Future is now for Bush
Versatile speedster could be X factor for Saints today
NEW ORLEANS – Questions persist about Reggie Bush’s future with the New Orleans Saints, at least outside the Saints’ training facility. Within those walls, they’re far more concerned about the immediate future.
They’re thinking about this afternoon’s NFC divisional playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals (11-6) in the Louisiana Superdome. The Saints (13-3) are the No. 1 seed in the NFC, followed by Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings (12-4).
Bush joined the Saints as the celebrated Heisman Trophy winner from Southern California in 2006, the second player chosen in the NFL draft, drawing comparisons to pro football legends such as Gale Sayers and Marshall Faulk. He had amazing speed and quickness. Could stop and turn in an instant. Not the biggest guy on the planet, but knew how to run the football against the likes of the Arizona Wildcats and the Washington Huskies.
It’s been a little more of a challenge in the NFL, with linebackers from the Cardinals and Redskins running him down.
His lack of size has been an issue. Some have questioned his toughness. But he has had his moments with the Saints. Several of them.
In some games, Bush has been nothing short of electric. Particularly as a receiver out of the backfield, a hybrid kind of guy.
His role for the Saints’ first playoff game in three years may be the X factor today in The Dome.
“We’re going to need every last guy in this locker room, to get what we want accomplished,” Bush said. “The way I approach it is to do what I can, do what I can to make big plays. There’s a lot of talented players here. There’s a lot of talented players in this league. When my number is called, I have to be ready.
“If we can have balance, running and passing, we’ll be in better shape. Looking at the first few games, the teams that have ran the ball well have won. If we can get that balance, we can keep the crowd in the game.”
The crowd, of course, is not just any crowd. It’s a Superdome crowd. With a late afternoon start. Think the tarmac, at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The place gets loud.
Fourth-year Saints coach Sean Payton isn’t about to tip his hand, as far as his plans for Bush in the postseason, but he has a multitude of offensive weapons – Pro Bowl starting quarterback Drew Brees, two-time Pro Bowler Marques Colston and some of his compadres on the flanks – Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, et al – in addition to between-the-tackles backs Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas.
Thomas has been nursing bruised ribs of late, but he’s a good bet to get plenty of carries against the Cardinals’ defense.
“We go into it with a number of personnel packages and (Bush) will play at a number of different spots,” Payton said. “He provides versatility, whether it’s as a runner or as a receiver or someone who’s catching the ball from the backfield. That’s the way we approach it.”
The Saints haven’t played the Cardinals since 2007, when they won 31-24 in the Superdome. Perhaps the toughest loss of Cards quarterback Kurt Warner’s career came in New Orleans, when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots upset Warner and the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl to conclude the 2001-02 season.
Warner guided Arizona to the Super Bowl last season, but the Cardinals lost in the final seconds to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-23.
“I imagine there’s quite a few players on that team (the Saints) who were there in ’06 (their last playoff appearance),” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “Unlike last year, when we had hardly anybody (with postseason experience). I think this year, it does help us, because we have gone through this process”
Today’s winner will face either the Vikings or the Dallas Cowboys (12-5) in the NFC championship game. The Saints are gunning for the first Super Bowl appearance in the franchise’s 43-year history.