Bush is peaking at right time

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Reggie Bush got bashful for a moment.

It appeared Saints coach Sean Payton had given Bush a kiss on the cheek following his electrifying performance against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, and the elusive running back was unable to escape the Louisiana Superdome without being pinned down about it.

“Oh yeah, I don’t want to admit it, but he did give me a kiss,” Bush said with a grin.

The outpouring of affection for the first draft choice of the Payton era was understandable.

Bush labored through the regular season with a lack of extraordinary outings before opening his second trip to the playoffs with his best performance in more than a year.

His last comparable showing came on a Monday night in the first half of the 2008 season, against — of all teams — the Minnesota Vikings, whom the Saints will play host to on Sunday evening in the NFC title game.

Bush returned a pair of punts for touchdowns in that wild 30-27 loss to the Vikings. Two weeks later, he injured his left knee and hadn’t been the same since.

That is, until last weekend, when he spun and danced away from defenders during a 46-yard touchdown run, and followed that with a blazing 83-yard punt return for a score.

Bush made the long return look easy. Arizona tried to pin him near the sideline, but Bush was able to move laterally, looking for a hole, then burst up the middle of the field as if racing for Olympic gold. With good blocking, he had only punter Ben Graham standing in his way. Bush angled right and blew by him before trotting into the end zone with the ball held high in celebration.

“He’s as healthy as he’s been, and he was something,” Payton said. “You saw it not only on the punt return, but you saw it on the big, long touchdown run. He’s a dynamic player. ... A big reason for our success offensively is what he does, not only in space but on the edges and catching the ball, running the ball.”

Shortly before the end of the 2008 season, with his knee still bothering him, Bush had surgery to repair cartilage. The operation included a microfracture procedure in which tiny holes drilled into bone cause a secretion that mimics the cartilage padding the joint.

While Bush had recovered enough to get back on the field last summer, he said he did not feel fully healed until recently.

“It’s been a while since I felt this rested and this good,” Bush said. “I’ve kind of been nursing the injury for the first part of the season and I think Coach Payton knew that. We both knew that going into the season and our plan was just kind of try to get me to the postseason and from there on allow me to make plays and do whatever else they ask me to.”

With the prospect of elimination hanging over each playoff game, Bush was determined not to hold anything back against Arizona. He led the Saints onto the field wielding a black baseball bat bearing the inscription, “Bring the wood,” and ran hard throughout the game, taking on tacklers with shoulders lowered instead of seeking the safety of the sideline as he’s often done before.

“Feeling this good, physically, you have room for punishment and just punishing the defense,” Bush said. “These types of games are the games you live for as a football player.”

Bush led the Saints in rushing against Arizona with 84 yards on only five carries. He caught four passes for 24 yards, including a diving 5-yard snag over the middle on third down, extending a drive that ended with Marques Colston’s touchdown.

He returned three punts for 109 yards.

“He understands his role on this team as a guy who will have the opportunity to make some explosive plays in the run game, in the pass game and special teams, and he took full advantage,” quarterback Drew Brees said.

“The key is having your guys at full strength and we did feel like in his case he was completely healthy and he has looked real sharp in practice of late,” Payton said. “A few months ago I told him, ‘Just keep chopping the wood and keep working hard; you’re too explosive of a player.’ ”