Garrett Hartley

Tennessee's rookie quarterback Jake Locker added a bit of sparkle to an otherwise lackluster game Thursday night, leading the Titans to a 32-9 victory over the New Orleans Saints. The Titans' first-round pick, who is expected to press Matt Hasselbeck for the starting job at some point this season, completed 15 of 17 for 132 yards and a touchdown. He had a 118.6 quarterback rating, playing just over three quarters. Locker also ran 22 yards to score, Saints backup QB Chase Daniel was not as impressive, completing 29 of 39 for 249 yards.

Tennessee's rookie quarterback Jake Locker added a bit of sparkle to an otherwise lackluster game Thursday night, leading the Titans to a 32-9 victory over the New Orleans Saints. The Titans' first-round pick, who is expected to press Matt Hasselbeck for the starting job at some point this season, completed 15 of 17 for 132 yards and a touchdown. He had a 118.6 quarterback rating, playing just over three quarters. Locker also ran 22 yards to score, Saints backup QB Chase Daniel was not as impressive, completing 29 of 39 for 249 yards.

SAN FRANCISCO — Last season, the New Orleans Saints won their games with a high-flying offense. So far this year it has been all about defense. After Drew Brees set the Saints up with a 30-yard completion to Marques Colston, Garrett Hartley kicked a 37-yard field goal that barely fluttered through as time expired as the Saints spoiled the San Francisco 49ers’ home opener with a 25-22 victory last night. San Francisco’s Frank Gore ran for a 7-yard touchdown with 1:19 to play and Vernon Davis made a close-call catch at the goal line for the tying 2-point conversion.

There's nothing like a trip to Oakland to get Drew Brees ready for the regular season. Brees threw for 189 yards and led New Orleans to scores on all three drives he played in the Saints' 40-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday night. Brees completed 15 of 23 passes and looked almost as sharp as he did in his last trip to Oakland when he led three touchdown drives in his only series of a 45-7 victory two years ago in the third exhibition game. The Saints used that regular-season dress rehearsal to go on and win their first 13 games and win the first Super Bowl title in...

LANDOVER, Md. - The New Orleans Saints had no business winning. Two of their biggest plays were unbelievable flukes, bad mistakes that somehow morphed into positive results. Then they needed the other team’s kicker to miss a 23-yard field goal just to stay alive, and a freeze-frame replay reversal to get the ball in overtime. But the Saints are living a charmed life these days, and the Washington Redskins are as snakebit as can be. New Orleans trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter yesterday and played more than four quarters without holding a lead - until Garrett Hartley kicked an 18-yard field goal 6:29...

NEW ORLEANS — It should have been a routine chip shot for Saints playoff hero Garrett Hartley, a 29-yard field goal in overtime to keep New Orleans unbeaten. Somehow, the same kicker who set a Super Bowl record with three field goals longer than 40 yards hooked it wide left from the right hash mark. Minutes later, the defending champions’ charmed run ended — and Falcons players stormed the Superdome field in celebration — when Matt Bryant drilled a 46-yard field goal with 1:55 left in the extra period to lift the Atlanta Falcons to a 27-24 victory yesterday.

There's nothing like a trip to Oakland to get Drew Brees ready for the regular season. Brees threw for 189 yards and led New Orleans to scores on all three drives he played in the Saints' 40-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday night. Brees completed 15 of 23 passes and looked almost as sharp as he did in his last trip to Oakland when he led three touchdown drives in his only series of a 45-7 victory two years ago in the third exhibition game. The Saints used that regular-season dress rehearsal to go on and win their first 13 games and win the...

Whoops. OK, maybe I jumped the gun a little. I got caught up in the moment. On the eve of the Super Bowl, I wrote that Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady . I was positively Peytonized. And as Rick Pitino once said, “that’s how I felt at the time.’’ Fortunately, this is sports and opinions change every day. Now that Manning lost the Super Bowl with his Favre-like pick six, he’s a mere .500 quarterback (9-9) in postseason play. He’s still two rings shy of Brady, who is 14-4 in NFL tournament play.

What a weird, wacky, tumultuous, unpredictable, and perversely entertaining NFL season this was. We in these here parts were spared the turmoil. I mean, what passed for a crisis here? Does anyone recall Tom Brady’s accident? Dumping Randy Moss? Talk about a crisis that wasn’t. Oh, sure there were injuries here and there, but everybody has injuries. It’s football, you know? Anyway, there’s only one injury that would derail this Patriots Super Bowl Express, and as far as we know He is quite functional, even if Coach Bill insists on amusing...

The New Orleans Saints are still perfect, which is all that matters. They’re not the least bit worried about another close call. Drew Brees threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns, Jonathan Vilma came up with two huge defensive plays, and the Saints pulled out another tight win, 26-23 over the pesky Falcons yesterday in Atlanta. A week ago, New Orleans (13-0) appeared on the verge of losing until Washington missed a chip-shot field goal in regulation. The Saints rallied for a 33-30 overtime win. This time, they struggled to hold off an Atlanta team that was...

What a weird, wacky, tumultuous, unpredictable, and perversely entertaining NFL season this was. We in these here parts were spared the turmoil. I mean, what passed for a crisis here? Does anyone recall Tom Brady’s accident? Dumping Randy Moss? Talk about a crisis that wasn’t. Oh, sure there were injuries here and there, but everybody has injuries. It’s football, you know? Anyway, there’s only one injury that would derail this Patriots Super Bowl Express, and as far as we know He is quite functional, even if Coach Bill insists on amusing himself by listing his quarterback...

NEW ORLEANS — It should have been a routine chip shot for Saints playoff hero Garrett Hartley, a 29-yard field goal in overtime to keep New Orleans unbeaten. Somehow, the same kicker who set a Super Bowl record with three field goals longer than 40 yards hooked it wide left from the right hash mark. Minutes later, the defending champions’ charmed run ended — and Falcons players stormed the Superdome field in celebration — when Matt Bryant drilled a 46-yard field goal with 1:55 left in the extra period to lift the Atlanta Falcons to a 27-24 victory yesterday.

SAN FRANCISCO — Last season, the New Orleans Saints won their games with a high-flying offense. So far this year it has been all about defense. After Drew Brees set the Saints up with a 30-yard completion to Marques Colston, Garrett Hartley kicked a 37-yard field goal that barely fluttered through as time expired as the Saints spoiled the San Francisco 49ers’ home opener with a 25-22 victory last night. San Francisco’s Frank Gore ran for a 7-yard touchdown with 1:19 to play and Vernon Davis made a close-call catch at the goal line for the tying 2-point conversion.

Whoops. OK, maybe I jumped the gun a little. I got caught up in the moment. On the eve of the Super Bowl, I wrote that Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady . I was positively Peytonized. And as Rick Pitino once said, “that’s how I felt at the time.’’ Fortunately, this is sports and opinions change every day. Now that Manning lost the Super Bowl with his Favre-like pick six, he’s a mere .500 quarterback (9-9) in postseason play. He’s still two rings shy of Brady, who is 14-4 in NFL tournament play.

The New Orleans Saints are still perfect, which is all that matters. They’re not the least bit worried about another close call. Drew Brees threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns, Jonathan Vilma came up with two huge defensive plays, and the Saints pulled out another tight win, 26-23 over the pesky Falcons yesterday in Atlanta. A week ago, New Orleans (13-0) appeared on the verge of losing until Washington missed a chip-shot field goal in regulation. The Saints rallied for a 33-30 overtime win. This time, they struggled to hold off an Atlanta team that...

LANDOVER, Md. - The New Orleans Saints had no business winning. Two of their biggest plays were unbelievable flukes, bad mistakes that somehow morphed into positive results. Then they needed the other team’s kicker to miss a 23-yard field goal just to stay alive, and a freeze-frame replay reversal to get the ball in overtime. But the Saints are living a charmed life these days, and the Washington Redskins are as snakebit as can be. New Orleans trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter yesterday and played more than four quarters without holding a lead - until Garrett Hartley kicked an 18-yard...

NFL owners will vote next week whether to allow each team a possession in overtime in the playoffs if the team winning the coin toss kicks a field goal on the first series. Previously, the game would end whenever either side scores, as happened in the NFC Championship game in January, with New Orleans beating Minnesota on Garrett Hartley’s kick. But NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay said a trend has developed showing too strong an advantage for teams winning the coin toss to start overtime.

Wide receiver Joey Galloway , who was released by the Patriots Oct. 20 after a poor start to the season, was added to the Steelers’ roster yesterday as the replacement for Limas Sweed . The 15-year NFL veteran had seven receptions for 67 yards and was not on the active roster for the last three weeks of his stint with New England. Sweed was placed on injured reserve Monday with a non-football related illness. Coach Mike Tomlin would not reveal any details of Sweed’s condition.