New Orleans Saints get first pre-season win
The New Orleans Saints improved their pre-season record to 1-1 on Saturday night with an impressive 38-20 win over the Houston Texans in front of 70,025 fans in the Louisiana Superdome.
The Saints gave the home crowd just what they wanted and wasted no time jumping to an early 7-0 lead scoring on their opening drive, which was capped by a nine-yard touchdown run by running-back Reggie Bush. Their first drive saw a few short passes from quarterback Drew Brees to his receivers, but it was Bush who ran the ball effectively and marched his team the field. He carried the ball four times for 38 yards on that scoring drive.
Shortly after, the Saints were near the end-zone and Brees added another rushing touchdown by leaping over the pile for a one-yard TD that put the Saints ahead 14-0. Brees completed five of 10 passes for 36 yards before being replaced by backup quarterback Chase Daniel, who led New Orleans on two touchdown drives, including a one-yard scoring pass to end the first half.
“We got our butts kicked,” Houston middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. “We thought we were ready to play, but we didn’t play like it. The only good thing is that it happened in preseason, and we have time to fix it.”
Daniels put the game out of reach, throwing for 182 yards and three touchdowns. New Orleans offence played exceptionally well racking up over 400 yards. Their defence also played well and showed signs of improvement from last season, by shutting down Houston's running game.
Both Arian Foster and Steve Slaton combined for a total of 47 yards. Houston fared a little better in the passing game as Matt Schaub completed eight of 10 passes for 117 yards. Houston did have a few chances to keep this contest close, but too many missed opportunities proved to be costly against the black-and-gold. Slaton's 63-yard kickoff return to start the second half and linebacker Danny Clark’s interception in New Orleans territory failed to produce a touchdown.
"To be honest, this is the worst I’ve felt since I’ve been in Houston,” said Brian Cushing, rookie of the year in 2009. “Frustration is an understatement. This should be a wake-up call.”
The Saints and Texans have always organized joint practices and scrimmages in pre-season, so both teams are familiar with one another. So it’s surprising to see the Saints, despite being the defending Super Bowl champions, humiliate the Texans’ starters at the start of the first half.
Houston will have to tweak a few things in order to be better prepared as the regular season approaches.
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