New Orleans Saints Have Questions That Need Answers

The Saints third preseason game is this Saturday, against the Cincinnati Bengals. This should be a good test for the Saints, since Carson Palmer is one of the top QBs in the NFL today. The Bengals will, however, be without Chad Johnson, and Houshmandzadeh may be limited as well. This is good and bad for the Saints' secondary. Johnson and Houshmandzadeh are two of the best in the game today; they could have provided a great benchmark for the Saints' coaches to gauge the improvement of the secondary. On the other hand with Johnson out, and Houshmandzadeh limited, if the secondary performs poorly against the second-team receivers, that will not be good for players, coaches, and fans alike. Somebody needs to step up and show that they want the starting job. It's a stretch, but Porter just might be that guy, even though he is a rookie and has missed practice time due to injury. Going into Saturday's game, the secondary is not the only issue to worry about. The linebacking corps ... (link)