Benson a no-show for Saints game in Baton Rouge
Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Tom Benson was a no-show for New Orleans' game against Chicago on Sunday in Baton Rouge, staying true to his earlier promise never to return to the city where last week he swatted at a TV news camera and argued with a heckling fan.--football gambling--

However, Benson's granddaughter, Rita Benson LeBlanc, did come to the game. LeBlanc, who has the title of owner/executive, is Benson's heir apparent.--football gambling--

After the Saints' loss to Miami a week ago, Benson fired off an e-mail to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue saying his trip to Baton Rouge was a "total disaster," adding that he and his family members could have been injured or killed and that he would no longer attend games in Baton Rouge either this season or if any Saints games are scheduled here in 2006.--football gambling--

Saints spokesman Greg Bensel later said Benson wrote the e-mail out of frustration and still may attend one of the remaining games scheduled for Baton Rouge. Bensel did not immediately issue a statement on Benson's behalf during the Chicago game.--football gambling--

Fans booed when a public address announcement mentioned Benson while soliciting donations to the Saints' Hurricane Katrina relief fund. --football gambling--

The Saints, based temporarily in San Antonio, play twice more in Baton Rouge, on Dec. 4 against Tampa Bay and Dec. 18 against Carolina. Their final home game will be in San Antonio on Dec. 24 against Detroit. --football gambling--

Sigh of relief

Boldin's knee injury diagnosed as just bone bruise

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- The Arizona Cardinals got good news Monday when an MRI examination determined ace wide receiver Anquan Boldin's knee injury was nothing more than a bone bruise. -NFL Football-

No timetable was set for Boldin's return, but the team said he wouldn't be out as long as feared. -NFL Football-

Boldin missed three months, including six regular-season games, after tearing meniscus cartilage in his right knee at the start of the 2004 training camp, and coach Dennis Green feared the pain in the same knee after Sunday's 34-13 loss at Dallas indicated a similar tear. -NFL Football-

"He's one of the better players on our team," Green said. "I think that he's established he's one of the better receivers in the game. His numbers reflect that." -NFL Football-

Until Boldin's return, Green expects Bryant Johnson to take up the slack at wide receiver, and he's counting on rookie LeRon McCoy, a seventh-round draft pick who averaged 19.5 yards a catch for Indiana (Pa.) University last season to keep the Cardinals big and fast in their three-wideout sets. -NFL Football-

None of Arizona's receivers has proven as physical as Boldin, though. -NFL Football-

He broke his nose in training camp this year and was expected to miss up to three exhibition games. Fitted with a clear visor to protect his nose, Boldin sat out just one before his return. -NFL Football-

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound former Florida State quarterback and receiver is used over the middle, routinely breaks tackles and specializes in tough catches. He was hurt attempting one in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys, when he leaped for a throw from Josh McCown and came down awkwardly. -NFL Football-

He came out of the game with 39 catches for a team-high 616 yards this season. -NFL Football-

Boldin, the 2003 offensive rookie of the year, had three catches before he was hurt. He has 196 in his career, an NFL high for anyone's first 33 games. -NFL Football-

But on the heels of another disheartening loss in Dallas, where the Cardinals (2-5) are 9-31, the team may have caught a break in a steady parade of injuries. -NFL Football-

Green said two players could return this week at positions of need -- the offensive line and the secondary. -NFL Football-

Right tackle Oliver Ross, one of Arizona's prize free-agency acquisitions after starting 16 games with Pittsburgh last year, has missed four games since breaking his right hand Sept. 25 at Seattle. He has been rehabilitating since having surgery to insert a support plate. -NFL Football-

Also expected back is rookie Eric Green, one of two cornerbacks Arizona drafted in the first three rounds. The other was Antrel Rolle, the No. 8 selection, out for the season after knee surgery. -NFL Football-

Eric Green, a valuable member of prevent formations, hurt his shoulder Oct. 9 and has sat out two games. -NFL Football-

"We've had a lot of injuries, and our team doesn't quite look the way we anticipated it looking," Green said. "I high number of guys on the IR, that's part of the game, though." -NFL Football-

Ross was a renowned run-blocker, and his return might bolster a part of the Cardinals offense which hasn't pushed across a touchdown this year and is averaging 71.1 yards a game. -NFL Football-

Pass protection also has been also virtually non-existent for Arizona passers, probably one reason McCown is starting ahead of less mobile Kurt Warner. McCown was sacked three times, roughed up on scrambles and got whacked in the head by Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware while throwing one of his two interceptions. -NFL Football-

"It's something that happens," McCown said. "When you touch the ball every time, you are going to take some shots." -NFL Football-

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Saints return 'home,' for now

By Gil LeBreton

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

BATON ROUGE, La. - No less an authority than the commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, rained heavily on San Antonio's roundly distasteful NFL parade Sunday afternoon. -NFL Football-

It was exactly what the 61,643 fans at LSU's Tiger Stadium wanted to hear. -NFL Football-

"The Saints are Louisiana's team," Tagliabue said at a news conference before the Saints-Dolphins game. -NFL Football-

"Each team in the NFL is franchised to represent a specific community. Teams are not franchised as free agents to run around the country and play wherever they want to play. Under our league bylaws, it takes a vote of the league and has to be a minimum of three-fourths of the owners to approve any change in the area that a team represents." -NFL Football-

History tells us that Tagliabue, a lawyer by trade and schooled in Jesuit logic (Georgetown, Class of 1962), does not quote league bylaws haphazardly. -NFL Football-

No, this time he was talking specifically about San Antonio, whose mayor, the dishonorable Phil Hardberger, has made no bones about his desire to loot the hurricane-ravaged streets and hearts of New Orleans. -NFL Football-

Tagliabue also seemed to be giving us Saints owner Tom Benson's marching orders for the next few months -- namely, quit whispering sweet nothings to Hardberger and remember which city has been paying the Saints' light bill for the past 38 seasons. -NFL Football-

The latter was never more obvious than Sunday. -NFL Football-

Shamelessly ill-prepared to stage an NFL game on a college campus, Benson's organization left thousands of season ticket-holders standing in line for more than 90 minutes before they could claim their tickets. Many of the 61,643, therefore, were still outside the stadium when, late in the first quarter, the Saints added yet another page to their personal chapter of the Football Follies. -NFL Football-

On third down from the New Orleans 6-yard line, Miami quarterback Gus Frerotte's pass was deflected and intercepted in the end zone by Dwight Smith. The Saints safety promptly dashed up the sideline, covering 25 yards, when suddenly he saw no more Dolphins to juke and plowed over a teammate. In the collision, Smith fumbled. The Dolphins recovered. -NFL Football-

Same old Saints. -NFL Football-

Before the day was through, New Orleans quarterback Aaron Brooks would come under heavy siege, which led to him being sacked six times. -NFL Football-

On one third-quarter retreat, Brooks found himself under a pile of Dolphins 8 yards deep in the end zone. The safety gave Miami a seemingly insurmountable 11-6 lead. The Dolphins would go on to win 21-6, despite scoring only one touchdown. -NFL Football-

Meanwhile, the Saints' offense finished with only 203 yards and was 0-for-11 in third-down conversions. -NFL Football-

"We were awful, terrible," Saints coach Jim Haslett said after the defeat, his team's sixth. "You can't win in this league with only six points. -NFL Football-

"Right now, we're a bad football team." -NFL Football-

If anybody wanted to go over the hill, Sgt. Haslett barked, or wanted to quit on the head coach, "I promise you that I will cut him." -NFL Football-

"Coach is upset," veteran receiver Joe Horn explained. "He should be upset." -NFL Football-

Pro Bowl running back Deuce McAllister is injured and out for the season, and that doesn't help. But space does not permit a thorough listing of things wrong about the 2005 Saints. -NFL Football-

Asked to assess Brooks' miserable performance, Haslett said, "I don't know. He was running for his life half of the time." -NFL Football-

Saints fans, of course, are well accustomed to Sundays such as this. The club sold 50,000 season tickets in 1967 before it had ever played an NFL down, and New Orleans has continued to support its Saints. Any mayor, newspaper or NFL owner who tries to claim otherwise is distorting the facts. -NFL Football-

Likewise, Benson will have a hard time convincing fellow owners that he needs to abandon New Orleans, a nine-time Super Bowl host, if the city can restore the Louisiana Superdome. A dome official said Sunday that it will cost $125 million to $150 million to repair the facility. The state expects insurers to cover the cost. -NFL Football-

Benson also has tried to claim that the team's state-financed practice facility in suburban Metairie, La., was rendered unusable by emergency workers after the hurricane. An inspection by state officials, however, showed only cosmetic damage, easily repaired. -NFL Football-

If it chooses, the league can force Benson to return to New Orleans to practice next season. In 1996, former Seahawks owner Ken Behring announced that his team would hold practices in Anaheim, Calif., as a precursor to moving the Seattle franchise to Southern California. Tagliabue stopped him, warning Behring that he could be fined a six-figure sum for each day of practice the Seahawks held in Anaheim. Behring eventually stayed in Seattle. -NFL Football-

The Saints case is unique, Tagliabue admitted. -NFL Football-

"The backdrop is something that we're all well aware of," he said Sunday. "We want to bring this area back to rebuild in a way that is not just a replica of the past but better than ever. That's our approach. We are trying to develop what we would feel as a new model for the Saints to operate in a rebuilt Louisiana, a rebuilt New Orleans." -NFL Football-

The league is prepared, the commissioner said, to dig into its own pockets to buy time for that to happen. -NFL Football-

IN THE KNOW

Breakdown

Why Miami won: Gus Frerotte threw a touchdown pass to Chris Chambers, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combined to rush for 188 yards, and Olindo Mare kicked four field goals. -NFL Football-

Why New Orleans lost: The Dolphins defense kept quarterback Aaron Brooks off balance. Brooks was intercepted once, sacked six times and fumbled twice without being touched, although he recovered both. -NFL Football-

Notable: The Saints played their first game in Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina. Many of the tailgaters on the LSU campus around Tiger Stadium showed up wearing LSU's purple and gold colors bearing the legend, "Welcome home, Nick." Dolphins coach Nick Saban led LSU to a national championship two years ago. -NFL Football-

Up next: Atlanta at Miami, noon, Sunday; Chicago vs. New Orleans at Baton Rouge, La., 3:05 p.m. Sunday. -NFL Football-

Week Seven game previews
By PFW staff Oct. 20, 2005
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Buffalo at Oakland
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The Bills, behind QB Kelly Holcomb, have managed to climb back into the AFC East race with back-to-back wins, while the Raiders can’t seem to get on track and have won just once in five tries. RB Willis McGahee has been the one constant for the up-and-down Bills, rushing for at least 84 yards in five of six games. Holcomb, meanwhile, is seeing the field better than J.P. --- nfl ---
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Losman, the man he replaced, and making the throws downfield that Losman showed reluctance to make. The Raiders were showing signs of improvement against the run until last week, when they were gutted for 190 yards by LaDainian Tomlinson and the Chargers. --- nfl ---
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Until last week, QB Kerry Collins had done a masterful job of avoiding mistakes and not forcing the ball. But while playing from behind against San Diego, he reverted to his old habits and had a number of passes deflected and nearly intercepted. RB LaMont Jordan could be in for a monster day if the Raiders stay committed to the run, as Buffalo is 30th in the league in rushing yards allowed. --- nfl ---
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Keep an eye on the status of Randy Moss, who may not be able to go with a groin strain. That would open the door for Doug Gabriel at his WR position.
--- nfl ---

Houshmandzadeh out for Bengals

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Oct. 9, 2005) -- Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was inactive against the Jacksonville Jaguars because of a hand injury. - NFL Football -

Houshmandzadeh, the team's second-leading receiver behind Chad Johnson, has 20 catches for 248 yards and a touchdown this season. He injured his hand last week against Houston, when he caught eight passes for 105 yards.

Kelley Washington was scheduled to start in his place. - NFL Football -

Safety Madieu Williams also was inactive because of a shoulder injury.

Starting center Rich Braham (knee) was active, but was not in the starting lineup. He was replaced by Eric Ghiaciuc. - NFL Football -

© 2005, NFL Enterprises LLC.

Martz in hospital, expected back for game

NFL.com wire reports

ST. LOUIS (Sept. 30, 2005) -- Rams coach Mike Martz was hospitalized Sept. 30 with a sinus infection, but the team expects him to be able to coach Oct. 2 when St. Louis plays at the New York Giants. - NFL Football -

Martz drove himself to the hospital, spokesman Artis Twyman said. He was expected to be released by Oct. 1, in time to fly with the team to New York.

"He had been complaining about his sinuses bothering him for a couple of weeks," Twyman said. "I guess it was a little bit worse today." - NFL Football -

Joe Vitt, the assistant head coach and linebackers coach, ran practice in Martz's absence.

Earlier this year, Martz underwent back surgery. - NFL Football -

Martz joined the Rams as offensive coordinator in 1999, and his high-powered offense led St. Louis to its first Super Bowl title that season. He became head coach following Dick Vermeil's retirement days after the Super Bowl. - NFL Football -

Now in his sixth season, Martz is 56-34 including the postseason. The Rams have missed the playoffs just once in his tenure (2002) and reached the Super Bowl after the 2001 season, losing 20-17 to New England. - NFL Football -

This season, the Rams (2-1) are tied with Seattle for first place in the NFC West. The Giants are also 2-1.

© 2005, NFL Enterprises LLC.

ABC carries week with NFL kickoff

By Cynthia Littleton

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Football and the return of America's favorite animated clan carried Fox and ABC to victory during the week ending September 11.

ABC topped perennial leader CBS in the total viewers column for the week with an average of 8.3 million viewers, fueled by its live coverage of Thursday's NFL season kickoff game between the Oakland Raiders and this year's Super Bowl victors, the New England Patriots. ABC and Fox tied for the weekly bragging rights in the adults 18-49 demographic with an average of a 3.1 rating/9 share.

The game, which ended in a 30-20 win by the Patriots, was by far the most-watched program of the week (18 million) and highest-rated in the key demo (7.7/23), according to Nielsen Media Research. ABC also saw renewed signs of life, after weeks of sluggish summer ratings, Monday with its coverage of one of college football's fiercest rivalries, University of Miami vs. Florida State (9.7 million, 3.5/10) and Saturday with the University of Texas' face-off against Ohio State (9.9 million, 3.4/11).

Fox was buoyed by the 17th-season opener of "The Simpsons" (11.1 million, 5.2/14) on Sunday, which helped the network get its new 8:30 p.m. Sunday comedy "The War at Home" (8.7 million, 4.2/11) off to a decent start. The 9 p.m. season opener of "Family Guy" (9.1 million, 4.5/10) also did solid business for the network on Sunday; "American Dad" (7.8 million, 3.8/9) was less impressive at 9:30 p.m. in its sophomore-season premiere.

The best news of the week for Fox came on Monday, when the second outing of its highly touted new drama "Prison Break" (8.5 million, 3.9/9) held up well despite airing on the Labor Day holiday when overall primetime viewing levels traditionally take a dive. ("Break" reeled in even stronger numbers in its third airing this past Monday.)

For the week, CBS was No. 2 to ABC in total viewers (7.5 million), followed by Fox (7.3 million), NBC (6.3 million), UPN and WB (tied at 2.2 million). In the key demo, CBS was No. 2 to Fox and ABC with a 2.6/7 average, followed by NBC (2.0/6). The new TV season can't start soon enough for UPN and WB, which were once again laden with reruns and delivered unimpressive numbers in their target demos of adults 18-34 (UPN's 0.9/3 to WB's 0.8/3).

"Dateline NBC" continued to be a workhorse for the peacock last week as it offered continuing coverage of the devastation in the Gulf Coast states. Of the five hours of "Dateline" on NBC's schedule last week, the 8 p.m. Monday installment was the most watched (8.2 million, 2.6/7).

CBS' highlight of the week, as always, was its 9 p.m. Thursday repeat of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (12.9 million, 4.3/11).

On Friday, the six broadcast networks and more than two dozen other outlets carried the telethon special "Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast" commercial-free from 8-9 p.m. Because it aired commercial free, ratings for the special will not be incorporated into the individual networks' summer or yearlong averages. According to Nielsen, "Shelter" drew an average audience of nearly 24 million viewers across 29 English- and Spanish-language outlets.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter