12 and 0hhhhhhhhhhhh!
The Saints had no business winning, but Garrett Hartley kicked an 18-yard field goal in overtime and
continued their magic-carpet ride with a 33-30 victory over the Redskins at Landover, Md.
It was the undefeated Saints 12th straight victory as they clinched the NFC South as runnerup Atlanta
fell to Philadelphia, 34-7. The Saints will seek their 13th victory on Sunday against the Falcons at
Atlanta.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees, making a serious run for NFL MVP honors, managed what no other
quarterback has in 214 games against the Redskins, .He passed for 400 yards. He completed
35-of-49 passes for 419 touchdowns with touchdown tosses of 40 yards to Maques Colston and 53
yards to Robert Meachem.
"He's something else," said Saints coach Sean Payton. "He has a very strong will and never panicked.
"It would be remiss if we didn't start this news conference by crediting the Washington
Redskins. They had us on our heels and were were fortunate to hang in there. The missed field goal
was huge and gave us life and Drew marched us right down there and made some big plays.
"There is a lot of confidence in the team right now, and they wouldn't quit and just kept clawing their
way back in there. I am proud of the way they just kept battling.
"That missed field goal gave us new life and there was sort of a feeling of destiny on our side."
Two of the Saints' biggest plays were flukes, bad mistakes that some how morphed into positive
results. Then they needed the snake-bitten Redskins to miss a 23-yard field goal attempt to stay alive.
as well as a freeze-frame replay reversal to get the win.
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Saints survive trap game:
The Saints trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter and played for more than four quarters without
holding a lead. Someone suggested a voodoo hex had been placed on the Saints for this game. It
was a 'trap game."
"I don't know about the voodoo," said Brees. "but I believe in destiny." The quarterback led his team on
a no timeout, 80 -yard in 33 seconds to tie the game in regulation. "I believe in karma, and goes
around comes around. We've been on the other side of the deal probably too many times. Maybe it's
our time to start getting some breaks."
The Redskins had the ball to start the overtime, but Mike Seller was upended when tackled by Chris
McAlister after making a reception, a turnover that was only verified after a replay reversal, giving the
Saints the ball st the Redskins 37. Brees needed only seven plays to take his team to the 1 before
Hartley, activated this week, made the game-winning kick.
One of the key plays in the game came in a bizarre sequence at the end of the first half. With 39
seconds remaining and the Saints facing third and 26 on the Redskins 44, Brees heaved a pass at
tight end Jeremy Shockey, who was well covered. Safety Kareem Moore dived in front of the pass for
an interception. Moor jumped to his feet to return the pick and headed toward the sideline. After 14
yards, he was he was corralled by Meachem. Moore spun and Meachem striped the ball from his
hands, then raced 44 yards down the sidelines for a touchdown, tying the game at 17.
"Just when I was running, I was trying to make a big play, trying to score," said Moore. "He had me by
the arm and I tried to spin out of it and then he used my momentum and just took the ball from me. He
made a good play."
"What a break up play," said Bree's. "We're just trying to get the guy down and Mayhem has the
wherewithal to think about stripping and getting the ball and then taking it to the house.That was
unbelievable."
Former LSU All-American safety LaRon Landry, who is from Ama and grew up a Saints fan, struggled
with deep coverage. He was burned twice for touchdowns on double moves by Brees. "It was double
moves on both of them," said Landry. "The last one was a missed coverage assignment, a great throw
and catch. We played well the whole game until the last play. We just didn't finish."
Landry had a team-high 12 tackles, a sack and three passes defended. He is a very physical safety.
Hartley was making 50-yard field goals in pregame warmups. He kicked four of five field goal
attempts. His only miss was a 58-yarder as time ran out in regulation.
"The last time we won the division (in '06) we were coming off a loss to the Redskins after a big
Sunday night game against the Cowboys," said Payton." So it's nice to get there with a win. This was
one of our goals and we're excited about it."
"It was double moves on both
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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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