9 and 0hhhhhhhhhhhh!
The Saints overcame a bundle of mistakes to record their ninth straight victory as they edged the
fighting Rams, 28-23, at Edward Jones Dome on Sunday in St. Louis.
Reggie Bush scored two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving), Courtney Roby returned a
kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and Drew Brees tossed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Robert
Meachem to account for the Saints scoring. The ninth straight win tied a Saints record.
"I was pleased we got the win," said Saints coach Sean Payton. "It was a closer finish than I would
have liked. And the turnovers will come back to haunt us. It goes without saying that your entire roster
has to be ready to play.I was pleased how they responder, particularly the secondary."
Bush sparked the running game with 6 carries for 83 yards, including a career=long 55-yard dash. He
combined with Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas as the Saints pounded out 203 yards on the ground for a
7.0-yard average per carry on 29 rushes.
Drew Brees was 18-of-26 for 223 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for a passer rating
of 89.1.
"We're not content where we're at," said Brees. " We're not content with the way we've played in the last
three weeks.We need to close the game out when we're given the opportunity."
"You're not going to blow everybody out," said cornerback Randall Gay, who played with the Patriots'
16-0 team in 2007. "It's a lot harder to blow teams out when for a lot of teams, this is like their Super
Bowl."
The Rams were led by the power running of Steven Jackson, who is arguable the second best running
back in he NFL. He rushed for 131 yards in26 carries. Mark Bugler was 26-of-40 for 223 yards with an
interception by safety Asama Young, who was playing in place of injured Darren sharper, who was
inactive as well as Jabari Greer. Saints cornerback Tracy Porter left the game with a knee injury.
Bugler's 19-yard pass to Donnie Avery made it a five-point game with 2:44 left and the Rams (1-8)
made it to the Saints 32 before the quarterback threw incomplete on the final play.
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How St, Louis media viewed the game:
Bernie Miklasz, St, Louis Post-Dispatch: "I've had fun watching most of the Rams' recent
games. Sunday's upset bid against the undefeated Saints was an enjoyable event. An
the local TV rating for Rams game have been strong, so I suspect that others share my
sentiment.
"Honest, I thought the Rams were going to lose Sunday's game by three touchdowns or
more. I didn't see how they could match up with the swashbuckling Saints, who lead the
NFL in points and yards and interceptions. I thought it would be about 40-10 in the
fourth quarter, and we'd get a chance to see former Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel
get some clock for the Saints.
"And if the Rams had a quarterback capable of calmly directing a two-minute offense
and making the big plays necessary to pull out the improbable triumph, they probably
would have snatched the thing. Instead, Marc Bulger kept wasting previous time with
inexplicable dump=off throws to Steve Jackson.
"Credit St. Louis," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I thought they played, and are
playing better football. I told Steve (Spagnuolo, Rams coach) after the game that they
are playing with a ton of courage."
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