The Saints improved to 10-0 as quarterback Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes to beat the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay 38-7. Two of those TD tosses went to receiver Robert Meachem who continues to impress. Running back Mike Bell had a pair of touchdowns of his own, as the Saints looked more like the team that started the season, not the one as of late.
“It only gets harder. By no means can we sit back on what we’ve accomplished thus far. Every team we face would love to give us that first loss,” Brees said after the game.
Brees was 19 of 29 for 187 yards throwing to 9 different Saints players, but more importantly there were zero interceptions. In fact, the Saints did not commit a single turnover in the game, something they’ve done with frequency the last four times on the field.
“We’re on our way to fixing things. We talk about no turnovers; we talk about no sacks, really just eliminating negative plays. We come out of today’s game with no turnovers and no sacks, and obviously you see the result. We win running away,” said Brees. “When we take care of the football and we can eliminate negative plays we are very, very hard to beat.”
The Saints defense continued to make plays picking up four turnovers. A Saints secondary filled with backups played well, only really looking confused early on in the first quarter when Tampa scored its only touchdown of the game. Former LSU product Michael Clayton caught his first touchdown of the season as he wandered into the back of the end zone. Bucs rookie quarterback Josh Freeman hit Clayton for the score, but threw three interceptions. Safety Chris Reis, and linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who later left the game with a shoulder injury, picked off Freeman passes. Rookie Malcolm Jenkins, getting his first start at cornerback, picked off his first pass in the first quarter, somehow diving and picking up the ball before it touched the ground for the turnover.
Unlike the previous four games, the Saints defense also did not allow a hundred yard rusher. Tampa’s Cadillac Williams was held to just 32 yards on 11 carries. As a team, Tampa rushed for 119 yards.
Saints running back Pierre Thomas had 92 yards on 11 carries. Bell had 75 yards on 13 carries to go along with his two touchdowns.
THE BATTLE FANS ARE WAITING FOR
The Saints 38-7 win ensures that they will remain perfect heading into next week’s Monday night matchup against the Patriots. New England hammered the Jets 31-14 to improve to 7-3 on the season. The Pats forced five New York turnovers, three of those were interceptions made by cornerback Leigh Bodden who returned one 60 yards for a touchdown.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was 28 of 41 for 310 yards and a touchdown, that pass going to receiver Randy Moss. Moss finished with just five catches on the day, while receiver Wes Welker had 15 catches for 192 yards.
On the ground, Laurence Maroney rushed for 77 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns.
SUNDAY OVERVIEW
Indianapolis remained perfect as well with a 17-15 win at Baltimore. Payton Manning was 22 of 31 for 299 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Former LSU Tiger Joseph Addai rushed for 74 yards on 19 carries. Receiver Pierre Garcon had six receptions for 108 yards and tight end Dallas Clark made a spectacular catch in his only grab of the day for a touchdown. The Colts have won 19 straight games, good for the second longest in NFL history, second to New England’s 21 game winning streak.
The Saints have a five game lead now in the NFC South thanks to a Giants 34-31 win over Atlanta in overtime. Carolina with their loss back on Thursday night are six games out with six games left to play. The Saints still have games left against all three division teams, but would need to lose a majority if not all of their games left with the Falcons and Panthers winning out for them not to win the NFC South Division title.
Minnesota remained just one game back of the Saints for the best record in the NFC as both teams battle for home field advantage in the playoffs. Vikings quarterback Brett Favre was 22 of 25 for 213 yards and four touchdown passes as Minnesota beat Seattle 35-9.
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