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David Grunfeld / The Times-PicayuneEver the cheerleader on the sideline as he recovers from hernia sur´gery, tight end Jeremy Shockey congratulates Pierre Thomas after his 56-yard return of the opening kickoff against the Vikings on Oct. 6 at the Superdome.

For a number of reasons, the Saints need to get Jeremy Shockey back on the football field.

Mostly to give the poor guy something to do with himself on Sundays.

Eliot Kamenitz / The Times-PicayuneWhen Hornets center Tyson Chandler slams one down, he usually can thank guard Chris Paul for the assist.

Hornets center Tyson Chandler dunked the basketball 192 times last season, and 106 of those came off assists from point guard Chris Paul.

There might not have been anything more exciting during last season's division championship run than seeing Paul find a soaring Chandler near the basket and having Chandler, 7 feet 1, emphatically ram the ball through the basket. No two-man combination in the NBA last season had more alley-oop dunks than Paul and Chandler, who teamed for the spectacular play 60 times more than their nearest challengers, according to the Hornets.

A dominating victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday was just what the Saints needed to erase some of the bad vibes that lingered from the start of their season.

A win this week at Carolina would be even better.

After a day of sightseeing in Berlin on Monday, the Hornets return to work today for an exhibition game against the Washington Wizards.

It's the first of two games the Hornets will play against the Wizards on their Europe Live Tour. On Friday, the Hornets play the Wizards in Barcelona, Spain.

David Gladow / NOLA.comWas New Orleans too small for the VooDoo?

It has been speculated that rising attendance at New Orleans Hornets games hurt the New Orleans VooDoo attendance this past summer, and that the business relationship between the two had influenced the interaction -- or lack thereof -- between team owners Tom Benson and George Shinn.

But does a direct correlation actually exist? Did the Hornets' rise to success kill any chance the VooDoo had at competing in such a small sports market? Or is something else at play?

Vote in our poll after the jump, and give us YOUR take in the comments.

Scanning the Web on Monday for stories and discussion about the Saints' 34-3 rout of the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

Lots of words about the brilliance of Drew Brees and the continued exploits of Reggie Bush.

Here's what I could find:

Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneSaints Coach Sean Payton didn't have injuries to talk about today.

Shockingly, there was no major injury news to discuss with Saints Coach Sean Payton on Monday after they came out of Sunday's victory over Oakland intact. In fact, Payton said he's expecting a few players to return from injuries this week leading up to a huge divisional matchup at Carolina.

Receiver Marques Colston (thumb) is obviously on track to play for the first time since Week 1 after he practiced extensively last week, though he declined to talk on Monday. Tight end Jeremy Shockey (sports hernia) is also a possibility, though Payton said he needs to see how Shockey looks in practice on Wednesday, and how quickly he bounces back on Thursday. Last week, Shockey practiced on Wednesday, but the soreness prevented him from testing the injury again.

The scary thing - beyond the final score - is that against Florida, LSU didn't commit five turnovers and 12 penalties, didn't allow seven sacks and drop eight passes.

The Tigers even were decent on third down conversions (four of 11) compared to the Gators (five of 10). So nothing, by the final numbers, seemed to suggest a 51-21 Florida blowout that vaulted Florida back into the top 5 and knocked LSU out of the top 10.

The Hornets are out of the country, getting ready for their games in Berlin and Barcelona.

But that doesn't mean we can't talk about them.

Join us for our weekly Hornets chat today at noon with Times-Picayune beat reporter John Reid.

We'll start taking your questions around 11:30.

Click to view graphic about the Saints' offense.

The penalties decreased, the turnovers disappeared and the Saints won by their largest margin in almost five years.

In their final game at the Superdome for more than a month, the Saints finally accomplished many of their early-season goals -- strengthening the defense, sharpening the offense and eliminating the mistakes. The result was a 34-3 victory for the Saints against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday and a 3-3 record through Week 6.

The Associated PressLSU coach Les Miles, who is shaking hands with Florida's Urban Meyer Saturday, says his team will bounce back from that loss.

BATON ROUGE -- One day after the Gators chomped through his Tigers for a 30-point victory, LSU Coach Les Miles said he would welcome a rematch.

Not a replay, Miles made clear. There doesn't appear to have been any way LSU, which dropped to No. 13 in the Associated Press poll Sunday, could have dug itself out after an avalanche of 20 unanswered points sank LSU into a pit before a near-record crowd at The Swamp in Gainesville, Fla.

"First I want to say I think Florida put a heck of a game together and played well," Miles said. "We didn't play as well as we are capable, really in all three phases, and it's my job to get that fixed."

The Associated PressTexas quarterback Colt McCoy flashes the "hook 'em horns" sign after the Longhorns defeated Oklahoma Saturday, putting them at the top of the T-P rankings.

OK, so there's the Associated Press, the Coaches' poll and the BCS rankings, but none have the enthusiasm, or maybe sarcasm, as the Times-Picayune rankings. We'll give you a brand of humor with these picks - usually with a crazy pick at No. 25 each week - or in our quips about a certain team. Don't get too worked up about it, though, nobody goes to a bowl or stays home from a bowl based on our poll, it's all in fun.

Eliot Kamenitz/The Times-PicayuneChris Paul and the Hornets are looking for serious improvement on their trip to Europe.

Hornets point guard Chris Paul is looking forward to using all the years of Spanish he learned in high school.

Forward Peja Stojakovic, who possesses passports from both Serbia, place of his birth, and Greece, his current residence, might be excited about returning to the continent of his birth.

But Coach Byron Scott has news for his group if they think their six-day junket to Berlin and Barcelona is anything other than work.

Reggie Bush didn't provide quite the same kind of theatrics in the New Orleans Saints 34-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders that he did six days earlier at the Superdome.

But once again, he scored two touchdowns for the Saints, giving him eight on the season. That puts him on pace for 20 touchdowns this season -- which would break Dalton Hilliard's record of 18, set in 1989.

Bush was shut down pretty good in the running game, gaining 27 yards on 14 carries with a long run of 5 yards. And he caught three passes for 40 yards. But both of the touchdowns were big plays.

Phil Sandlin / AP PhotoThe Tigers expectedly took a tumble after the loss to Florida.

The LSU Tigers aren't used to rankings outside of the Top 10.

They aren't accustomed to blowout losses either.

The team's 51-21 loss to the Florida Gators in Gainesville Saturday night was not without consequences, as the Tigers tumbled out of the Top 10 in both major polls.

Chuck Cook/The Times-PicayuneDrew Brees threw for 320 yards against the Oakland Raiders Sunday.

This was the kind of game the New Orleans Saints figured to have often this season. The running of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush, the expert game management and passing of Drew Brees, games like Sunday's 34-3 rout of the Oakland Raiders was supposed to be common place.

Instead the win against the Raiders was the first time the Saints have put together a complete game. And, while you can shrug it off to say "it was the Raiders" the Saints looked confident and under control on offense better than at any other point in the season.

"I thought we played hard," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I really want to credit Bobby (McCray), he had some big sacks. Jason David had a big intception that set us up for another score.

"Mark Campbell big play on the goalline. I was encouraged with the way Deuce played. Thought we were consistent running the ball. I felt real good about that."

Don't look now, but the New Orleans Saints are playing some defense.

And not just good defense. Great defense.

It has been awhile since anyone's uttered that sentence around the Crescent City.

But lo and behold, while New Orleans has been abuzz about Reggie Bush's punt return heroics and Drew Brees' chase of the NFL season record for passing yards, the Saints' run defense is quietly developing into one of the league's finest.

Chuck Cook/The Times-PicayuneReggie Bush had two touchdowns against Oakland.

Saints fans, do you feel a little better about the season? Do you think the team turned the corner with the win against Oakland? Are you worried about next week's game against Carolina?

Ask your Saints questions of Times-Picayune Saints Insider Jeff Duncan in our Saints vs. Raiders postgame chat.

More from The Times-Picayune:

Saints blast Oakland
Duncan: Saints are playing defense
Finney: Brees' performance becoming commonplace
Reggie Bush has a big game
Mehlhaff bounces back from bad start
Unhappy return for JaMarcus Russell
Postgame chat

The Associated PressSaints receiver Lance Moore has had a big game against the Oakland Raiders.

Drew Brees has had his best game of the season today, and there's still most of the fourth quarter remaining.

Brees hit tight end Mark Campbell for a 2-yard touchdown pass and the Saints lead the Oakland Raiders 34-3 with 11:04 left to play.

The Saints extended the lead on Oakland to 27-3 with a Taylor Mehlhaff 33-yard field goal with 14:10 remaining in the game.

It was a seven play drive that covered 65 yards in 3:17.

The Saints extended the lead on Oakland to 27-3 with a Taylor Mehlhaff 33-yard field goal with 14:10 remaining in the game.

It was a seven play drive that covered 65 yards in 3:17.

The Saints extended the lead on Oakland to 27-3 with a Taylor Mehlhaff 33-yard field goal with 14:10 remaining in the game.

It was a seven play drive that covered 65 yards in 3:17.

Drew Brees connected with Reggie Bush on a 15-yard pass and the New Orleans Saints extend their lead on the Oakland Raiders to 24-3 with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter.

Bush caught the pass around the 7-yard line, juked his defender and out ran him to the right pylon.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees picked up where he left off in the first half, methodically picking apart the Oakland defense and finished it off with a 8-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Stecker to give New Orleans a 17-3 lead with 7:42 left in the third quarter.

It was another good drive for the Saints, 11 plays, 55 yards 5:46 in time of possession.

David Grunfeld/The Times-PicayuneSaints kicker Taylor Mehlhaff was 1-of-2 on field goals in the first half against the Raiders.

The Saints extended their lead on the Oakland Raiders to 10-3 at halftime.

Just before the half ended Taylor Mehlhaff redeemed himself for his earlier miss by hitting a 44-yard field with 50 seconds remaining in the first half.

It was a short drive, starting at the Saints 47-yard line.

Mehlhaff had missed from 31 yards earlier in the first quarter.

Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski missed a 59-yard field goal with :06 left in the half.

David Grunfeld/The Times-PicayuneReggie Bush had eight yards on the Saints first scoring drive, including a touchdown.

Reggie Bush scored on a 3-yard run with 3:45 remaining in the second quarter to give the Saints a 7-3 lead as rookie Taylor Mehlhaff got his first points in the NFL by hitting the extra point.

The Saints put together a fantastic 18-play drive that consumed 10:59 of the second quarter, mixing short passes and runs by Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush.

A time out was mercifully called with 5:03 remaining in the quarter, and the Raiders' defensive linemen were down on a knee at the 6-yard line, looking exhausted.

The Oakland Raiders jumped to an early 3-0 lead against the New Orleans Saints on a short field goal by Sebastian Janikowski here at the Superdome.

The score was set up by a 35-yard punt return by Johnnie Lee Higgins, which gave Oakland the ball at the New Orleans 39-yard line to start their initial drive.

Despite his status as questionable coming into today's game, Saints receiver Marques Colston will be on the team's inactive list against the Oakland Raiders, meaning his comeback from thumb surgery will have to wait at least one more week.

Tight end Jeremy Shockey, who practiced for the first time this past week after sports hernia surgery, also is on the inactive list.

Other Saints inactives for today: cornerback Aaron Glenn, safety Kevin Kaesviharn, receiver David Patten, defensive tackle Antwan Lake and defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis.

Joey Harrington was re-signed again and will be inactive as the Saints' third quarterback, while defensive end Jeff Charleston was released after a short stint with the team.

Join us for a Saints chat as the team takes on the Oakland Raiders at the Superdome.

Times-Picayune beat reporters Mike Triplett and Teddy Kider will be along with you before the game at 11 a.m.

Nola.com's David Gladow will be with you during the game.

Times-Picayune Saints Insider Jeff Duncan will be with you after the game, beginning around 6:30 p.m.

EL PASO, Texas - It has become increasingly obvious this season that Tulane is a team without a large margin of error.

The Green Wave didn't make that many here Saturday, but they were just enough to be the difference in a 24-21 loss to Texas-El Paso.

The Associated PressFlorida quarterback Tim Tebow picked LSU apart Saturday, throwing two touchdowns and running for another.

GAINESVILLE, FLA. -- A blazing fast and emotional Florida team crushed LSU 51-21 Saturday night, a victory that complicated the picture for both the Southeastern Conference and the national championship.

The loss was the most lopsided of LSU Coach Les Miles' four-year career with the Tigers, and No. 4 LSU (4-1, 2-1 SEC) is sure to plummet in the rankings, while still retaining control of its destiny in the SEC's Western Division. On the other hand, No. 11 Florida (5-1, 3-1) is sure to see its stock rise and continues to aspire to national championship hopes.

EL PASO, TEXAS -- A stellar night by Tulane running back Andre Anderson went for naught Saturday as the Green Wave fell 24-21 to Texas-El Paso in a Conference USA game at the Sun Bowl.

Anderson rushed for 255 yards and two touchdowns and had a 27-yard reception for a touchdown.