NEW ORLEANS -- The stern message from Sean Payton and Drew Brees left little doubt about the post-season aspirations of the New Orleans Saints.
Steven Stamkos Lightning Jersey . There are few other ways to interpret how critical they were of themselves after Brees
struck for five touchdown passes in a 35-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills on
Sunday. "Its good when you can not play your best and make certain mistakes and
still win like we did," Brees said, referring to a handful of pre-snap
penalties, a pair of missed scoring chances and two instances when only 10
Saints were on the field. "If we continue to repeat these mistakes they will get
us beat," Brees continued. "Thats not good enough for us. Weve set the bar high.
We have a high standard. We want to be as perfect as we can out there." Brees
finished 26 of 34 for 332 yards, completing passes to 10 targets. Saints tight
end Jimmy Graham played after missing practice most of the week with a left foot
injury and scored on 13- and 15-yard passes over the middle, powering through
tackles at the goal line both times. Rookie Saints receiver Kenny Stills had
touchdowns of 69 and 42 yards and Lance Moore snagged a 15-yard scoring pass in
his return from a hand injury that sidelined him three games. Payton generally
praised his players effort and acknowledged he was pleased with winning, but
otherwise spoke in gruff tones. "When you have eight penalties ... and you cant
get the right amount of people on the field, then those are things that
certainly go against saying you have your swagger," Payton said. "Those are
things that are troubling. "It cost Minnesota in an NFC championship game
against us," Payton added, referring to a Vikings penalty for 12 players in the
huddle late in that 2010 game. Thad Lewis was sacked four times, intercepted
once by Keenan Lewis, lost two fumbles and appeared shaken up at times. Still,
he stayed in the game, finishing with 234 yards passing and one touchdown. "Were
a resilient team, but being resilient is not good enough," Lewis said. Bills
coach Doug Marrone, a former top offensive assistant under Payton in New
Orleans, said he expected his young quarterback to be blitzed often, but added
that the Saints both disguised and executed their pressure packages well. "That
is a playoff team that we played," Marrone said. Grahams second touchdown, which
he scored after the catch by muscling through Jairus Byrds tackle, gave the
Saints (6-1) a 28-10 lead in the third quarter. Buffalo (3-5) closed to 28-17 on
Fred Jacksons 1-yard TD run, set up by a pair of roughing-the-passer penalties
called on reserve defensive back Corey White. But Brees responded by rolling
right and lofting a 42-yard pass into the end zone, where Stills outmanoeuvred
rookie defensive back Nickell Robey to make the catch. Stills finished with
three catches for 129 yards against Buffalo. Graham had three catches for 37
yards. Graham said hes been told he might have pain in his foot throughout the
season and will have to play through it. "Everyone plays with something going
on, so this is no different," Graham said. "Ive been preparing myself this week
to play, so to get that call was awesome." Tight end Scott Chandler and receiver
Stevie Johnson each had 72 yards receiving for Buffalo. Johnson also had a
13-yard touchdown catch but appeared to be labouring through leg pain in the
second half. Lewis, making his third start for Buffalo after being called up
from the practice squad, took a hard helmet shot to his torso from linebacker
David Hawthorne and fumbled on his first play from scrimmage. Although Buffalos
defence forced a missed 47-yard field goal try, there were more tough moments
ahead for Lewis, who was sacked by Cam Jordan and fumbled again on his third
series. "We got to him early and often," said Jordan, who also recovered on the
Bills 21. Brees found Moore a few plays later for a 7-0 lead. New Orleans took
the lead for good when Brees spotted Stills, his fastest receiver, in a coverage
mismatch with linebacker Jerry Hughes. Stills had several steps on Hughes when
he caught a deep pass down the right sideline and sped away for his long score
to make it 14-10. Grahams first touchdown, on which he bowled over DaNorris
Searcy at the goal line, made it 21-10 in the last minute of the half. Notes:
Buffalo sacked Brees four times, with defensive end Mario Williams getting his
11th sack of the season, and former LSU standout Kyle Williams was in on two
sacks. ... The Saints defence, last in the league a year ago, has held six of
seven opponents under 20 points.
Paul Martin Penguins Jersey . "Its way better than running gassers, thats for sure," the inside linebacker said Monday, when
the Chargers started their third and final week of organized team activities,
which are practices in shorts, jerseys and helmets.
Carey Price Canadiens Jersey . "Youre not really spending time to sit back and analyze what your competitions doing and
things like that," Anthopoulos said. "Youre so focused on what were trying to
get done." Ultimately, while the landscape around them changed with trades both
major and minor, the Blue Jays did nothing before Thursdays non-waiver deadline.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This one could be a costly victory for the Kansas City
Royals and an expensive loss for the Tampa Bay Rays. Jason Vargas took a shutout
into the ninth inning, Alcides Escobar hit a three-run double and the Royals
beat the Rays 4-2 Monday night in a game that included two significant injuries.
Rays starter Matt Moore (0-2) came out in the fifth inning with a sore left
elbow. The All-Star lefty grimaced after throwing a pitch to Norichika Aoki and
was immediately removed by manager Joe Maddon. Two innings later, Royals second
baseman Omar Infante was hit in the left jaw by a pitch from Heath Bell. A
bleeding Infante walked off the field under his own power. Moore won 17 games
last year, but missed 31 games with an elbow injury. He threw 78 pitches Monday
and was replaced by Cesar Ramos. "It has to be checked," Maddon said. "There
will be tests tomorrow. We dont know whats going on yet. Well get an update
later. He tried to talk me out of taking him out but I said I didnt think its a
good idea. I went out there and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. I
like to communicate with our guys. He just felt something on a pitch. We knew we
cant take any chances on anything." Moore said his final pitch was a changeup.
"There was no particular pain," he said. "It really came out of nowhere. I felt
it when I was pitching to Escobar, on a changeup, and then I threw two more
changeups to Aoki and I felt it. I actually threw a curveball to Aoki to see if
I would feel it then, too, but I didnt. It may have something to do with
changeups in that situation." Moore, who will have an MRI exam Tuesday, went on
the disabled list last July 31 with a sore elbow and did not return until Sept.
3. "Its the same pitch and the area is pretty much the exact same spot," Moore
said. Infante was spitting blood as trainers held a towel to his face. "They put
a number of stitches in there to close the cut," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
"They are going to go scan it and see if his jaw is fractured. Well know more
later. Im not going to make any decisions (on roster moves) until we find out
whats going on with Omar and well move forward from there.
Brian Leetch Rangers Jersey. "He was bleeding tremendously from the cut. I didnt know until they had taken him upstairs that
he got hit on the jaw. When we got there they had the towel (over his head) and
there was blood all down his shirt. There was no cut on his forehead that I
could see." Danny Valencia ran for Infante, who signed a $30.25 million,
four-year contract with the Royals in December after hitting .318 last season
for Detroit. "He was smoked. Were worried about a concussion, too. It shakes you
for sure because its a very ugly sound for somebody to be hit in the face," Yost
said. "It was a cool night, but I noticed I broke out in a sweat real quick, so
it definitely affected me. Of course, you have a lot of worry about it." Vargas
(1-0) allowed four hits, walked one and struck out two in eight-plus innings,
lowering his ERA to 1.20 in two starts. He lost his shutout bid when Ben Zobrist
homered on his second pitch in the ninth. Greg Holland replaced Vargas and
earned his third save, but not before giving up an RBI single to pinch-hitter
Matt Joyce. Escobar was 1 for 19 before his bases-loaded double off the left
field wall on a 2-2 pitch from Bell with two outs in the seventh. Escobars three
RBIs matched his career high. Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain
singled to load the bases before Escobars first extra-base hit of the season.
Eric Hosmer singled home Aoki, who tripled, in the first inning. The Rays, who
have lost seven straight at Kauffman Stadium, have scored three runs in their
four losses this year while going 2 for 33 with runners in scoring position
during those defeats. Evan Longoria had three of the Rays six hits. NOTES: The
Royals placed LHPs Tim Collins (strained left elbow) and Francisley Bueno
(sprained left little finger) on the disabled list. They recalled RHP Michael
Mariot and LHP Donnie Joseph from Triple-A Omaha. ... The Rays are 3-14 in road
openers. They have not won a road opener since 2010 at Baltimore. ... Royals RHP
Louis Coleman (bruised right middle finger) threw a bullpen session and could be
activated Tuesday, the first day he is eligible to come off the disabled list.
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