No bluff: Deuce thrives in backfield with pair of aces

"I think we have a good mix," McAllister said. "It's working out fine."

Bush has 65 carries, while McAllister has 91. It would be more for McAllister, but he tweaked his hamstring in the first half against the Eagles last week, forcing him out for a while, before he toughed it out to return to the game.

The plan was for McAllister's carries to increase each week as he got more removed from his torn ACL, an injury he suffered just over a year ago.

"I'm not 100 percent yet, but I'm close," McAllister said.

When I saw McAllister at the Super Bowl in Detroit, he was about 15 pounds over his playing weight and appeared to be walking with a limp. He hadn't even started running by then. Yet he insisted he would be back. Through hard work, he made it, but not without a few struggles along the way.

There were the usual hurdles, such as the first time he ran. But the biggest for knee-surgery patients is always the first hit.

McAllister took his during a training camp practice on a goal-line drill. He ran wide on a play and was knocked out of bounds, and bounced right up. The next play he ran inside and didn't even think about the knee.

"I realized then that it was OK," he said.

By that time, McAllister had trimmed the excess weight he had in January, plus some. He was 10 pounds below his playing weight from last season. He looked quicker. During a training camp chat, he said he couldn't wait to get back playing for real.

Now we know why. The forgotten man isn't so forgotten anymore.

McAllister's per-carry average of 4.9 is the best of any of his four-plus seasons as a full-time starter. He has four 20-plus runs this season, which is only one fewer than he had in 2004 when he started 14 games. The big-play ability he showed in getting 16 20-plus runs in 2003 is coming back. Bush, by the way, has no 20-plus runs.

"I think I have a lot of my quickness and explosiveness back," McAllister said.

McAllister and Bush are doing a good job co-existing too. A lot of that has to do with the fact that both are really good guys. McAllister is a pro's pro. He loves the game. In fact, he's one of the best talent-evaluating players in the league and loves to talk about which players are playing well and which ones aren't, and a career as a general manager might be in his future. Bush is just as easy going, adjusting well to the NFL and the spotlight.

"We're both professionals and we love to compete," McAllister said. "We're friends. When we're on the sidelines we help each other. It's a good situation."

That is all McAllister wanted. Reggie Bush mania may be in full swing, and the kid is indeed special, but don't forget Deuce McAllister. There are still plenty of yards and plenty of big plays left in his legs.

He might not be called The Savior. But he's sure doing his part to make the New Orleans Saints winners again.