People there is absolutely no truth to the rumor the Saints worked out Russell Erxleben this week.

The Saints don’t want any convicted felons on the team, especially 51 year old ones.

Still, the Saints kicking game has never been in such sad shape in my life except for the five minutes Lohmiller was on the team in 1990’s.

Sean Payton created this unnecessary mess and seemingly has no plan to fix it.

By the way, signing new kickers every other week is not a solution.

Payton is like the guy who has gone on 15 dates in two months since he broke with his girlfriend because she was ‘Too Boring.’

Payton never needed to go down this road. Besides being a little short on kickoffs what exactly was wrong with John Carney?

From 45 yards and in the guy was money.

Now I’m reading quotes like this from the coach about the kicking game; “The extra points, we felt like we were sweating a little bit, and that's not a good feeling.”

You and I both coach. At least I can do a shot when whatever kicker you signed last week lines up for the extra points.

The whole kicking situation reminds me of trying to upgrade something in your house which is perfectly fine as it is.

Like your water heater.

It gives you hot water for showers and every other water related need.

Then you go and get a fancy environmentally safe one that’s more efficient and will save you six whole dollars a month.

Except now every morning when you wake up there is only a 50/50 chance you will get a hot shower and to make matters worse it leaks and now you have water in the attic.

Was it worth six dollars a month and the grief you are getting from your wife?

Nope. Now while taking a cold shower you fantasize that you just would have kept your good old reliable water heater.

How often do you think Payton checks the waiver wire to see if the Giants released John Carney?

I say he has a special Google alert to notify him if it occurs.

Ok on to the games

Last week: 2-3

Season: 23-21-1

Atlanta (-1) vs. New Orleans: This week’s kicker is Garrett Hartley. Hey Garrett just don’t have the look on your face of a five-year-old who can’t find his mom in the mall and it will be an upgrade over Tyler Mehlhaff. Is that asking too much?

I have absolutely no idea how this game will go except the Saints need to win to have any hope whatsoever at the playoffs come December.

Atlanta is 16^th in total defense which seems pretty good except they’ve played Detroit, Kansas City, and Oakland. Their defense is only average after holding the Raiders to 77 yards last week. So the Saints should be able to move the ball pretty good.

On offense Atlanta will do two things; run Michael Turner and throw to Roddy White.

Not too complicated.

I won’t believe the Saints can stop a competent NFL offense until I actually see them do it. I want to pick the Saints but I just can’t do it. Besides the fact the Saints have been a disappointment the only thing worse this year is that Atlanta is actually good. It’s like my mom always said about the Falcons when I was young, “Son, there is no need to fear death because at least when you go to the great beyond you can hate the Falcons for all eternity.” My mother is so wise.

Too bad the Saints will show themselves to be a spectacularly mediocre lot.

Falcons 31-23

Miami (-8.5) vs. Seattle: Last week I went to Denver to watch the Dolphins make a basket case out Jay Cutler. Invesco Field is a fantastic stadium but the Bronco crowd wasn’t nearly as raucous as I thought. Oh and at the game I experienced my first ever fly over of F-14 Air Force Jets.
Awesome.  The Dolphins will be 5-4? Believe it.

Dolphins 31-14

Green Bay (+2.5) at Minnesota: Since when did the Vikings become more than a poorly coached team with a crappy quarterback? I’ll take the Packers.

Packers 27-24

 Carolina (-9) at Oakland: So now apparently Al Davis is thinking of firing half the team. If he keeps it up the Raiders might become eligible for one of those government bailouts I’ve heard so much about.

Panthers 38-3

Jacksonville (-6.5) at Detroit: The Lions need to keep losing and the Titans need to keep winning so when they meet in Week 11 we can have the battle of perfect records.

Come on Lions don’t let me down!

Jaguars 23-13

Ralph Malbrough is a Saints fan living in Houston. He can be reached at ralphmalbrough@hotmail.com. He also hosts an internet Saints radio show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/forecastradio. You can listen live or download archived editions at itunes.