Williams a Real Saint After All

In his first year, Ricky Williams made all the wrong moves. He was photographed in a wedding gown, signed a bad contract, then produced few yards.

These days, Williams is busy paying off the huge debt the Saints ran up to get the Heisman Trophy winner.

Williams rushed for touchdowns of one and two yards Sunday as the Saints defeated the Carolina Panthers, 24-6.

But the back that former Saint coach Mike Ditka traded seven draft picks to get did a lot more than just score his first touchdowns in the Superdome.

By the time Williams hit the end zone for the second time, with 5:16 left, he already had his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game, a team record.

“When you watch him out on that field, you have to say he was worth every draft pick and more,” Saint quarterback Jeff Blake said. “We made enough mistakes to kill us early in the game, but Ricky didn’t make a single wrong move.”

Williams carried the ball 38 times for 144 yards, caught three passes for 35 and even threw a pass for a 34-yard gain. The Saints outgained the Panthers, 383-152, outrushed them, 201-10, and held the ball 34:03 to Carolina’s 23:57.

“They were getting tired,” Williams said. “We knew that and we just kept pounding them. It was great. It was fun.”

Williams’ second touchdown came after a fake punt on which Fred McAfee gained 40 yards to keep the drive alive.

“I shouldn’t admit it, but that play took the air out of our tires,” said Carolina Coach George Seifert. “We shouldn’t let that happen and look what happened from then on.”

The Saints (3-3) added a final touchdown on a 29-yard pass play from Blake to Joe Horn with 3:10 left.

If the Saint offense generally was one dimensional, the defense had eight sacks and was a kaleidoscope of big plays and solid performances.

The Panthers (2-4) managed only two field goals, converted only three of 14 third-down attempts, and had only eight first downs.

“They did an excellent job of scheming and attacking us,” Seifert said. “They were about as offensive as you can be from a defensive standpoint. Their offense made just enough plays to keep the whole team in the game.”

The Saints continually pressured Steve Beuerlein, who completed 15 of 28 passes for 172 yards. La’Roi Glover increased his season sacks total to nine, decking Beuerlein twice in the first half and once in the final quarter. It was second consecutive game that Glover had three sacks.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

No Longer Dreadful

In his rookie season, about the only impressive thing about Ricky Williams seemed to be his dreadlocks. This season is a different story for the running back that former Saint Coach Mike Ditka gave up an entire draft for. Williams has four consecutive 100-yard rushing games--two more than he had all of last season. A comparison of his 1999 and 2000 seasons after six games:

*--*

Car. Yds Avg. TD Rec. Yds Avg. TD Fum. 1999 136 503 3.7 0 12 47 3.9 0 5 2000 155 613 4.0 3 27 235 8.7 1 4

*--*