In a game that meant very little to either team but a lot to a few individuals, New Orleans fell to Miami 14-10 at the Superdome.

While the city sits and waits for Tropical Storm Gustav to give a clear hint of where it's going, the Saints moved on with their preseason finale.

The final score wasn’t what head coach Sean Payton necessarily was looking for.

Photo by Steve Kashishian / The Associated Press

Deuce McAllister (26) runs past Miami linebacker Channing Crowder during Thursday night's preseason game at the Superdome.

It didn’t really matter, though by the fourth week of preseason, he was expecting a little crisper performance.

“I thought there were some things tonight that were sloppy when it comes to the game that bothered me,” Payton said. “I know we didn’t play some our starters, but yet, there’s still some things you expect to see this far into training camp.”

What mattered was that he saw how Deuce McAllister reacted to several hard runs. The running back finished with 30 yards on 11 carries and two yards receiving on two catches.

“I thought he looked pretty good,” Payton said. “I think he was at 11 or 12 carries which is where we wanted. We’re trying to gether as much information as we can, just to prepare for the season. I thought he looked pretty good.”

He saw how Mike McKenzie’s knee would do a week after his first game action of 2008. McKenzie made a few big plays in the opening half, breaking up a couple of passes while making one tackle.

But most importantly, he was looking for what a few of the backups trying to make the team would do in a pressure situation.

And one of those guys – Jason David – gave Payton every reason to keep him on the team, making three big plays in the third quarter that stood out in a game void of so many big plays.

With few starters playing on defense for either team, you would think the offenses would be flying around, making plays.

That didn’t happen, at least not early.

In fact, the action was as sluggish as the attendance was low in the Superdome, which appeared more than half empty for this final exhibition game.

After exchanging punts several times, Miami moved to within field goal position, but kicker Dan Carpenter missed a 49-yard attempt wide right.

New Orleans took over and moved 39 yards in eight plays before stalling, leaving it up to Martin Gramatica to stake the Saints to a 3-0 lead with 2:37 to play in the opening quarter.

On the ensuing Dolphins series, New Orleans rookie Sedrick Ellis pushed the Miami offensive lineman blocking him into the backfield before knocking the ball loose from quarterback Chad Henne. Brian Young recovered and New Orleans took over on the Miami 19.

“I think he’s what we thought he was when we selected him,” Payton said of Ellis. “He’s going to play a lot, an awful lot for us, starting next week against Tampa.”

It was then that Payton decided on letting McAllister show what he can do. He rushed five times for eight yards, no run more impressive than a seven-yard run in which he juked Miami cornerback Andre Goodman in the open field.

New Orleans eventually broke into the end zone when Mark Brunell found Lance Moore for a 2-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. Taylor Mehlhaff’s point after gave New Orleans a 10-0 lead with 13:23 to go in the first half.

But then Payton went with players trying to make the team or practice squad and momentum shifted to the Dolphins.

Miami’s first score came on a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Ronnie Brown. On the Dolphins’ next series, Henne guided them into the end zone using the two-minute offense. His 8-yard touchdown pass to Sean Ryan at the end of the half gave Miami a 14-10 halftime lead.