fans.

”In the back of our minds, we know we have to give them onetiny bit of hope,” Brooks said. ”We have complete faith in whatwe are doing because every time we go out there, it is our job togive them hope that every day will be a better day.”

Elsewhere, it was Dallas 28, San Diego 24; Indianapolis 24,Baltimore 7; San Francisco 28, St. Louis 25; Pittsburgh 34,Tennessee 7; Miami 34, Denver 10; Tampa Bay 24, Minnesota 13;Detroit 17, Green Bay 3; Kansas City 27, New York Jets 7; New YorkGiants 42, Arizona 19; Jacksonville 26, Seattle 14; Cincinnati 27,Cleveland 13; Buffalo 22, Houston 7; and Washington 9, Chicago7.

The Monday night game has Philadelphia at Atlanta in a rematchof the 2004 NFC title game.

On Thursday night, New England beat Oakland 30-20.

Colts 24, Ravens 7

At Baltimore, the Colts barely missed their first shutout since1997. Cato June returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdownand the Colts limited Jamal Lewis to 48 yards rushing.

Peyton Manning threw two touchdown passes and went 21-for-36 for254 yards and no interceptions. Marvin Harrison had six catches for69 yards.

The Ravens lost quarterback Kyle Boller, who hyperextended aright toe while being sacked by Larry Triplett in the third quarterwith Baltimore trailing 17-0.

Steelers 34, Titans 7

At Pittsburgh, Willie Parker ran for 161 yards in his firstcareer start, and Ben Roethlisberger threw for two scores.

The Steelers won their 15th in a row during the regular season.Roethlisberger improved to 14-0 as an NFL starter during theseason, and his play was as perfect as his record. So was hisperfect 158.3 passer rating; he is the first NFL quarterback sinceKansas City’s Trent Green in 2003 to have a perfect rating.

Steve McNair looked fine after missing half the 2004 season witha sternum injury, going 18-of-26 for 219 yards and a touchdown.

Lions 17, Packers 3

At Detroit, Brett Favre had three turnovers and Detroit won itsopener for a third straight year. Joey Harrington threw twotouchdown passes, including one to rookie Mike Williams with 4:13left.

Favre finished 27-of-44 for 201 yards with two interceptions andone fumble, and the Packers had their worst day offensively sinceSept. 13, 1992, when Tampa Bay beat them 31-3, two weeks beforeFavre started his record streak of playing 227 straight games,including the playoffs.

Cowboys 28, Chargers 24

At San Diego, Drew Bledsoe became the 10th NFL player to throwfor 40,000 yards. Bledsoe threw three touchdown passes, including a2-yarder with 3:06 left to Keyshawn Johnson to win the game.

Aaron Glenn sealed the victory when he intercepted Drew Brees’throw in the end zone with 24 seconds left. LaDainian Tomlinson washeld to 72 yards on 19 carries, but scored on a 2-yard run in thefirst quarter, his 13th straight game with a TD rushing to tie theNFL record held by John Riggins and George Rogers.

49ers 28, Rams 25

At San Francisco, Tim Rattay threw two second-quarter touchdownpasses, and Michael Adams intercepted Marc Bulger’s pass in SanFrancisco territory with 52 seconds left.

The 49ers held on for their first regular-season victory inregulation since Dec. 7, 2003. Both of the Niners’ wins last seasoncame in overtime against Arizona. Torry Holt caught 10 passes for125 yards for the Rams.

Dolphins 34, Broncos 10

At Miami, Gus Frerotte threw for 275 yards, Jason Taylorreturned a fumble 85 yards for a score and Miami successfullykicked off the Nick Saban era.

Frerotte, starting his first game for his sixth NFL team, went24-for-36 with touchdown passes of 2 yards to Randy McMichael and60 yards to Marty Booker. The Broncos lost cornerback Champ Baileyand running back Mike Anderson to injuries, and dropped an openerfor only the third time in 13 years under coach Mike Shanahan.

Buccaneers 24, Vikings 13

At Minneapolis, rookie tight end Alex Smith caught two touchdownpasses and Brian Kelly had two interceptions. Another Bucs rookie,Carnell ”Cadillac” Williams, added a 71-yard touchdown run andfinished with 148 yards on 27 carries.

Daunte Culpepper threw his third interception to Derrick Brooks,on the final, desperation drive and finished 22-for-33 for 233yards.

Chiefs 27, Jets 7

At Kansas City, Mo., Larry Johnson rushed for 110 yards and twotouchdowns on nine carries and Priest Holmes added 85 yards and atouchdown, while the improved defense came within 29 seconds of ashutout.

The Chiefs forced seven fumbles and recovered two. ChadPennington was sacked three times. Pennington, coming off shouldersurgery, was intercepted once and had several passes dropped.

Giants 42, Cardinals 19

At East Rutherford, N.J., Eli Manning threw for two scores,Willie Ponder returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score and ChadMorton returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown in the fourthquarter.

Kurt Warner, the former two-time MVP acquired by the Giants lastyear to guide Manning through his rookie season, finished 27-for-46for 264 yards and one touchdown in his first start for Arizona.

Jaguars 26, Seahawks 14

At Jacksonville, Fla., Jimmy Smith caught seven passes for 130yards and two touchdowns to key the victory.

Jacksonville’s defense was stout, as usual. The unit held ShaunAlexander to 73 yards on 14 carries. Tim Hasselbeck finished21-of-38 for 246 yards, with two touchdowns and threeinterceptions.

Bengals 27, Browns 13

At Cleveland, Carson Palmer threw two touchdown passes andfinished 26-of-34 for 280 yards as the Bengals spoiled RomeoCrennel’s coaching debut with the Browns.

Making just his third start since 2003, Browns quarterback TrentDilfer finished 26-of-43 for 278 yards and one touchdown.

Bills 22, Texans 7

At Orchard Park, N.Y., Rian Lindell made a career-high fivefield goals, and J.P. Losman engineered scoring drives on each ofBuffalo’s first five possessions to finish 17-of-28 for 170 yardsand a touchdown.

The defense generated five turnovers, five sacks and limitedHouston to 107 yards.

Redskins 9, Bears 7

At Landover, Md., the Washington Redskins allowed only 166yards, and John Hall kicked three field goals. Washington lost QBPatrick Ramsey to a neck injury, but Mark Brunell entered to leadthree drives for field goals, powered in part by the running ofClinton Portis, who rushed for 121 yards on 21 carries.

Kyle Orton was the first rookie quarterback to start for Chicagoon opening day in 51 years. He went 15-of-28 for 141 yards.