Saints improve on defense and more in stellar win
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was in rarefied air in the national spotlight.
Brees passed Peyton Manning for career touchdown passes, breaking another coveted NFL record and adding it to his lengthy Hall of Fame résumé. The New Orleans Saints cruised to a primetime victory.
Brees finished the historic night by completing an NFL single-game record 96.7 percent of his passes (29-for-30) for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The Saints posted their most complete game of the season thus far, and it was a much-needed lift after their 48-46 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers last week.
The 34-7 blowout included an impressive performance from the Saints’ defense, allowing the second-fewest points in a game so far in 2019, and that Colts touchdown came in garbage time.
Linebacker A.J. Klein returned to the starting lineup and posted half a sack, and rookie safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson had six tackles, including two for a loss.
Cornerback Eli Apple, even though he is still the target for opposing offenses, held his own for five tackles, and the addition of a former New York Giants teammate in cornerback Janoris Jenkins off waivers should bolster the team’s pass coverage.
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The defense held the Colts to just 205 total yards and limited them to just 25 percent on third-down conversions.
Even with Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton back in action from a calf injury, cornerback Marshon Lattimore and Co. limited him to four catches for 25 yards.
With the way the offense rolled on the evening, the Saints dominated time-of-possession by winning that battle by nearly 13 minutes.
Not only did New Orleans sustain drives with points, but also it had three touchdown drives of six minutes or longer, wearing out the Colts’ defense up and down the field.
This game could be considered a peaking point, or a dominating win that could foreshadow the team down the road as some players should return from ailments either in the final two regular-season games or the postseason.
Such players include linebacker Kiko Alonso, safety Vonn Bell, offensive lineman Andrus Peat and even cornerback Patrick Robinson.
Hopefully, the Saints can be somewhat healthy for their playoff run as they still vie for the top spot in the NFC playoffs.
Next. Saints: Predicting the NFC playoffs round-by-round. dark
With a (13-3) by winning their final two games, a Week 16 Minnesota Vikings win over the Green Packers and a Week 17 Seattle Seahawks win over the San Francisco 49ers, the Saints would vault up back to the No. 1 seed in the postseason.