The undefeated Saints looked like Super Bowl contenders by breezing past the New York Giants, 48-27, on Sunday before 70,011 at the Superdome.
"This is a big win," said Saints coach Sean Payton in his postgame discussion. "We did a great job of pass protection against a significant pass rush. There were a lot of big individual performances today, but this was really a team win against a previously unbeaten Giants team."
Saints quarterback Drew Brees was locked in from the start (23-for-30, 369 yards, 4 touchdowns) especially to his top receiver, Marques Colston (8 catches, 166 yards, 1 TD) and former Giants Jeremy Shockey (4 catches, 37 yards, 1 TD). Brees found every hole in a Giants defense that entered this game of the unbeaten No. 1 in the NFL. Payton's game plan created mismatches all over the field.
If the Saints make it to the NFC championship game, they'll be favored because they'll have a big advantage in one crucial area: coaching.
"We wanted to dictate the tempo of the game the whole way through,” said Brees, "Seven different guys scored touchdowns. That's big. That's the type of rhythm that, when you get in, you feel like you can call anything and it's going to work.
"This game was a testament to the preparation we put in during the week leading into the game. The focus from the entire team was outstanding. The game plans the coaches put together were terrific and the team was pumped up to play a game like this, a measuring stick type of game."
The Saints defense held the Giants' power running to only 84 yards and allowed New Orleans native Eli Manning just 178 yards on 14-of-31 passing for a passing rating of 61 in the Giants' first loss of the season. The Saints hold wins over all three New York teams: Bills, Jets and Giants.
"Our defense was great," said Brees. "They were flying around all day. And, it was a great job by our fans. They made it tough on the Giants. My hat's off to our fans."
Manning said he was a Saints fan growing up in the Garden District and was in that number, booing the opponents in the Superdome.
This game wasn't what Manning envisioned as a player in his first game ever in the Superdome. He committed a costly fumble on a sack that Reggie Bush converted into a 7-yard touchdown run just before halftime. The Saints' blitzers harassed him into an uncharacteristic loss of poise. Eli was observed chewing out Ahmad Bradshaw and slapping his shoulder pad after the running back continually missed blocking assignments, including one that led to a drive-ending interception in the third quarter.
"This game isn't what I imagined during the week," said Manning. "But you're going to encounter all sorts of games and situations. I look at is as a loss. We need to get back and work on some things, try to improve."
"Of course it's embarrassing," said Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora. "The Saints are a good team, but they're not THAT good. It's a humbling experience. It's better it happens now than later."
Does Payton feel he has a Super Bowl contender?
"I don't think you can talk about the big picture after five games," said Payton. "We're going to have more big games and we've just go to continue to improve each week. It was a good win and I'm happy with that, but there's a lot of things we can do better. We've got a lot of football ahead of us, but we like starting off fast."
The Who Dat Nation believes the victory made their team Super Bowl favorites as if you can make that designation with 11 weeks remaining in the regular season.
As far as the standings go, the Saints gained little, although if the Saints (5-0) and he Giants (5-1) finish with the same record, the Saints get the home field advantage for the playoffs -- assuming, of course, they both make it.
Next up for the Saints is a 3:15 game on Sunday against the Dolphins,at Miami.
The Saints wear a T-shirt under their uniforms that reads: Super Bowl 44. You can laugh if you want, but the Saints ain't the AINTS any more.
WHAT OTHERS SAID ABOUT THE SAINTS: Ralph Vacchiano, NYDailyNews.com: "For three weeks the Giants had been the NFL's biggest bullies. Sunday afternoon, they were the ones getting sand kicked in their face.
"The same Giants defense that nearly pitched two shutouts in the last three weeks was embarrassed and exposed in their first big test of the season. The Saints ripped through them with ease in the first half, scoring on five of their first six possessions, setting the stage for what became a shockingly easy 48-27 Saints win.
"The numbers were absurd, considering the Giants came into the game giving up just 21-yards per game and had allowed 23 points total in the last three weeks. By halftime, Saints quarterback Drew Brees had already thrown for 247 yards and three touchdowns and the Saints had a 34-17 lead."
Paul Schwartz, New York Post: "Misery developed into a very different emotion as the Giants today were getting beat so badly that they couldn't fathom what the heck was going on.
"Nothing at all. If this was an NFC showdown then the Giants got thrown down. Their valued defense allowed touchdowns on the first four series and turned Drew Brees into an immortal, turning Eli Manning's homecoming into a cacophony of noise and lowlights in a decisive and troubling 48-27 loss to the Saints inside the Superdome.
"It's not the way I imagined it," Manning said.
"How could Manning have imagined that his teammates on the defensive side would fail to show up in the biggest game thus far this season? Beating up on the Buccaneers, Chiefs and Raiders catapulted the Giants defense to No. 1 in the NFL, a lofty perch that they had shoved down with every missile fired by Brees, who completed 23 of 30 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Marques Colston. It was the most points scored against the Giants in more than 10 years."
SAINTS NOTEBOOK: The Saints are undefeated after five games for the third time in the 43-year history of the franchise...The Saints tied a franchise record by scoring seven touchdowns (scored by seven different players). The only other seven-TD game in Saints history occurred on 11.2/69 at St, Louis in a 51-42 victory, Prior to this season, the Saints had scored 45 or more points only five times in franchise history (51 at STL, 11/2/69; 51 at SEA, 11/21.76; 51 vs. GB, 11/24/08; 45 at ATL, 10/19/03; 45 vs. NYG, 12/14/03. In the first five games this season, the Saints have reached the mark three times...NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was a dinner guest of owner Tom Benson on Friday night before the game and attended the game.....
QB Drew Brees completed 23 of 30 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns and joined former Saints quarterbacks Aaron Brooks and Archie Manning on a pair of career franchise lists. In the first quarter, Brees became the third quarterback in Saints history with 15,000 yards passing, joining Manning (21,734) and Brooks (19,156) as QBs who have passed for more than 15,000 as a Saint. In the second quarter, Brees threw his 100 career TD pass as a Saint, joining Brooks (120) and Manning (115) have passed for 100 TDs in a Saints uniform. Brees' career numbers in New Orleans at game's end: 15,310 passing yards and 101 TDs....
Brees completed 15 consecutive passes in the first half, the most consecutive completions in a single game in Saints history. Brees hold the franchise record of 17 straight completions over a two-game span on 12/16-23/07. Archie Manning also had 15 straight completions in a two-game span 30 years ago this month (10/14-21/79)....Bress' passing rate of 156.8 is the second highest of his career, topped only by the 157.5 on 11/24/08 vs.Green Bay. The Saints are 9-0 in the last four years when Brees has a passer rating of 130.0 or better and 18-5 when his passer rating is 100.0 or higher...Jeremy Shockey caught a pass for the100th game, the second longest active streak among tight ends in the NFL behind Atlanta's Tony Gonzalez (137)....Marcus Colston had eight catches and a season high 166 yards. It is his 12th career 100-yard receiving game and his first of the season, which ranks third in franchise history behind Joe Horn (27) and Eric Martin (18)....The Saints have forced two or more turnovers in each of their last five games this season.
LSU TO FACE AUBURNON ESPN2: LSU’s home game against Auburn on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium will be televised by ESPN2.
Kickoff for the LSU-Auburn game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
LSU, which had an open date on Saturday, is 5-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Auburn brings a 5-2 overall mark and 2-2 league record into the contest. Auburn dropped a 21-14 decision to Kentucky on Saturday.
TIGERS NO. 9--LSU is No. 9 in the first BCS standings and the AP poll which were released on Sunday.
Florida is No. 1 in the BCS standings with Alabama second and Texas third. Alabama replaced Florida at No. 1 in the AP poll, which has Texas third, USC fourth and Cincinnati fifth.
The Tigers trail Florida, Alabama, Texas, BoiseState, Cincinnati, Iowa, USC and TCU in the BCS standings.
BCS expert Jerry Palm said LSU could play its way into the championship game. The Tigers still have Alabama to play and could get another shot at Florida in the SEC championship game.
“That would take some doing for the Tigers,: said Palm, "but a once-beaten SEC champion is going to be in a very strong position to play in the BCS championship game.”
DORSEY'S ON THE BLOCK: The Kansas City Star reports that Glenn Dorsey is back in the team's good graces after shedding 50 pounds.
The problem is that the former LSU All-American was drafted to play defensive tackle in a 4-3 scheme. Once new coach Todd Haley adopted a 3-4, Dorsey didn't have the chops to play nose tackle, but he also didn't have the quickness or endurance to play defensive end in the team's new defense. The talk is the Chiefs with Dorsey could be aimed at securing something close to a first-round draft pick for Dorsey.
According to a league source, Dorsey is available.
New Orleans Hornet
Chris Paul scored 21 points and 11 assists to lead the Hornets (2-4) to a preseason victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night before a crowd of 13, 018 at the Arena.
Paul made 5 of 15 shots and had 11 assists and 5 rebounds.
Rookie scoring guard Marcus Thornton hit 19 points and Peja Stojakovic made four three-pointers, finished with 16 points in 26:30 of playing time. Coach Byron Scott wanted to see if Stojakovic was getting ready for the regular season in his new role as a backup. He is. Stojakovic made four of five of his three-point attempts.
"It was good to get a win under our belts,” said Scott. "We train hard and work hard, and this was good for our morale." The Hornets stopped a two-game losing streak.
Danny Granger hit 23 points for the Pacers in his return to his hometown (Metairie). T. J. Ford added 22 points. The Pacers were plagued by 22 turnovers, which resulted in 22 points for the Hornets.
David West scored 14 points, and backup point guard Bobby Brown hit 7 points in the final four minutes of the first quarter, but showed his athleticism in the second quarter, when he soared to catch an alley-oop pass from Paul before dunking. Brown had 9 points and 4 assists. Top draft pick Darren Collison played only 41 seconds and didn't score.
"Coming off the bench is an adjustment for me, and I'll have to get used to it. If I can come off the bench and be productive, that will be perfect," said Stojakovic.
PAUL, THORNTON SHINE: Chris Paul scored 21 points and rookie Marcus Thornton hit 19 to lead the Hornets (2-4) to a 108-96 preseason victory before 13,018 on Saturday night at the Arena.
Paul, who played 33:32 minutes, scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter. Peja Stojakovic hit four 3-points and finished with 16 points. He played 7:40. Thornton played 33:38.
David West scored 14 points in 28:53 minutes. Rookie Darren Collison played only 41 seconds and didn't score. Emeka Okafor, who is expeced to be the Hornets' starting center, sat out with a sprained toe and has yet to play this preseason. Ike Diogu, acquired in the offseason to back up West, also has yet to play this preseason because of a knee sprain.
Danny Granger scored 23 points for the Pacers (2-3) inhis return to his hometown (Metairie). The Pacers were plagued by turnovers, committing 22, whichled to 22 Hornets points.
HOUMA BOY GETS HIS WISH: On Saturday, nine-year-old Tyler Morgan lives his dream. He met Saints coach San Payton and the Saints players.
Morgan, who has autism and is a heart transplant recipient, also attended the Saints game on Sunday as part of the Louisiana State Police Grant-A-Wish program. Morgan's family stayed in a French Quarter hotel and their room was decorated with Saints gear. The boy's mother, Nikki Theriot Allen, cried when she learned Tyler would meet the team.
Morgan spent a month in a coma as an infant because of an enlarged heart muscle that later necessitated a transplant, which was performed in 2004. His vocabulary remains, but he expresses his enthusiasm for the Saints in other ways. When his mother bring him for his quarterly heart check-up at Ochsner, he insists they visit the Superdome. He jumps up and down and points when he sees the Superdome.
Sometimes, Morgan puts on a helmet and a Reggie bush jersey and pretend he's a football player and plays in the yard.
"He's an awesome little kid," said Troop C spokesman Gilbert Dardar,who joined Morgan and his family at Sunday's game. "He loves the Saints and he walks around his house saying, 'Saints, Saints, Saints.' "
The Grant-A-Wish program provides children with life-threatening medical conditions an opportunity to experience one thing they've always dreamed of, whether it's meeting the Saints or going to Disney World, said Dardar.
SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: From Greg Cote in the Miami Herald: "You thought talk-radio agitator Rush Limbaugh bombed in his brief stint as an NFL studio analyst for ESPN? That was Emmy-wining caliber compared with his more recent work as a prospective team owner.. You think Dave Checketts , who is a group trying to buy the Rams, considered how Limbaugh's divisiveness and veiled racial bigotry might go over in a league whose shared of black players in 65 per cent? I wonder if ol' Dave was listening when Limbaugh said the NFL 'too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips.' Also I wonder how many fans would be proud to have their beloved franchise owned by a man who, on radio, sang a parody called Barack the Magic Negro to his audience of diversity-fearing lemmings. The NFL is not a place to look wishfully upon the days of segregation."...
Wade Phillips and Jim Zorn are dead-men coaching in Dallas and Washington, respectively, and are sure to be fired after the season unless they make the playoffs. The coaching hot seat issue is big this season because five Super Bowl-winning marquee coaches -- Bill Crowder, Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden, Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan -- are woo-able. "free agents. Gruden is itching to get back and supposedly the Redskins' top pick. Dungy is said to be serious about retirement...NFL trade deadline is Tuesday. Not much activity expected...Alabama would get my vote for No. 1 in the polls if I was still voting. Bama running back Mark Ingram should get some Heisman Trophy votes. He could be the best college player in the nation...
