Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints head coach
Alma mater: Naperville Central
Week 2: Payton has an offensive background and his Saints (2-0) are absolutely lighting up the scoreboard. Coming off a 48-22 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans leads the NFL by a wide margin in total yards (936) and points scored (93).
Coming up: At Buffalo Bills (1-1), Sunday 3:05 p.m.

Owen Daniels, Houston Texans tight end
Alma mater: Naperville Central
Week 2: Daniels caught a one-yard touchdown pass that tied the game 31-31 late in the third quarter in Nashville, Tenn. The Texans (1-1) then completed the comeback against the Tennessee Titans and scored a 34-31 victory. Daniels finished with six catches for 72 yards.
Coming up: At Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2), Sunday 12 p.m.

Chris Brown, Houston Texans running back
Alma mater: Naperville North
Week 2: Brown is becoming a contributor out of Houston's backfield. He carried the ball eight times for 25 yards (3.1 average), though nearly half of that output came on a 12-yard gain, his longest run of the day in Tennessee. With Steve Slaton struggling, the Texans are ranked last in the NFL in rushing yards per game (50.5). That could create more opportunities for Brown.

This will be a punch line if his Saints struggle in 2009. Or it will be viewed as a sign of his outside-the-box genius if his team gets back to the playoffs. Either way, New Orleans coach Sean Payton is shopping a movie project.

Times-Picayune reporter Mike Triplett has the story:

The movie, currently titled "The Xbox Kid," is about a boy from a poor family in New Orleans who starts controlling the outcome of NFL games through a refurbished Xbox given to him by his grandfather following a devastating hurricane.

"I just wrote about four pages, piddling around with it," said Payton, who later turned the idea over to a professional screen writer to flesh it out.

UPDATE: This tip comes from blog maestro Sean Fuchs. Mike Triplett has the call on NOLA.com: "Sean Payton beats the Easter bunny but not his wife in Crescent City Classic."

It's always good to have goals, and while Sean Payton would no doubt like to win a Super Bowl for New Orleans, right now he'll settle for beating the Easter bunny.

At least that's what Mike Triplett reports in his Times-Picayune blog. Payton, the Saints coach and Naperville Central graduate, is planning to run the 6.2-mile Crescent City Classic on Saturday, just like he did last year.

Payton told Triplett: "And about midway through this race, this Easter bunny -- in full outfit -- is stride for stride with me. And I'm thinking, 'The last thing I need is the Easter bunny to beat me in a 10K.' I mean, he's got the fur and everything."

Apparently the race includes everyone from elite Kenyan runners to weekend warriors to casual joggers.

For the record, Payton did finish strong and outrun the bunny last year, completing the course in one hour, seven minutes after about two months of training. No word yet on Gatorade showers from his players after the race.

Northwestern offensive line coach Bret Ingalls will jump to the NFL and work for Naperville native Sean Payton in New Orleans. The Saints will get an assistant who apparently had some good connections in the Chicago suburbs.

ESPN.com Big Ten writer Adam Rittenberg reports in his blog:

(Ingalls) coached the Big Ten's youngest line this season and got decent results, as Northwestern tied for second in the league in fewest sacks allowed (22) and went 9-4. Ingalls' biggest contributions have come as a recruiter, as he helped land top line prospects like Brian Mulroe (Loyola), Nick Adamle (Wheaton North) and Jeff Radek (Neuqua Valley) last February.

Payton and Ingalls worked together at San Diego State in the late-1980s and early-1990s, helping develop a running back named Marshall Faulk.

CHICAGO - Sean Payton's postgame press conference in the Soldier Field interview room lasted less than two minutes Thursday night. That was almost certainly in part because of a 27-24 overtime loss to the Bears and the tight newspaper deadlines that followed. The Naperville Central graduate hit on two big themes after Danieal Manning racked up 179 return yards and Devin Hester slipped by a Cover 2 package to draw the pass interference penalty that helped set up Robbie Gould's game winning field goal.

"It's a disappointing loss," Payton said. "We lost the battle in the kicking game and that was clear tonight. That cost us not only a touchdown but probably about 120 yards in field-position differential. You're not gonna win a lot of games by playing that way.

"We were poor (in) third-and-long with the ball getting behind us in a game that (we) felt like we had to keep it in front of us...including the last play, which was third-and-long in Cover 2 coverage but we let the receivers get by us.

"If you're gonna lose 100, 115 yards in field position in the kicking game, if you're gonna continue to let receivers get behind you, (then) you're gonna end up finishing around .500 and that's what's most frustrating."