The Saints last game was on the road against the Carolina Panthers. With the number one seed locked up the Saints rested most of their starters and gave playing time to other football players on the 53 man roster. With nothing on the line accept pride, the Saints…or rather the Saints’ back ups lost 10-23. Even though they lost and did not put up a fight there were some players that had an impact on the game, unfortunately most came from the Carolina side.

The rare few that did a good job for the Saints in their last regular season game are:

Runningback Lynell Hamilton. The former San Diego State stand out had a great all around game. In total he collected 86 yards. Hamilton ran for 48 yards on ten carries and caught 3 passes for 38 yards. I like that even though he does not see a lot of playing time he caught 3 passes on 5 targets. He did not fumble the ball which is more than I can say about two other Saint players. Hamilton made the most of his playing time and if the Saints get into a bind it is nice to know that they have an all purpose back that they can plug in and hold onto the rock.

I like the work the Offensive line did. They gave an aging quarterback in Mark Brunell enough time so that he was not sacked and provided enough spacing for the Saints’ back up running back to average 4.8 yards per carry.

Cornerback Randall Gay got much needed playing time, Gay who has been out with injury for a solid chunk of the year managed to tally up seven tackles all of which were solo and obtain one sack during the game against the Panthers. Great performance for the cornerback!

Fellow secondary player, safety Jabari Greer also had himself a nice day at the office.  Greer got six tackles, all of which were solo.

Linebacker Jonathon Casillas has made the most of his playing time, racking up seven tackles – five of which were solo and one of them being a tackle for  a loss. Casillas has gotten increased playing time the past 3 games which is nice to see some production from the Saints’ back up linebacker.Depth will be crucial if the Saints want to make a run in the playoffs.

Fellow linebacker Marvin Mitchell had a solid game with six tackles, all solo as well as one of the tackles being for a loss.

And lastly, there is defensive end Anthony Hargrove who got six tackles, five of which were solo, as well as one sack and one pass deflection. Hargrove made a huge impact from the defensive end position and really added pressure to the Panthers’ offensive line.

Adding that to the total from Week 1 through 16 and here are the final regular season standings:

(10) QB Drew Brees

(9) WR Marques Colston

(9) RB Pierre Thomas

(9) SS Darren Sharper

(9) MLB Jonathon Vilma

(8) SS Roman Harper

(6) O-Line

(5) Defense

(5) DE Will Smith

(4) RB Mike Bell

(4) RB Reggie Bush

(4) CB Jabari Greer

(4) LB Scott Fujita

(4) WR Devery Henderson

(4) CB Malcolm Jenkins

(4) FS Tracy Porter

(3) KR Courtney Roby

(3) Robert Meachem

(3) TE Jeremy Shockey

(3) TE David Thomas

(2) OL Jermon Bushrod

(2) LB Jonathon Casillas

(2) DE Charles Grant

(2) CB Randall Gay

(2) P Thomas Morstead

(1) DT Remi Ayodele

(1) LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar

(1) DT Sedrick Ellis

(1) RB Lynell Hamilton

(1) DE Anthony Hargrove

(1) LB Marvin Mitchell

(1) WR  Lance Moore

(1) LB Scott Shanle

(1) CB Usama Young

It was close but in the end the quarterback, Drew Brees was the most Star Studded Saint of the Regular Season! But as it was so close, just goes to show how well-balanced this team is with talent in all phases of the game.

Congrats!!!! Drew Brees!!!

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