Nothing Fancy, but Hebert Does Job : Football: New Orleans quarterback doesn’t have notoriety the defense has, but he has Saints headed toward playoffs.

The New Orleans Saints’ defense, Jim Everett was saying the other day, is the stuff of Super Bowls. But then we didn’t need a guy who watches hours of film every day to tell us that. Nobody in the NFL has allowed fewer points, and that’s as bottom-line as it gets.

Sackmaster linebackers Pat Swilling and Rickey Jackson, heck, even tackle Wayne Martin, are more revered in Louisiana than red beans and rice. And that’s to say these guys are approaching sainthood.

The Saints who play offense, however, are not accorded the same kind of awe. They’re 10-3, and they still get booed at home in the Superdome when they fail to punch the ball in the end zone and have to settle for a field goal.

Respect?

Recognition?

Quarterback Bobby Hebert is happy if no one calls him “Hee-bert.” (It’s pronounced AY-bear, by the way.)

New Orleans Coach Jim Mora doesn’t care how high his quarterback goes in Fantasy League drafts, though. The Saints have won eight of their last nine games--the only glitch a 21-20 defeat at San Francisco--and for the first time since 1987, they’re heading toward the playoffs under a full head of steam instead of staggering into the postseason running on empty.

“The thing that’s most impressive to me is that he’s playing better now than he was early in the year,” Mora said. “He’s getting better, making good progress and seems to be playing with a lot of confidence.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play consistently as well as he’s playing now, and it’s at the right time. He’s just doing a real good job for us.”

Hebert has thrown 16 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions this season. His quarterback rating of 85.6 is eighth in the NFC, 11th in the NFL. Not spectacular, but solid.

Last week’s outing against Atlanta was typical: He completed 20 of 29 for 244 yards with one interception, but that was on the last play of the first half and resulted in no harm. The Saints didn’t score an offensive touchdown during their 22-12 victory, but they held onto the ball for almost 41 minutes--more than two-thirds of the game--and punted just once.

“I’m just worried about winning and losing, and if we can keep winning that’s my No. 1 concern,” Hebert said. “After you finish playing, they’ll view you as a good quarterback if you quarterback a winning team.

“For instance, Bart Starr or Bob Griese, I don’t know if anyone would say they were great quarterbacks, but they would say they were really good quarterbacks who quarterbacked winning teams.”

Clearly, Hebert is playing “winning quarterback,” a sometimes back-handed compliment used to describe a guy who didn’t get in the way of a victory. And Hebert’s heard his share of this-guy-won’t-take-you-all-the-way criticism.

But, if you listen to the Rams tell it, Hebert is the kind of quarterback who can lead a team to the Super Bowl.

“In Bobby Hebert, the Saints have an excellent quarterback,” Coach Chuck Knox said. “I’ve liked Hebert for a long time, and he’s just continued to improve. He’s got a great arm, he’s accurate and he’s tall.”

After viewing the latest Saint highlight films that feature Hebert in a starring role--(of course, he only gets to see the New Orleans offense at work)--defensive coordinator George Dyer was obviously impressed.

“Hebert’s a tremendous talent,” Dyer said. “He’s making great decisions, and he’s got accuracy, a nice touch on the ball and he’s making the play-action (fake) work.”

Those Rams who will spend Sunday trying to get their hands on Hebert’s spirals understand that they could be in for a frustrating afternoon.

“Hebert’s not underrated as far as I’m concerned,” cornerback Todd Lyght said. “He’s an excellent quarterback. He knows how to work his receivers. He just takes what the defense is giving and plays it smart. And he can catch you sleeping and go deep, too.”

Said safety Anthony Newman: “He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He’s smart, he’s got a great arm and that real, nice soft touch. If he makes mistakes, it’s because he’s confused on the coverage. He’s not going to try to force anything in there.”

The Saints’ offense is as wide open as the door on Scrooge’s vault, but Hebert has managed to squeeze in a pair of 300-yard passing days and two three-touchdown games. He also has thrown 23 passes that resulted in gains of 25 or more yards.

How’s that for vertical offense?

“It all goes back to winning and losing,” Hebert said. “If you can win, that’s always the No. 1 priority. As far as making big plays, when you have those opportunities, of course you try and take advantage of them. But if you try and force something just because it’s exciting, you end up being less productive.

“I think I’ve been playing real good, making the plays when I have to. I’ve had opportunities where I could easily have six or seven more touchdown passes, some would’ve been easy catches, some would’ve been tough catches, but you’re not going to catch every pass in the end zone, and I don’t worry about that.

“I just try to focus in on doing the right thing and helping the team win. Then the rest will fall into place.”

Just two years ago, it seemed his world was falling apart.

Hebert signed with the Saints in 1985 after three seasons in the USFL. By the 12th game of the season, he was the starting quarterback. He missed 13 games the next year because of a broken bone in his foot, but he started 41 of the Saints’ 44 games over the next three seasons and set a club record by completing 62.9% of his passes in 1989.

Was he poised to become the quarterback of the ‘90s? Hardly. He spent the first year of the new decade as just another armchair quarterback, sitting out the entire season in a bitter contract dispute. He even unsuccessfully tried to trade himself to the Raiders.

He returned last season and won back the starting role, but twice injured his shoulder and ended up splitting the season with Steve Walsh.

“One thing people have to understand is that Bobby didn’t play in ‘90, and in ‘91, he missed about half the season with an injury,” Mora said. “So really, this is the first time since ’89 that he’s played the whole year, and that’s making a difference, a big difference.

“It’s hard to say that he’s made any drastic improvement in any particular area, he’s just playing good and playing with confidence.”

Hebert downplays the significance of playing a whole season, although he admits he is very comfortable on the field these days and that every play provides an experience that can be useful to a quarterback.

Certainly, Hebert has matured as a player.

“He’s just getting better and better,” Newman said. “It seems like he’s a little more calmed down now. In the past, there have been questions about whether it would be him or Steve Walsh, but now he’s knows he’s the man.”

A man for all postseasons, Saint fans are hoping. New Orleans is 0-3 in playoff games and a trip to the Super Bowl, or even a berth in the NFC championship game for that matter, would do wonders for the team’s--and Hebert’s--bid for respect.

“We’re not household names,” Hebert said, “but having success in a playoff game would help.”

So, if you want to drop a name this winter, remember, it’s AY-bear.