Jackson Free Press

As the NFL Draft inches closer, the league gave fans a treat on Monday, April 10, releasing the preseason scheduled for every team and the dates of the eight nationally televised games. Times and dates of the other games are not set at this point.

Only one of the national games could end up being a big deal in our state: the Hall of Fame Game, which has the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals kicking off the preseason on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 7 p.m. on NBC. The first full week of preseason games will be held from Aug. 10 to Aug. 14, with all 32 teams in action.

There will be plenty of fans who will want to see if Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott avoids a second-year slump. If he plays in the Hall of Fame Game, it won’t be for long, but fans will still want to see the young star.

This newly released schedule gives us a chance to look ahead at the matchups for both the Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints.

Dallas will be in Los Angeles against the Rams for the first full week of the preseason. This game will feature two young quarterbacks—Prescott, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2016, and Jared Goff, who was the first overall pick of the same draft.

New Orleans will travel to Cleveland in week one to face the Browns. If both teams use their current draft power, this game could feature four first-round picks, with both teams having two in the upcoming draft. It could also feature the number-one overall pick if the Browns don’t trade that spot before or during the draft.

Week two of the preseason, which takes place from Aug. 17 to Aug. 21, will see the Saints heading out to Los Angeles to play the Chargers, who are no longer in San Diego. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees will face his former team but not in the same city where he played.

Dallas will head home in week two to host the Indianapolis Colts. For the second week in a row, the Cowboys will face a quarterback who was the first overall pick in the draft. This time, it is Andrew Luck, who was the top pick in 2012.

The third week of the NFL preseason is normally the week that the starters see the most playing time. These games will be held from Aug. 24 to Aug. 27 as teams try to get in a dress rehearsal before the season starts.

New Orleans will get its first home game of the preseason as the team hosts the Houston Texans. The Saints will try to keep a returning J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney away from Brees when the starters are on the field.

Dallas will at home for the second week in a row, as the team hosts the Oakland Raiders. Prescott against the Raiders’ Derek Carr is …

See the new Paul McCartney video filmed partly in Natchez...

Tomorrow night on the TBS network, the world of e-sports comes into everyone’s living room. There might not be faster-growing sport organizations in the world than competitive video-game leagues.

In Asia, the players are already treated like rock stars. In 2014, more than 205 million people watched e-sports online, which has allowed for rapid growth in the industry. TV might be the last medium that e-sports has yet to take over.

TBS will broadcast “ELeague” on Friday, May 27, at 9 p.m. in an attempt to cash in on the big money associated with e-sports.

While most e-sports players are men, growing numbers of women are coming into leagues. Youth is another staple of e-sports. While that doesn’t mean that all players are young, there is a smaller chance of seeing a bunch of 35-year olds batting it out.

The “League of Legends” Championship is one of the biggest events in e-sports. “League of Legends” itself is a popular multiplayer online battle arena, or MOBA, and real-time strategy video game from Riot Games. In 2013, the tournament took place at the Staples Center, home of the LA Lakers and Clippers, and the venue sold out in a short amount of time.

Not only are people watching online, but they are also watching live in arenas and stadiums around the world. In the United States, the Super Bowl is the only sporting event that more people watch than the “League of Legends” Championship.

The prizes and salaries for top tournaments and players are also growing. In 2014, Chinese e-sports club NewBee won $5.03 million for winning the title for “Dota 2,” a MOBA from developer Valve.

Some top players earn salaries of about $65,000, not including bonuses or endorsements, though most teams do not disclose salaries.

ESPN has an e-sports page for the latest news in the industry, and colleges are even starting to get involved in e-sports, as well.

The Pac-12 is the first major college conference to jump on the e-sports bandwagon. Geographically, the Pac-12 makes perfect sense to be the first major conference in eSports.

Robert Morris University was the first American institution to offer scholarships for e-sports back in 2014. Miami University in Ohio started a varsity e-sports program this year. The Big 10 is starting to take steps into the e-sports world, as well.

It is not crazy for TBS to try to jump into a nontraditional sport. ESPN has done well with the World Series of Poker over the years. The “Worldwide Leader in Sports” has also televised the national spelling bee.

TBS might start a boom in e-sports, much like ESPN started a boom in poker during the early 2000s, as nearly every station tried to create its own poker program. The boom made several poker stars well known across the nation.

If TBS plays its cards right, the network could be at the front of next …

In the history of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, only once before now has a wife presented a husband entering the shrine. Kim Singletary presented her husband, Chicago Bear great linebacker Mike Singletary, in 1998.

That will change on Saturday, Aug. 6, when Deanna Favre becomes the second woman to present her husband, former Green Bay Packer and living legend Brett Favre, at the Hall of Fame. The pair met and began dating in high school before being married in 1996.

Brett said his first choice would have been his father Irvin Favre, who passed away from a heart attack on Dec. 21, 2003, at the age of 58. The Packers star went on to have one of the greatest games in his career the next night on Monday Night Football.

In that Monday night contest, Brett threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns, as the Packers blew out the Oakland Raiders 41-7. The quarterback returned to Kiln, Miss. after the game to lay his father to rest.

It only makes sense for Brett to pass the honor to his wife, Deanna. She was the one who called him and told him his father had passed.

She stood by Brett through his retirements and un-retirements, his admitting that he had an addiction to painkillers, his scandal of allegedly sending racy text messages to a New York Jets game day host and two massage therapists and other bumps in his stellar career.

“Deanna is the best teammate I’ve ever had,” Brett said in a statement. “She has been by my side throughout this journey and I’m so excited that she gets to play such an important role for me.”

“Serving as Brett’s presenter is a great honor. I am thrilled to be able share this special moment in time with him,” Deanna said in the statement.

The other members of the 2016 Hall of Fame Class are Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., who will be inducted by daughter Lisa DeBartolo; Tony Dungy, who will be inducted by former teammate Donnie Shell; Kevin Green, who will be inducted by former Carolina Panthers head coach and current Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers; Marvin Harrison, who will be inducted by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay; Orlando Pace, who will be inducted by son Justin Pace; Ken Stabler, who will be inducted by Hall of Fame coach John Madden; and Dick Stanfel, who will be inducted by Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy.

The newest members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be inducted in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday, Aug. 6. On Sunday, Aug. 7, the Colts and Packers will face each other in the Hall of Fame Game, and the newest members of the hall will be honored on the field.

The game will be seen on ESPN and will kickoff at 6 p.m.

While we wait to hear about a possible deal between the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots for cornerback Malcolm Butler, the Saints still are working on fixing their defense, which was one of the worst in the league. It has gotten linebacker help with the poaching of former Carolina Panthers linebacker A.J. Klein.

New Orleans signed former San Diego Chargers linebacker Manti Te’o to a two-year deal. No financial details have been released, but it seems like a good bet that the Saints got a good deal.

Te’o missed 13 games last season after tearing his Achilles tendon in week three of the season in a game against the Indianapolis Colts. The 26-year-old has spent a good deal of time on the injury list, as he has missed 26 games in his four-year career.

He is an impact player on defense and started 34 out of 38 games, when healthy, for the Chargers. After San Diego drafted him in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, the linebacker amassed 221 tackles, 2 interceptions and 1.5 sacks. Te’o was named co-captain of the Chargers for the 2016-2017 season.

New Orleans is starting to get a logjam at linebacker with Te’o, Klein and returning starter Craig Robinson, who all play inside linebacker. The Saints could try to move one player to outside linebacker, but will Te’o have the speed after the Achilles injury?

The Saints, barring another trade, still have two first-round draft picks to use in late April. New Orleans is making an effort to improve its defensive unit.

Te’o was a star at the University of Notre Dame and led his team during his senior season of 2012 to the national championship game. He finished second for the Heisman Trophy that season.

Casual fans might remember the linebacker being misled in one of the more public versions of “catfishing” (when someone pretends to be someone else on the Internet and enters in online relationships with others. MTV produces a show on the subject.)

The linebacker thought he was having an online relationship with a woman, but in truth the woman wasn’t real, and he was being deceived. Things got worse. He told people that his girlfriend, who wasn’t real, had died. In real life, his grandmother had died around the same time.

It was one of the more bizarre sports stories in the last few years. Many believed the linebacker was in on the hoax until it was proven that he had been tricked.

Since entering the league, Te’o hasn’t be involved in any strange stories. The only time he makes the news is for playing or being hurt.

New Orleans doesn’t have to worry about him bring bad press because he has been drama free since joining the league four years ago. But the hoax of a fake-dead girlfriend might be what the public eventually remembers about the linebacker.

This weekend happened to be historic for the University of Mississippi softball team and the SEC itself. No one expected to the Rebels to be in the May 13 championship game of the 2017 SEC Tournament.

UM entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed and started things off by taking out the team’s main rival, No. 9 seed Mississippi State University, 2-1 on the opening day. The Rebels shocked the nation when they knocked off No. 1 seed and top-ranked University of Florida 2-0 and became one of the final four teams standing.

Even the weather couldn’t slow down the No. 19th-ranked Rebels after the May 12 semifinals experienced a rain delay. Both the semifinals and the championship game were moved to Saturday.

In the semifinals, UM took down No. 5 seed and 15th-ranked University of Alabama 4-1, advancing to the title game. There was no stopping the Rebels as they defeated No. 6 seed and 21st-ranked Louisiana State University 5-1 and took the crown.

This is the first SEC Softball Tournament Championship in program history for the Rebels. While hot bats were part of the story, UM pitcher Kaitlin Lee was the star, as she pitched all 28 innings that the Rebels played.

Lee is the first pitcher to take the mound for every inning in the SEC Tournament since Alabama pitcher Kelsi Dunne accomplished the feat over just 19 innings in 2010. The Rebels played in four games this year, while Alabama played in just three games in 2010.

The SEC Conference made history on Sunday, May 14, as the entire 13-team league earned a bid into the 2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. Vanderbilt University not fielding a softball team is the reason only 13 teams reached the tournament.

Half of the 16 national seeds are from the conference, with Florida earning the No. 1 overall seed. Auburn University is the No. 7 seed, the University of Tennessee is No. 8, Texas A&M University is No. 9, Mississippi is No. 12, the University of Kentucky is No. 14, and Alabama is No. 16.

MSU landed in the Salt Lake City Regional with No. 11 seed University of Utah. The Bulldogs open regional play against Brigham Young University on May 18.

The University of South Carolina is in the Tucson Regional with No. 2 seed University of Arizona. In the Norman Regional, the University of Arkansas will visit No. 10 seed University of Oklahoma.

Another tough draw for the SEC is the fact that the University of Missouri is heading west to in the Eugene Regional, which No. 3 seed University of Oregon is hosting. The University of Georgia rounds out the SEC teams in the field as it heads to the Tallahassee Regional with No. 4 seed Florida State University.

This isn’t the first time that a conference got every one of its teams into the NCAA tournament. The Pac-12 …

Some interesting things have come out of New Orleans over the past few days. Both the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees seem to be trying to position themselves for some possible post-draft fallout.

By now, nearly every Saints fan knows that Brees currently has a $30 million salary number cap for this upcoming season. This is also the final year of his current contract with New Orleans.

The next few stories are why this is so interesting.

When the Carolina Panthers suddenly rescinded their franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman, making him an unrestricted free agent, it quickly became apparent that Washington and New Orleans were his top destination options.

Norman signed with Washington instead of New Orleans, but after Norman was off the market, ESPN reported that Brees was willing to rework his deal so the Saints could sign the star cornerback.

Neither side has said it had a contract deal in place after Norman signed with Washington. But could Brees have worked out a deal in a few short hours to give the Saints room to sign Norman?

Then, there was this: Just this week, Ian Rapoport said the Saints were looking to move up to the number-one pick before a trade was made between the Los Angeles Rams and the Tennessee Titans.

Brees said in an interview on “The Rich Eisen Show” that he doubts the Saints tried to make a move for the top pick. New Orleans General Manager Mickey Loomis also said the report was false during a recent press conference.

Rapoport, in the same story, reported that the Saints were also interested in possibly moving up from the 12th pick to inside the top 10 to draft former University of Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.

If you don’t remember, the Saints spent a third-round draft choice on Garrett Grayson last year. Grayson just rode the pine after the preseason, mainly as the Saints’ third-string quarterback.

The theory that New Orleans might want to draft a quarterback in the first round raises some questions.

Would the Saints want to sign Brees to a contract of three or fewer years if they draft a quarterback in the first round?

Will the Saints let Brees play out this season and then move on from the future Hall of Fame signal caller?

Will New Orleans rework Brees’ deal so they can trade him once his salary is more trade-friendly?

Even if the Saints rework Brees’ deal and draft a quarterback, is the club saying the Super Bowl window is closed with Brees?

Do the Saints want to rework Brees’ deal and make a couple of final runs at a Super Bowl?

Is this all really a pre-draft smokescreen that the Saints are using to work a better deal with Brees?

Let’s take a look at each question.

If the Saints take a quarterback in the first round, they …

Last week might have been the worst week in the history of college football in the state of Mississippi. From Thursday to Saturday night, every four-year college and university lost its game.

This past Saturday, Sept. 24, nine of those 10 teams had a chance to get the win that was so sorely lacking last week. While it wasn’t perfect, it was a turnaround for the state.

The day began in Oxford with a top-25 matchup between the University of Georgia and the University of Mississippi. This was an important game for the Rebels after blowing a 21-point lead to the University of Alabama just one week ago.

The Rebels jumped out to a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 27-0 lead at the half. By the end of the third quarter, UM was ahead 45-7.

By the time the fourth quarter began, the game was over in every sense, except for the fact that there was time still on the clock. The Rebels allowed Georgia to score, but the outcome was never in question in the 45-14 win.

While the Rebels and Bulldogs were finishing the second quarter, Millsaps College and Hendrix College prepared for their 1 p.m. kickoff. The Majors quickly found themselves down 7-0 in the first quarter.

Hendrix built a 21-6 lead over Millsaps before the break. The Warriors didn’t slow down in the second half, either, building a 28-6 lead in the third quarter.

Millsaps put up a meaningless touchdown near the end of the game to make the final score 42-14 in favor of Hendrix. The loss dropped the Majors to 1-3 for the season.

Mississippi State University took a long road trip to face the University of Massachusetts. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Minutemen broke out with an 83-yard run to take a 7-3 lead in the first quarter.

MSU added another field goal before UMass scored its second touchdown to go up 14-6 in the second quarter. The Bulldogs scored a late touchdown to bring the game to 14-13 at halftime.

In the third quarter, MSU started to take over, outscoring UMass 28-7 to take an overall 41-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The pesky Minutemen wouldn’t go away, though, and they cut the Bulldogs to 41-35 in the final quarter.

The Bulldogs scored a late touchdown to finally put away UMass, escaping with a 47-35 win over a team that has battled in all three of its losses.

While the Bulldogs were dealing with the Minutemen, closer to home, Mississippi Valley State University was kicking off against Prairie View A&M University.

For the second time, a team from Mississippi found itself outmatched in a game. The Panthers quickly got out to a 7-0 lead on the Delta Devils.

MVSU tied the game briefly at 7-7 before Prairie View scored 15 unanswered points …

Bob Dylan's new video and new releases...

When [Jackson State][1] (7-4)meets Arkansas-Pine Bluff (9-2) in the SWAC Football Championship Game this Saturday the Tigers will be looking for their first conference title since 2007 and to add to their 16th conference titles. Only [Southern][2] with 17 titles and [Grambling State][3] with 23 titles have more SWAC titles than JSU.

Jackson State University's interim President Dr. Rod Paige applauded President Donald Trump's executive order in support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country. Trump's order creates a board of advisors on HBCUs that reports to him as well as effectively moves HBCU programs to the executive office instead of the Department of Education.

Paige, a former U.S. Secretary of Education under George W. Bush, said he was encouraged by Trump's executive order.

“HBCUs have played an integral role in providing access to education and to the American dream for minorities for nearly two centuries. We are encouraged by the White House Initiative on HBCUs and look forward to the enhanced visibility and the opportunity to develop strategic partnerships with other agencies," Paige said in a press statement. "Moving the initiative from the Department of Education back to the White House is significant. This gives HBCUs greater access to other departments under the White House umbrella, such as the departments of agriculture, commerce, defense, health and human services, and so many others."

Trump signed the executive order on Feb. 28 the same day that new U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released a statement using HBCUs as a bastion for school choice, a statement which drew ire from politicians and academics alike.

"(HBCUs) started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education. They saw that the system wasn't working, that there was an absence of opportunity, so they took it upon themselves to provide the solution," DeVos' statement said.

"HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish."

DeVos' statement completely ignores the fact that HBCUs were born out of segregationist policies, like Jim Crow laws and state sanctioned segregation that did not allow African American students to attend public schools or universities, or even earlier in some cases as the Washington Post reports, "historically black colleges date to the pre-Civil War era when public policy in parts of the nation barred blacks from education."

Since Trump signed the executive order, some HBCU presidents have taken the opposite approach of Paige. The Root boiled down the essence of some presidents' response to the executive order simply as: "We got played."

The president of Morehouse College wrote that expectations of a president doing more than Barack Obama would have meant increased funding, but as President John Silvanus Wilson Jr. wrote, "...instead of the long-awaited executive order containing or signaling any of those outcomes (increased funding, scholarships etc), the key change is a symbolic shift of the White House HBCU Initiative from the Department of Education to the White House. It is not possible to measure the impact of this gesture anytime soon, if ever."

Wilson Jr. went on …

Here at the Jackson Free Press, we get a lot of mail.

Much of it is legitimate correspondence in the form of helpful news tips and provocative letters to the editors. Some of it is comprised of the off-the-wall brain leakings of people who clearly have more free time on their hands than other human beings to interact with.

But it's all good. We take the good with the crazy.

Every now and then we get a piece of mail that even sends a shudder through us grizzled newspaper veterans. Such was the case this afternoon with a manila envelope showed up addressed to Central Mississippi Tea Party c/o Jackson Free Press with a return address of Chicopee, Mass.

Donna, Todd and me all had the same initial reaction to the shady-looking epistle: Where the hell is Chicopee and is there a hummus factory there? Then we wondered why a Tea Party chapter on the East Coast would be sending us -- us! -- mail.

Maybe they saw our recent interview with three members of the local Tea Party during which the group's female president said the country might have been better off if women had never been given the right to vote and thought 'This is our kinda paper.'

When very, very cautiously opened the package, we were a bit surprised what was in it.

Can you guess?

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/16/7773/

After thousands upon millions of requests -- okay, more like nine -- we're ready to reveal the contents of the letter that arrived at the JFP offices yesterday.

Drum roll......

It was just a couple photos and a rather bizarre letter denouncing Democratic Party ideals and complaining about how hard how tough it is to be a Tea Partier in the "liberal bastion" that produced the current Republican presidential nominee.

The letter also highlighted such weirdly out of context maxims as "'DEMOCRAT'" IS COMMUNISM WITH AN INVITING TAPIOCA FLAVOR" and "America--enchained and slowly eaten alive by the sofa."

If you're disappointed, so are we. We've come to expect so much lunacy from the Tea Party that we were dismayed that the envelope didn't contain Level III biohazards, effigies of progressive politicians, a Ted Nugent promotional CD or actual tapioca.

It's still early, though.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/17/7777/

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/17/7778/

The Mississippi Department of Education has released the 3rd Grade Reading Summative Assessment Results. You can view them here.

Of the top ten highest performing schools, three of them were located in Jackson Public Schools. 100% of Casey Elementary, McWillie Elementary and Davis Magnet School third graders passed the test the first time. 79.4% of the district's third graders passed the test the first time. Madison Crossing Elementary School students of Madison County Schools made the top 10 as well.

89.4% of third graders passed the tests, administered in March of April of this year, the first time. Those students who did not pass the test the first time will have two more opportunities to take the assessment: first from May 16 through May 22, and then between June 27 and August 5 of this year.

From a May 12, 2016 MDE press release:

"Local school districts will determine which of their students who did not pass qualify for one of the good cause exemptions for promotion to 4th grade. The remaining students will be retested before a decision is made about their promotion or retention."

Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act requires that a student scoring at the lowest achievement level on the 3rd Grade Reading Summative Assessment be retained in 3rd grade, unless the student meets the good cause exemptions specified in the law.

The Literacy-Based Promotion Act was amended in 2016 and will require students starting in the 2018-2019 school year to score above the lowest two achievement levels in order to be promoted to the 4th grade.

Also, starting in the 2015-2016 school year, students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a 504 plan who have received either intensive remediation for more than two years or who were previously retained for one year can now qualify for a good cause exemption."

In an extensive interview with the Jackson Free Press, state superintendent Dr. Carey Wright said she was pleased with the increased proficiency standards in the amended Literacy-Based Promotion Act.

Sierra Mannie is an education reporting fellow for the Jackson Free Press and The Hechinger Report. Email her at [email protected].

Scandals are nothing new in college sports, especially in football. It wouldn’t be shocking if every school in the country engaged in some sort of rule violation.

Schools in the Power Five conferences—ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC—are going to garner most of the spotlight for those violations. But in reality, not every scandal is equal.

Sure, it is a scandal if a kid asks for money to pay his mom’s rent and utility bills. That story will have legs and be discussed at length by the media, but besides the NCAA, do we really care that much that a kid got money while in college?

To the rival school, it means something, but in the grand scheme of things, it really isn’t that major.

The major story in college athletics is the way coaches, administrators and even school presidents turn a blind eye to sexual assaults.

The recent scandal at Baylor isn’t anything new. It just highlights, again, how schools try to sweep sexual assaults under the rug.

Right now the U.S. Department of Education is investigating 161 institutions for their handling of sexual-assault investigations. Baylor currently isn’t on that list, but you should expect that to change at some point.

It also makes one question if winning on the field is more important than the safety of women on campus.

ESPN has investigated and documented the Baylor scandal in great detail. Baylor looked the other way over sexual assaults from at least 2009 to 2015.

At the same time, the Bears were starting to turn things around on the field. In late 2007 Baylor hired Art Briles away from the University of Houston.

Baylor went 8-16 from 2008 to 2009 on the field but finished with a winning record of 7-6 in 2010. It was the first winning season for the Bears since 1995, and the team went to its first bowl game since 1994.

The Bears were the "feel good" story of college football during the 2011 season, as the team tied a then-school record for wins with 10, won a bowl game for the first time since 1992 and finished the season ranked for the first time since 1986.

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III became the first player from the university to win the Heisman Trophy.

To the outside world, this was one of the great turnaround stories in college football history.

Off the field was another story for Baylor.

The university failed to investigate sexual assault cases for two years from 2013 to 2015, a violation of Title IX federal law. Baylor didn’t even hire a full-time Title IX coordinator to comply with a federal directive until late 2014.

One glaring case involved two players, Tre’von Armstead and Myke Chatman, who were named in a Waco police department report involving sexual assault in April 2013. The university knew of the report, but …

The New Orleans Saints won a game that might turn their fortunes around this season after using their rushing attack and a late defensive stand to defeat the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 30.

There will be more talk about Seattle’s failure to close out the Saints than New Orleans’ win. Many fans and sports analysts expected the Seahawks to be one of the best teams in the league and in the race to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Most people expected New Orleans to be an offensive juggernaut again but to come up short on defense. While that script has played out at times this year, the Saints’ defense has shown growth as the season has gone along.

The Saints’ defense sparked a comeback over the San Diego Chargers to get their first win of the season and racked up stops against the Carolina Panthers in the team's second win.

On defense, New Orleans has done enough to win games since beating the Chargers, even if it didn’t always go so well on the other side of the ball. For instance, on Oct. 23, the Kansas City Chiefs used two Saints turnovers to get past New Orleans with a pick-six early and a forced fumble late. Those turnovers cost the Saints a chance at a win.

Against Seattle, the Saints ran the ball 35 times for 123 yards, and New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees attempted 35 passes. It was a balanced attack for the Saints. New Orleans also saw running back Mark Ingram return a fumble for a touchdown but still end up in the doghouse since he fumbled for a second week in a row. The Saints trailed most of the game but only gave up 13 points on defense.

The Saints are now 20th in total defense instead of sitting at the complete bottom of the standings. They’re turning things around despite several key players still being out due to injuries.

This week, New Orleans travels to face the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Nov. 6. As the once-division rivals clash, this could be the game where the Saints reach .500, but can they keep pushing upward?

The Saints follow up the 49ers with a home game against the 6-2 Denver Broncos on Nov. 13. This will be a tough game to win but not impossible if the Superdome is truly returning to the home-field advantage that opposing teams once feared.

New Orleans finishes the season with seven winnable games: the 2-5 Carolina Panthers, the 3-4 LA Rams, the 4-4 Detroit Lions, the 3-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 3-4 Arizona Cardinals, Tampa again and the 5-3 Atlanta Falcons to end the season. That is just two teams at or above .500 at this moment for the rest of the season. There is nothing left on the schedule that should be impossible for this team to win.

There is no question whether …

The Dallas Cowboys got what could be a season-defining win. Dallas found a way to win on a night Dak Prescott looked every bit like a rookie quarterback.

After a good start in the first quarter, Prescott began to struggle. A lot of credit for those struggles should go to the Philadelphia Eagles defense, which found ways to confuse and put pressure on the rookie quarterback.

Prescott’s throws in the second and third quarter looked rushed, and his footwork was sloppy, as Philadelphia didn’t allow him to keep a clean pocket. With the help of his defense, he still ended up keeping the game close as it headed into the fourth quarter.

When it became winning time, Prescott led the Cowboys back from a double-digit deficit to beat the Eagles in overtime. He reached a new level of growth as a professional. He figured out a way to win when things weren’t going right for him. Any quarterback can win when everything goes perfect, but a real NFL quarterback finds ways to win a game when things aren’t going right.

This doesn’t mean that the Cowboys won’t use Tony Romo at some point this season. As teams get more tape on Prescott, they will find out what he is good at, what he struggles at, what plays he likes to run, what throws he struggles to make, and so forth.

It could mean that he will struggle more this season and might even need to be replaced. Or he could keep finding ways to learn and overcome what other teams will try each week.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said that Prescott will start this week. Jones is going to kick the can on the question of when or if Romo will return to the starting lineup, as long as he can keep kicking.

It makes sense if it doesn’t undermine Prescott’s development. At least in private, head coach Jason Garrett should go to both quarterbacks and give them the plan for the rest of this season.

Prescott is now 6-1 as a starter and has beat all three teams that, at this moment, have a losing record. In his first seven starts, Prescott has played four teams that currently have a winning record, and he is 3-1 in those games. He will have a chance to lead this team to a division title and a playoff berth, but the road is going to get rougher.

Dallas plays the Cleveland Browns this week as they play three straight games against AFC North foes. The Cowboys face the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens to finish their tour of the AFC North.

After this week, the Cowboys will face four out of five teams that currently have a winning record. Dallas faces the Steelers and Ravens, along with the Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants.

The team faces the 3-4 Buccaneers before finishing the season against …

Last week, a Jackson Free Press blog post listed all the players who made all-conference in various leagues that have Mississippi teams. That list didn’t include the SWAC teams from Mississippi, or Belhaven University, as the Blazers are still transitioning to Division III and not eligible to win the conference title or make the playoffs at DIII.

The SWAC released its first and second team all-conference players, and Grambling State University and Southern University dominated the selections. GSU had 14 players and SU had 10 players make either first- or second-team All-SWAC.

It is not surprising that the Tigers and Jaguars are so well featured since both teams were two of the best in the SWAC this season. Grambling State won the SWAC title game and will represent the conference in the Celebration Bowl.

Even with all the Grambling and Southern players on both the first and second team, Alcorn State University and Jackson State University landed players on both teams with ASU’s six and JSU’s three.

The Braves had two offensive linemen make second-team All-SWAC. Senior Detonio Dade earned his fourth all-conference honors, and junior Timothy Gardner helped make the ASU offensive line one of the best in the nation in pass protection and rushing.

Alcorn State had four players make either first or second team on defense with two on each team. The Braves were represented on each level with two linebackers, one defensive lineman and one defensive back.

Senior linebackers Darien Anderson on the first-team and Michael Hurns on the second-team were honored. Anderson earned his second All-SWAC honors after being second team last season, and he ranks fourth in the FCS in sacks. Hurns finished the season with 62 tackles and three sacks, and he was elected as the Student Government Association’s senior class president.

Senior defensive back Eric Foster, who racked up 41 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble while being ranked in the top 10 in the conference in passes defended, earned first-team honors. Junior defensive end Michael Brooks landed the second team after posting 29 tackles on the season.

Jackson State had three players make all-conference teams with all three on defense. JSU had just one first-team player and two second-team players.

Senior Javancy Jones earned first-team honors at defensive end and second-team honors at linebacker. Jones was the Tigers’ pick for the 2016 Conerly Trophy and was a finalist for the award, as he finished third in the conference in tackles with 82, second in tackles for a loss with 19.5 and 12 in sacks with four.

Senior defensive backs Justin Jemison and Zavian Bingham earned second-team honors. Jemison finished with 46 tackles for fourth on the team, two interceptions and five passes defended. Bingham notched 41 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, one punt block and one pick returned for a touchdown.

Mississippi Valley State University didn’t land a player on either the first …

Join the JFP, the Center for Violence Prevention and the Chick Ball Committee for a free JFP Chick Ball happy hour Thursday, May 31, at Hal & Mal's downtown (200 S. Commerce St.).

Morningbell closing, regional picks and new releases...

Ahead of the Friday deadline to qualify for state and county offices, several Jacksonians have qualified as Democrats in several races. That includes some old faces from local politics trying their hands at new, higher seats.

Bruce Burton of Jackson has qualified to run for the Central District seat on the Public Service Commission; Democratic state Rep. Cecil Brown has been actively campaigning for the seat for months.

Robert Amos, who has run for Jackson City Council and mayor, will compete for the Mississippi Department of Transportation's Central District post.

Democratic Party records show that Stan Alexander, a former Hinds County prosecutor now with the attorney general's office, has qualified to seek the Hinds County district attorney's seat. DA Robert Smith as of this morning has not qualified for reelection, party information shows.

Plavise Patterson, a businesswoman and community activist who ran for Jackson city council's Ward 5 in 2013, has qualified to run in Mississippi House District 69 along with incumbent Alyce Clarke. Corinthian Sanders, another perennial name on local ballots, will run for House District 72 against incumbent Kimberly Campbell.

And Charles E. Graham of Jackson qualified to contend for state auditor in the Democratic primary as well. Republicans in that race include incumbent Stacey Pickering and Madison Mary Hawkins Butler.