Hebert Brings Back the Winning Feeling to Saints in a Hurry

After sitting out the last six games because of a sprained right shoulder, quarterback Bobby Hebert of the New Orleans Saints returned and passed for a career-high 320 yards as the Saints defeated the Raiders, 27-0, Monday night at the Superdome.

Although Herbert hadn’t played since he was hurt on Oct. 27 in a game against the Chicago Bears, he didn’t seem too rusty as the Saints ended a four-game losing streak and clinched an NFC playoff berth.

“At times I threw flat-footed,” Hebert said. “But the hardest thing was getting used to the pass rush. People really don’t realize that you can practice all you want, but it isn’t the same as a live game situation. The hardest thing was executing plays.”

The Saints struggled without Hebert, who is 8-1 as a starter this season, going 2-4 with Steve Walsh as the starting quarterback.

But Hebert gave the Saints a psychological lift.

“I thought that Bobby’s presence would make the difference and it did,” Saint linebacker Pat Swilling said. “He had an unbelievable game. He’s been around for a long time, and everyone has a lot of confidence in him. He orchestrated the offense to the tee today.”

Hebert tried to downplay the significance of his return.

“I’m not no miracle maker or savior,” Hebert said. “I’m not a magician, that’s for sure.”

Hebert started quickly, completing his first six passes for 50 yards as the Saints drove 67 yards in nine plays, taking a 3-0 lead on Morton Andersen’s 37-yard field goal.

“I really felt like I was in a groove at the start of the game,” Hebert said.

“I thought the coaches did a good job of preparing me for the game.”

Hebert connected on 28 of 39 passes.

“Bobby had an outstanding game,” New Orleans Coach Jim Mora said. “I’m very happy for him.”

Walsh agreed.

“He looked real good tonight,” Walsh said. “We just had such a big emotional game offensively and defensively with him back. We were able to sustain some drives, and that gave our defense a little bit more rest.”

Wide receiver Quinn Early, who caught four passes for 127 yards, including a 52-yard reception, said Hebert read the Raider defense well.

“Bobby’s a great quarterback, and he knows how to read the defense,” Early said.

“I think Bobby did a great job tonight. Bobby’s a great leader, and I think the other guys respect him. He’s the general of our offense.

“I don’t know if it’s a matter of us playing better with Bobby. We just hit on all cylinders tonight. When a team loses, the blame goes to the quarterback. We just didn’t have the bounce go our way the past few weeks, so you can’t put all the blame on Steve.”

Running back Dalton Hilliard said: “I think Bobby gives us more experience than Steve does. He came out and played real well tonight.”

Saint linebacker Rickey Jackson said Hebert gave the defense a lift because the New Orleans offense was able to control the ball better than it had with Walsh during the losing streak.

“The whole first half we only got three points, but we knew he’d be able to move the ball eventually,” Jackson said.

The Saints controlled the ball for 40 minutes 36 seconds compared to 19:24 for the Raiders and outgained the Raiders in yardage, 475-117.

It wasn’t a perfect game for Hebert. He made a major mistake at the end of the first half, as the Saints, leading only 3-0, were trying to drive for a field goal. Hebert threw the ball into the middle of the field although the Saints had no timeout left to stop the clock, and time ran out before they could get their field-goal unit onto the field.

“Right at the end of the first half I shouldn’t have tried to throw it into the middle to Eric (Martin),” Hebert said. “I should have thrown it to the sidelines.”

After being plagued by holding calls in the first 30 minutes, the Saints finally got untracked in the second half.

Hebert directed a 69-yard, 10-play touchdown drive on the Saints’ second possession of the second half, hitting four passes for 47 yards, as the Saints took a 10-0 lead on Hilliard’s one-yard touchdown run.

“The line was overprotective of Bobby and had a lot of holding calls,” Martin said.

“The coaches told them at halftime to block up and did a better job of protecting him and not getting called for holding.”