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It seems like there are a lot of reasons to look at the history of the New Orleans Saints lately.

In Sunday’s victory over Houston, the Saints wore their throwback uniforms. There also was a heart-warming story as the Saints had Steve Gleason as an honorary captain and gave him a Super Bowl ring. That came on the fifth anniversary of the re-opening of the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina and brought back memories of Gleason blocking a punt in a huge New Orleans win.

This week will bring back more memories and it’s probably a good thing that not many people associated with the Saints back in 2003 are still with the team. That’s because the Saints will be making their first trip back to Jacksonville since a very unpleasant experience.

In Week 16 of the 2003 season, the Saints and Jaguars were involved in one of the most dramatic finishes in NFL history. Trailing 20-13, the Saints got off a play as time expired. Aaron Brooks (remember him?) threw a pass that ended with Jerome Pathon landing in the end zone after three laterals and 75 yards.

Seemingly, the game was headed for overtime and the Saints would have had all the momentum against the stunned Jaguars. But, then, something weird happened. Normally-reliable kicker John Carney missed the extra point, the Jaguars won 20-19 and the Saints were eliminated from contention.

That’s how things used to play out for the Saints a lot of times. But that kind of thing seemed to come to an end as soon as Brooks left and coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees arrived in 2006.

John Kasay is 41, which is one of the major reasons the Carolina Panthers released the kicker last month. But as Kasay met with the New Orleans media after signing with the Saints on Tuesday, he said he feels like he still can be productive.

“I am not as young as I use to be,’’ Kasay said. “I am not fooling anybody with that but there have been a handful of guys who have done very well playing into their 40’s. Morten Anderson, John Carney, Gary Anderson, Matt Stover, Jason Hanson. It’s a privilege to be able to play and to do the same thing I was doing as a kid.”

Kasay said he had continued working out, even though he wasn’t sure he would get another chance to kick in the league. That changed quickly after New Orleans kicker Garrett Hartley suffered a hip injury in Sunday night’s preseason game.

“This came together obviously very quickly based on what happened to Garrett,’’ Kasay said. “That’s just the nature of the league. I am married. I have four children and school started last week. I was back-to-school-night last night. That’s how fast life changes.”

Coach Sean Payton wouldn't go into specifics about the severity of Hartley's injury and it's unclear if the Saints think they'll be going with Kasay for the long term or only the short term. Payton said familiarity with Kasay is one reason the Saints chose him.

“With his experience, we know the player a little bit more than some of the others because he’s been in our division,'' Payton said. "He’s consistent. He’s a veteran player and we just started getting some work with him today. Really the adjustment is in the hold because he’s a left-footed kicker.”

Punter Thomas Morstead and backup quarterback Chase Daniel worked as holders with Kasay in Tuesday's practice.

“That’s a good question,'' Payton said when asked who will hold. "I think we’ll go with the holder that is most apt at doing it. Both of them, Chase right now and Thomas Morstead, are getting comfortable doing that and working through the kinks.”

Lockout or not, the New Orleans Saints aren’t sitting still.

The team announced a few minor changes to its coaching staff Monday afternoon. Tony Oden will be the new secondary coach, replacing Dennis Allen, who left for a coordinator’s position in Denver. Oden previously had been the assistant secondary coach for the last five years.

Mike Mallory, who had been the assistant special teams coach, now will become the assistant secondary coach. John Bonamego has been hired as assistant special teams coach.

Bonamego previously was New Orleans’ special teams coordinator in 2006 and ’07 before spending the last three seasons as special teams coordinator with the Miami Dolphins.

There also have been reports former kicker John Carney could join the New Orleans coaching staff in some capacity. General manager Mickey Loomis told reporters at LSU’s pro day that Carney joining the staff could happen at some point later in the offseason.

Jason Kyle's stomach hadn’t settled down completely as he spoke on the phone from his San Diego hotel last Thursday night. His mind, though, had calmed down a few hours earlier and already was expanding.

The long-snapper for the New Orleans Saints has several business ventures on the side. He is the Chief Executive Officer of his own start-up company, which sets up pro athletes with endorsement and speaking opportunities, and used to be very active in the NFL Players Association. Kyle is one of the smartest players in the league, and he made an astute observation last week.

“You know, I’d never thought about it in these terms until today,’’ said Kyle, 38 and a veteran of 17 NFL seasons. “We’re professional athletes, and people think we’re great and want our autographs and treat us like kings. But we’re not heroes. We’re just guys that are blessed to be able to run fast or shoot a basketball or whatever, and some of us work at it very hard. But that doesn’t make us heroes. Those people are the real heroes.’’

“Those people’’ are the Blue Angels and the rest of the military personnel Kyle met at Naval Air Facility El Centro last week. It’s funny how flying at speeds of more than 700 miles per hour and going up, down and sideways will shake up your stomach and your thoughts. That’s what happened to Kyle as he went up for an 80-minute flight over the California desert with the Navy’s flight demonstration unit.

“Twenty minutes into the flight, I was in as much of a sweat as I’ve been in my whole life,’’ Kyle said. “I’ve always prided myself on working very hard to stay in shape. I’m not in the kind of shape those pilots are. They prepped me for it and told me what I’d have to do to keep myself from blacking out. You’re constantly tightening your legs and your stomach to keep the blood going to your head, so you don’t black out and you know which way is up and down. Those guys have to be able to do that all the time.

“Think about what they do, and think about what we do. There’s really no comparison. Those guys are incredibly good at something that’s incredibly difficult, and they work so hard at it and the stakes are a little different than playing football. I couldn’t imagine having to land one of those planes on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the night. But I am very glad and proud that we do have exceptional people that can do that.’’

Kyle got the invitation because he’s a close friend of former New Orleans kicker John Carney, who lives in the San Diego area and has flown with the Blue Angels before.

“John didn’t go up this time,’’ Kyle said. “He talked me into it and said it would be like riding a roller coaster. It wasn’t like any roller coaster I’ve ever been on. John came along to watch it from the ground. I think I saw him taking pictures and laughing at me as I stumbled off the plane at the end of the flight.’’

Kyle, who spent eight seasons with the Carolina Panthers before joining the Saints in 2009, was able to laugh after the flight, but definitely not during it or even before it.

Pilots briefed Kyle on what to expect prior to the flight, and that’s when he began to worry a bit. They told him he would experience G-forces as high as 7.5 and that he might black out if he didn’t keep blood rushing to his head. They told about different maneuvers that were planned, and that parts of the flight would be upside down.

There were also mentions of how there would be some low-terrain flying, where the plane would be lower than some nearby mountains. They also made sure he knew that there was an air-sickness bag close to his left hand and another close to his right.

“I had two goals,’’ Kyle said. “Not blacking out and not throwing up. I was one out of two.’’

Kyle didn’t black out.

“An 80-minute flight, I’d guess I spent 30 minutes of it getting sick,’’ Kyle said.

Still, as he reflected on his flight, Kyle didn’t spend much time dwelling on the negatives. I've covered Kyle in his Carolina days and New Orleans days, and he went to the Super Bowl with the Panthers and the Saints. I never heard him sound so excited or animated.

He ticked off some highlights.

“When we hit 7.5 Gs, I felt like my head was in a vice,’’ Kyle said. “That wasn’t fun, but feeling the pressure go away as we eased up was pretty cool. We did some barrel rolls that were crazy, but they were also pretty fun. I can’t say it got any easier as we went along, but there were a few light minutes between turns that I really enjoyed.

“But the best thing I can say about it and the biggest compliment I can give is, that as crazy as it felt at times and as sick as I was, I never once felt really scared. That’s because I knew I was safe. I knew I was in the hands of people that are the absolute best in the world in doing what they do.’’

Kyle kissed the ground when he got out of the plane. He needed a little private time in the pilot’s locker room to start getting his body back. Then, he went out and mingled with the troops, took some pictures and signed some autographs.

But, like Kyle said at the top of this story, he didn’t feel like the celebrity. He felt like the guy hanging out with the real heroes.

There’s one last twist to this story. Although the experience was harrowing at times, the Blue Angels asked Kyle if he’d like to fly with them again. He accepted the offer.

But he’s going to wait a month or so.

“I need some recovery time,’’ Kyle said. “But I also want to really work on my legs and abdominals, and some of the pilots gave me some advice on how they do it. I’m going to try it and try to prepare like the Blue Angels and all the military pilots.’’

Prepare like the real heroes.

I’m going to break my rule of leaving for the stadium three hours before kickoff and extend it to four hours. That’s largely because I believe it could be a little tricky getting around downtown Atlanta and the Georgia Dome tonight.

For the record, I’ll be arriving at the Georgia Dome with several colleagues, but I think it’s important for Falcons fans to know that Trent Dilfer will not be with me.

Anyway, I’ll touch base as soon as I get settled into the Georgia Dome. Also, Matt Williamson from Scouts Inc. and I will be taking part in Countdown Daily, an in-game chat with readers and others from ESPN joining in. We’ll post an item on the blog that will take you into Countdown Daily an hour or two before kickoff.

In the meantime, let’s turn to ESPN Stats & Information for a few nuggets to hold you over as we wait for the showdown between the Saints and Falcons.

• Drew Brees, with 391 completions this season, needs nine to reach the 400-mark for the third time as a pro. All other players in NFL history combined have produced just five 400-completion seasons: Warren Moon, Drew Bledsoe, Rich Gannon, Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning have one each.
• The Saints allowed 202 rushing yards to the Falcons on Sept. 26 in an overtime contest in which Atlanta had 50 rushing plays. But last week, the Saints allowed 208 yards to the Ravens on only 39 carries -- an average of 5.3 yards per carry. It was the first time since the 2008 season that New Orleans had let an opponent amass 200 rushing yards and average five yards per carry.
• Garrett Hartley missed a 29-yard field goal in overtime when the Falcons and Saints met on Sept. 26 at New Orleans. Matt Bryant later won the game for Atlanta, 27-24, with a 46-yard field goal, and Hartley spent the next two weeks on the inactive list while 46-year-old John Carney took his spot. It was the NFL's shortest field-goal miss in overtime since an Atlanta-Tampa Bay game in Tampa on Christmas Eve of 2005. In that game, Atlanta's Todd Peterson had a 28-yard overtime attempt blocked and Bryant, then with Tampa Bay, missed from 27 yards on the next possession. Bryant eventually won it for the Buccaneers with a 41-yard field goal.
• Matt Ryan's passer rating in 2010 is 90.5; he could become the first Falcons quarterback to finish a season with a rating of 90 or higher (minimum: eight starts) since Chris Chandler earned a 100.9 rating for the 1998 team that wound up playing in the Super Bowl.
• Everything's working in the Falcons' favor this season: Opposing kickers have made only 13 of 21 field goal attempts against Atlanta; that rate of 62 percent is the lowest against any NFL team. (You have to go back to 2003 to find the last NFL team against which opposing kickers had such a low percentage; that year, the Redskins "held" their opponents to a 61-percent rate.)
• The Falcons have won eight straight, but over the last three games, their opponents have run for 454 yards and have averaged 5.8 yards per carry. The last NFL team to win three straight games despite allowing at least 450 rushing yards and at least 5.8 yards per carry was the Saints in 2006.
• John Abraham joined the 100-sacks club two weeks ago, and with a sack last week at Seattle, he now has 101.5 sacks. His single-game high of four sacks came while playing for the Jets against the Saints back on Nov. 4, 2001, his second season in the league, but he has had only two sacks (including one this year) in eight games against New Orleans since then.

The New Orleans Saints, reeling from a slow start and a bunch of injuries, made a pretty major series of roster moves Tuesday afternoon.

We’ll summarize the moves first and then we’ll analyze them. The Saints signed running back Julius Jones and safety Matt Giordano while releasing kicker John Carney and waiving running back DeShawn Wynn.

The Jones signing easily is the biggest of the moves. The Saints have struggled with running backs Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush sidelined in recent weeks. They’ve been using veteran Ladell Betts and rookie Chris Ivory, but haven’t gotten a lot of production. Jones is a veteran and is in his seventh season. He played for the Cowboys from 2004 to 2007, before landing with Seattle. Jones has started 75 of his career 85 games and rushed for 4,875 yards and 22 touchdowns on 1,232 carries. He’s the kind of player who could move ahead of Betts and Ivory very quickly and still fill a role when Bush and Thomas return.

The release of Carney is a sign the Saints are ready to turn their kicking duties back to Garrett Hartley. The Saints signed Carney, 46, after Hartley missed an easy field-goal attempt in an overtime loss to Atlanta. The Saints said they were bringing in Carney to help Hartley get his accuracy back.

Giordano also fills a need at a spot where injuries have been prevalent. Safeties Roman Harper and Pierson Prioleau have missed time with injuries and Chris Reis is out for the season. A sixth-year player, Giordano has spent time with the Colts and Packers and was in Atlanta’s training camp this year. He’s played only sparingly in the secondary, but has played extensively on special teams, which means he could fill Reis’ role.

The Saints also tweaked their practice squad a bit. They signed cornerback Reggie Jones, who was with the team previously, and released linebacker Harry Coleman.

Let's take a quick trip through some news and notes around the NFC South.

• There is some debate over how much New Orleans defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis is weighing these days. But it doesn’t really matter. After two inconsistent seasons, driven mainly by injuries, Ellis is showing signs he might be the dominant force the Saints envisioned when they drafted him in the first round in 2008.
• Brian Allee-Walsh has a very interesting story about New Orleans kicker John Carney and his wife, Holly, and how their return to the Saints might be part of a “divine plan."
• My good friends Mike Triplett, Jeff Duncan and James Varney have a video preview of the matchup between the Saints and Cardinals.
• It looks like Carolina rookie wide receiver Armanti Edwards will be making his first appearance Sunday. Receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said Edwards has been flashing his potential in recent practices.
• The Falcons are getting ready to face yet another 3-4 defense. This time it’s the Browns, which means a steady dose of blitzes.
• Scott Reynolds has a good note that arose out of the earlier flap about Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis saying the Bucs overpaid to get practice-squad receiver Dezmon Briscoe. The Bucs are now taking their practice-squad players with them on road trips. That’s rare in the NFL. I know there are a lot of people who like to say the Bucs are cheap. But extra hotel rooms and meals cost money.

» NFC High Energy: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

A look at a player who gave his team a significant boost in Week 4.

A little over a week ago, 46-year-old John Carney was sitting on his couch in San Diego and watching football on television.

On Sunday, he made all three field goal attempts, including a last-second, game-winning kick for the New Orleans Saints. The game marked the third, and most unlikely, stint with the Saints for Carney. Retirement seemed like a real possibility after Carney didn’t get any offers to sign in the offseason and the preseason didn’t create any new openings.

But Carney continued working out on his own and waiting for the phone to ring. It did after Garrett Hartley missed a short overtime kick in a Week 3 loss to Atlanta. Carney was a logical choice because of his ties to the Saints and the fact that he and Hartley have worked together in the past.

The Saints still are hoping Hartley can work out his accuracy issues and are keeping him on the roster. Carney may only be a short-term solution as well as a mentor for Hartley.

But, at least for one week, Carney was able to come in and give the Saints a spark -- and a victory.

NEW ORLEANS -- The Saints’ media relations staff just sent out a list of statistical superlatives following a 16-14 win over Carolina. Let’s take a look at some highlights.

• The Saints ran 79 offensive plays and held the ball for 38 minutes, 22 seconds. The time of possession is the third highest total in Sean Payton’s tenure.
• Drew Brees moved past Aaron Brooks into second place on the team’s all-time passing yardage list. Brees now has 19,427 yards since joining the Saints. He trails only Archie Manning (21,734 yards).
• John Carney became just the third player in an NFL game at age 46. The late George Blanda played until he was 48 and former New Orleans kicker Morten Andersen played until he was 47.
• Backup quarterback Chase Daniel got his first NFL playing time. Daniel served as the holder on place kicks, a role previously held by punter Thomas Morstead.
• If you’re looking for a breakout player, it might be defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis. He had a sack and leads the team with three. Ellis also batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage.
• The Saints went more than 37 minutes before their first penalty. That came on a holding call in the third quarter.

NEW ORLEANS -- I’m heading down to the locker rooms for interviews with the Panthers and Saints. I’ll be back with more postgame analysis in a bit. But in the meantime, here’s Rapid Reaction on the Saints' 16-14 victory.

What it means: A win is a win. But all three of New Orleans’ victories have been ugly. This team has some issues and injuries. You can survive that against the Panthers, but there are some tough games coming up later in the season and the Saints can’t win some of those unless they start playing a lot better. Despite playing better than they have all season, it’s over for the Panthers. They’re 0-4 and John Fox is a lame-duck coach. Injuries to receiver Steve Smith and defensive tackle Ed Johnson looked significant enough that Carolina could face a couple of games without those two players. The effort was there Sunday, but that’s tough to continue when you’re in a downhill spiral.

Hero: John Carney. The 46-year-old kicker was signed this week after Garrett Hartley missed a field goal in overtime last week. Carney connected on all three of his attempts, including the game winner.

Injuries of note: Carolina wide receiver Smith left the game with an ankle injury late in the third quarter. The Panthers went with rookies Brandon LaFell and David Gettis the rest of the game. New Orleans opened the game without starting strong safety Roman Harper, who was injured last week. Pierson Prioleau started in Harper’s place, but was injured in the first half. Chris Reis took Harper’s place, but suffered a shoulder injury. The Saints had to finish the game with Usama Young, their only remaining safety.

What’s next: The Saints will be on the road the next two games. First, they travel to Arizona. Then, on Oct. 17, they go to Tampa Bay. The Panthers host Chicago in a game that has a big subplot as Bears defensive end Julius Peppers returns to play against his former team for the first time. The Panthers have their bye the following week.

NEW ORLEANS -- As expected, the Saints will be without injured running back Pierre Thomas for Sunday’s game with Carolina.

The Saints have said Ladell Betts will start in place of Thomas. The Saints also are without injured running back Reggie Bush, and that means Chris Ivory and DeShawn Wynn likely will share carries with Betts.

The Saints also will be without starting strong safety Roman Harper. Pierson Prioleau will start in his place. John Carney will handle place-kicking duties as Garrett Hartley is inactive after missing a short kick in overtime last week.

Also inactive for the Saints are linebacker Anthony Waters, offensive lineman Charles Brown, tight end Tory Humphrey and defensive end Junior Galette.

It seems like everybody’s got a little advice for New Orleans kicker Garrett Hartley after he missed a short field-goal attempt in overtime against Atlanta.

Former New Orleans kickers are talking about the obstacles he’s facing. The Saints went out and brought back John Carney, although they're holding onto Hartley, at least for now.

But maybe the guy Hartley should listen to most is quarterback Drew Brees. After all, Brees is the leader of this team and he’s also a guy who went through some hard times earlier in his career. Brees told the New Orleans media on Wednesday that he has sat down and talked to Hartley about getting through a rough period.

“I told him I’ve been benched three times,’’ Brees said. “I said, it’s all part of the process. Every young player has to learn it. There’s no shortcut to it. There’s no easy way to it. You just have to learn it the hard way. You’re learning it the hard way. Make the most of it. Absorb everything you can from John Carney. John Carney’s a Hall of Fame kicker. I’ve lost track of how many years he’s played. He’s played more years than Hartley’s been alive probably. Really, we should look that up. Is that true?’’

For the record, it’s not quite true. Carney, 46, appeared in his first NFL game in 1988. Hartley, 24, was born in 1986. But you get Brees’ point, which is to learn from your elders.

“How many opportunities do you get like that,’’ Brees said. “When I had the opportunity to play with Doug Flutie when I was a rookie and then Mark Brunell, you constantly are a sponge and take in everything you can. Garrett Hartley has a ton of talent and he’s already made some big kicks in his career and there are plenty more that he has to make in the future. This is just one of those times where he has to gut it out a little bit.”

» NFC Stock Watch: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

FALLING

1. Marques Colston, wide receiver, Saints. The guy who is supposed to be New Orleans’ best wide receiver and maybe even the best receiver in the NFC South had just four catches for a very inconsequential 25 yards Sunday. Colston has yet to catch a touchdown pass this season. With his mediocre start and the quarterback struggles in Carolina taking a toll on Steve Smith, it’s become abundantly clear that Atlanta’s Roddy White is the best wide receiver in the division.

2. New Orleans’ defense. When it’s not forcing turnovers, this unit is rather ordinary. The first three games have shown teams can run the ball on the Saints and teams are going to continue to do that. Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams are two strong personalities. They co-existed when the defense was making turnovers and the Saints were winning big last year. But a few more losses could really put this relationship to the test.

3. Garrett Hartley, kicker, Saints. It appears as if the Saints are going to hang onto Hartley even though they’re bringing in veteran John Carney. The Saints aren’t completely ready to give up on a talented young kicker who has made some big kicks in his career. But his miss of a 29-yard field goal in overtime cost the Saints a victory Sunday. They can’t afford to carry two kickers for too long, so Hartley better figure out what’s causing his inconsistency and fix it quickly.

RISING

1. Matt Ryan, quarterback, Falcons. People like to debate if Ryan’s an “elite’’ quarterback or not. I’m not sure what the exact qualifications for that are. But, if going into an extremely hostile environment and playing a nearly flawless game against the defending Super Bowl champions is on the list, then I’d lean toward calling Ryan an elite quarterback.

2. Atlanta’s pass rush. The numbers still aren’t dominant. But the Falcons are generating pressure. They didn’t make any dramatic moves in the offseason because they said they believed in what they had. Turns out, they were right. John Abraham's bouncing back, Kroy Biermann is on the rise, Jonathan Babineaux is one of the better interior pass-rushers in the league and the much-maligned Jamaal Anderson put enough pressure on Drew Brees to force a huge interception Sunday.

3. Lance Moore, wide receiver, Saints. You don’t replace all that Reggie Bush does with a single player. But Moore took on Bush’s role as punt returner and spent some time at slot receiver Sunday. Moore was quieted by injuries much of last year. But he’s an athlete and a playmaker and he’s going to get a chance to showcase those abilities while Bush is out.

Nakia Hogan reports that the New Orleans Saints have signed kicker John Carney, but we don’t know yet what that means for the future of Garrett Hartley.

Carney spent some time with the Saints as Hartley served a four-game suspension to start the past season. The Saints kept both kickers for a while, before electing to go with Hartley late in the year as Carney served as a kicking consultant.

The Saints planned to go exclusively with Hartley this season, but he has struggled with accuracy and missed a 29-yard field-goal attempt in overtime in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The Saints worked out Carney and veteran Kris Brown, before apparently settling on Carney.

The Saints have not announced the signing yet and we don’t know if they’re going to release Hartley. They could carry two kickers again and use Carney to give Hartley some time to work out his accuracy problems.

I know a lot of New Orleans fans are questioning Sean Payton’s decision to have Garrett Hartley attempt a 29-yard field goal on a first-down play in Sunday’s loss to New Orleans. The mailbag is full of those questions.

You all know what happened. Hartley missed the attempt, the Falcons went down the field and won the game, fans are second-guessing Payton and the Saints worked out veteran kickers John Carney and Kris Brown on Tuesday. Still no word on if they plan to sign either of them.

When Payton decided to kick on first down, my gut reaction was it was the right call. The Saints were tired and needed to put an end to the game. They had put Hartley in position for a chip shot. I didn’t think it was the wrong call.

But, when I started hearing so many critics, I decided to check into the percentages. I reached out to ESPN Stats & Information and asked what history has shown about field goal attempts from 29 yards or less.

The response I got was a survey of all field-goal attempts during the regular season and post season since 2001. On field goals of exactly 29 yards, kickers have made 231 of 255 attempts. That’s 90.6 percent.

On field goal attempts of 29 yards or less, kickers are 2,574 of 2,686. That’s 95.8 percent.

Could Payton have run a couple more plays and gotten a few more yards? Sure. Would it really have mattered? I’m not so sure. He was playing the percentages and the percentages said an NFL kicker should make that field goal more than 90 percent of the time.