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Devin Hester Breaks His Own NFL Record; Saints' Season is Over
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Another record was broken in the NFL; finally a record broken that doesn't involve the Patriots. It was in the Bears/Saints game. Everything was on the line for the Saints; if they won, they would make the playoffs, and if they lost, they would not (plain and simple).
The record I'm talking about was broken by a kick returner who we will see dominate his position for a while: Devin Hester. He broke his own NFLrecord today when he returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown, his sixth kick return TD of the season. As a rookie last season, Hester returned five kicks for touchdowns, which was the record at the time. This year, he has two kickoff returns and four punt returns for TDs. His two returns were the key factor of the Bears' 33-25 win against the Saints, which signifies that the Saints' season is officially over with a 7-9 record. If that doesn't impress you enough, in only two seasons in the NFL, he needs three more kick returns to break Brian Mitchell's record for the most in a career (Mitchell has 13).
"Coming off the season we had last year, we were hoping for better things. But at the end of the day, we left off with a good note," Hester said. "Look at the way we played right now. We should have been doing that all season. It's tough. But things happen."
"It is different. Different teams, different circumstances -- an NFCChampionship Game and 7-9," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "It's an irony that the season ended here."
I expected a lot more from both the Bears and the Saints this season. As the final two teams standing in the NFC last year, they both have the same lousy record of 7-9. Compared to last season, the Bears were 13-3 (6 more wins than this season), and the Saints were 10-6 (3 more wins than this season). Reggie Bush and Rex Grossman (this year) have really been major busts this year. Let's check out some of their stats, shall we?
Starting off with Rex Grossman. 178 yards per game this season compared to 200 last season; only 4 (passing) touchdowns (0.5 per game) compared to his 23 last season (1.4375 per game); went from a quarterback rating or 73.9 to 66.4.
Reggie Bush is next. With such an amazing College Football career, it is extremely weird to see him doing this average. 3.7 yards per attempt, 48.4 rushing yards per game. OK, his stats were better than last year, but as you gain experience, I think you should get a lot better, and as a first round draft pick, he's not doing as well as people thought he would be. I'll give him credit; he has improved since the first couple of games in the season, but after getting in his groove, and then getting injured when the Saints really needed him is not good for a team.
Well, that's it for the season of the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. Once again, congratulations to Devin Hester for breaking his own record and inching closer and closer to the career record for kick returns in only his second year in the NFL. Better luck next year, guys.
