11 and 0hhhhhhhhhhhh!
The unbeaten Saints proved they are a Super Bowl contender by overwhelming the New England
Patriots, 38-17, on Monday night in the Superdome before 70,768 swaggering "Who Dats." who loudly
chanted :Who Dat?" all evening.
Quarterback Drew Brees passed for five touchdowns and 371 yards while completing 18 of 23
attempts. He compiled a 158.3 quarterback rating, the highest number the system allows. He
grimaced when he missed a pass completion.
The Saints defense, playing with a patchwork secondary because of injuries, held Tom Brady without
a touchdown pass and frustrated Randy Moss, who made one explosive play and finished with three
catches At the end, he was standing alone of the Patriots' sidelines, helmet in his hand.
The Saints earned their 11th straight victory (franchise first) as Brees threw touchdown passes to five
different passes. He became the first quarterback to ever pass for five touchdowns against a Bill
Belichick-coached team.
Brees' touchdown passes of 18 yards to Pierre Thomas, 75 yards to Devery Henderson, 38 yards to to
Robert Meachem, 2 yards to Darnell Dawkins and 20 yards to Marques Colston resulted in a
convincing victory for the Saints.
"It's only one win on the stat sheet, but emotionally, these kind of wins can mean a little more," said
Brees. "Any time you can win like this, it builds confidence in you.
"Our goal is to get better each week. I threw some passes tonight I'd like to have back."
The victory left little doubt that the Saints have a chance to match the Patriots' 16-0 regular season
record in 2007. The Pats are the only team to ever go 16-0 in a regular season.
Many of the national media members covering the game thought the Saints' game with the Cowboys
on Dec.19 was their biggest obstacle in winning them all in the regular season.
"They were obviously the better team tonight," said Belichick. "It wasn't a competitive game like we
thought it would be or like we needed it to be. They out-coached us. We have to play better to compete
with a team of this caliber."
"There's a reason why they are 11-0," said Brady. :They played really well and we didn't play up to their
level."
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What the national media thought about the Patriots game
Anthony Stalter, Yardbarker: "Unless you're a Colts or Vikings fan, when you watch the Saints play, it
makes you realize how bad your team actually is.
"The Saints carved up the Patriots on Monday night like a Ginsu knife slicing through warm butter. They
racked up 480 yards of total offense, 367 passing and scored on five touchdowns en route to a 38-17
blow out victory. The soon-to-be MVP award winner Drew Brees completed 18 of 23 passes for371
yards and five touchdowns..
'The Saints wrap up the season with road trips to Washington, Atlanta and Carolina,as well as home
games against Dallas and Tampa Bay. With Chris Red man now under center for the Falcons, the
only real threat to the Saints' march to perfection is the Cowboys and New Orleans will play them in
the Superdome, where they are practically unbeatable.
"Considering Minnesota is breathing down their necks for the top spot in the NFC, the Saints still have
plenty to play for, which means we could be seeing the second 16-0 team in only three years."
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Game ranks as of Saints biggest wins in franchise history
The Saints are coming off one of the biggest victories in their 43-year history, so there
are questions.
Four four years now, Drew Brees has had answers. His relationship with the media is a
vivid part of his life as the game itself. Sometimes he asks and answers the questions
nobody thought to ask. He carries the Saints on his back.
Thanksgiving is when the NFL really gets counts. You can see who the real men are
now. There was an electric, almost Super Bowl-like atmosphere in the sold-out
Superdome.
The 11-0 Saints overwhelmed the Patriots in a statement game on Monday night and
the games are only going to get bigger as they go after a 16-0 season. The magic -ride
season continues on Sunday at Washington, D.C.
Brees almost had a perfect night throwing the football. His passer rating was a perfect
158.3. "I thought he was outstanding," said Saints coach Sean Payton after the game.
"He was special. Let's just say he's playing real well. It was a great job by him. It was
magnificent."
"People are going to talk about this game for a long time, and maybe blow it out of
proportion a little bit,." said the quarterback, who threw touchdown passes to five
different receivers. "But this game doesn't entitle us to anything.
"We played a tremendous football team Ianthe Patriots. They know how to win. They do
things the right way. Anytime you can win and win that way, it builds confidence. But by
no means is anybody going to rollover for us. We understand that,and we know next
week's game against the Redskins is as big as this one."
A stat that was almost overlooked was that Brees had attempted only 16 passes going
into the fourth quarter.. That's less than half the number of throws attempted by the
Pats; Tom Brady. He had completed 14 of those 16 passes for 307 yards (21.9 yards
per catch) and four touchdowns.
Brees went on to hit 4-of-5 passes on the Saints' first series in the final quarter, the last
to Marques Colston for 20 yards and his fifth touchdown. Colston, who is built more like
a tight end than a wideout, dragged the Pats ' safety across the goal line.
"That's kind of what I do," said Cols ton, whose 121 yards led the team."I didn't realize I
was the fifth receiver who got a score tonight .But that doesn't surprise me.That's Drew
Brees."
Brees connected with seven different receivers, and that was without starters Lance
Moore and Reggie Bush.who were inactive.
When seldom -used tight end Darnell Dinkins hauled in a 2-yard YD pass in the third
quarter, he became the 20th Saint to score this season.
"This was a special night," said Brees. "The receivers did a great job getting open and
then making some big-time runs after the catch."
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