• Rough morning for the Saints, huh? 9:05 AM -- sharp! -- is their arrival at the White House to "honor their 2009 season." Did you know that on the new Madden 11 (review coming soon!) if you win the Super Bowl you get to meet Barack Obama? Pretty awesome. Also, Gus Johnson does a monologue about "how far this team HAS COME!" Or something to that effect.  

• In not-so-shocking news, Marvin Lewis says that his offense's performance was 'not what I wanted.' Really, Marvin. A rookie running back a punt 63-yards for a first-and-goal to set up your only points of the entire preseason game isn't something you like? REALLY. I'd be more interested in his answer to the question, "What happens if Carson Palmer gets hurt this year?"

• Last night's game pulled an overnight 7.6 rating , the best for a preseason game since Tennessee - Dallas in 2004. That's up 31 percent from last year and 41 percent from 2008.

• The Cowboys won last night and their defense was spectacular, but it's absolutely worth discussing what the mess went on with the red zone offense , particularly in that four play nightmare that was the the first drive, starting with Felix Jones' fumble on the one. The logic behind throwing the ball three straight times is apparently "We don't want to show the stuff we're using [in the regular season]" according to Tony Romo. Uh, Tony, I think you just did.

• Rave reviews are floating out of Pittsburgh for Mike Wallace's transition from slot receiver to split end. OC Bruce Arians points out that last year "he had a role for a rookie that was very easy: Go deep, clear the field ..." Now Wallace has the full receiving tree package to manage, in addition to bumps up in the opposing cornerbacks coverage he'll theoretically see. (Although my pal JJ Cooper did a superb job of pointing out that Wallace has already faced elite coverage and handled it well.) Still think he has a breakout year.

• Cool profile at the KC Star on Dexter McCluster , who, as I told Matt Moore on our AFC North Podcast Preview, I think could end up being a beast this year. Apparently, he's already blown out four pairs of shoes so far in training camp with his explosive feet. There's a line in there that involves something about "The next Dante Hall except also effective on offense."

• Aaron Schobel is a popular dude. The Patriots have 'strong' interest in him and Seahawks GM John Schneider joined John Clayton's radio show last week to point out that if he doesn't sign with the Texans (who are also very interested, duh), the Seahawks would be a contender for his services. Clearly, this is the type of guy that you want you cut from your team as quickly as humanly possible. SMH at the Bills.

• Would you like to see Jerry Rice shoot the entire football-watching world the bird during a nationally televised football game? Excellent, I have just the YouTube link for you !

• If you'd like to break your brain early on a Monday morning, I highly suggest reading J.J. Halsell's Rookie Contract write-up at Football Outsiders . I tried to logically comprehend everything he's saying two minutes after waking up from a post-brunch Sunday afternoon nap and dude, brah, let me tell you. The buzz was amazing . (Seriously though, if you have some free time today, read it. It helps in understanding why you should hate lawyers and agents so much.)

• If I'm ever in a nationally televised commercial about my blog during halftime of an NFL game and a bunch of my blogging "friends" don't post a link to it, regardless of what network it's being aired on, I will be very disappointed. So, here's a link to Mike Florio's PFT commercial that aired last night .

THIS is why the Buffalo Bills haven’t reached the playoffs since 1999. The Associated Press is reporting that the Bills have officially released defensive end/outside linebacker Aaron Schobel. The Bills grew tired of Schobel’s waffling on retirement. Instead of staying patient, they took a hard stance and went public with their intentions to move on without the veteran.

This was foolish both on the surface (Buffalo desperately needs Schobel’s pass-rushing prowess), and beneath it (had they not spoken publicly, the Bills likely could have traded Schobel for at least a late-to-mid-round pick). Now, Schobel is a free agent. If he doesn’t wind up in Houston (his current hometown), he could wind up in New England, where he’d aid a thin Patriots pass-rush and, oh yeah, face the Bills twice in 2010.

"If he chooses to retire, he will do so as a Buffalo Bill," Bills GM Buddy Nix said. "This move allows him the opportunity to play somewhere else if he so choses. And we felt that was a fair thing to do for a guy who has played hard for us the past nine seasons."

It’s possible Schobel told the Bills he’d only play in 2010 if it were for another team. But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t Buffalo call his bluff? Why would they potentially strengthen another AFC team like that?

--Andy Benoit

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