New Orleans Saints season Review: Record breaking season marred by revelation of Dark side –NFL Special Part III
Continued from Part II
At Carolina
The Panthers with the acquisition of quarterback Cam Newton as the number one draft pick had become a much better side.
The Saints travelled to face a new look Panthers side in week five and both teams played out a classic match.
Newton passed for two touchdowns and a total of 224-yards while also scoring a rushing touchdown as the Panthers built a 27-23 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Drew Brees though had been in similar scenarios many times and his experience showed with the quarterback leading the Saints forward.
With seconds remaining the 33-year-old connected with Pierre Thomas with a six-yard pass into the end-zone to score the winning points as the Saints won a heart pounding match up 30-27.
Brees passed for a total of 359-yards and passed for two touchdowns to help the Saints stage a wonderful comeback and win their fourth straight game.
After the game Brees recounted the final drive forward as he told media after the game.
"Calm, cool, collected. We've been here many times before, which we have. Let's just go be us. Let's do what we do. Nothing spectacular, but just methodical.”
At Tampa Bay
New Orleans next up faced National Football Conference (NFC) South division rivals Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This time though Brees had one of his rare off days with the quarterback unable to drive the Saints to victory.
Tampa Bay led by young quarterback Josh Freeman were brilliant throughout the game. Freeman passed for a total of 303 yards for two touchdowns as the Buccaneers stopped the Saints from gaining a lead after the first quarter.
The Buccaneers defence was amazing containing Brees and intercepting him thrice to put his game off. The quarterback could only manage a single scoring pass.
New Orleans though managed to claw their way back in the game in the final quarter as Mark Ingram’s 12-yard rushing touchdown brought the score to 23-20.
However, the Bucs responded with a field goal and won the game 26-20.
Against Indianapolis
With their momentum broken after a road defeat to Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Saints would have looked forward to the visit of free falling Indianapolis Colts.
New Orleans completely destroyed the once mighty Colts as Drew Brees ran riot over one of the poorest defences in the league.
The veteran quarterback made new records as he completed 31 out of 35 attempted passes for a total gain of 325-yards.
Brees passed for his season high five touchdowns and built up a match rating of 144.9.
What a way to bounce back from defeat. The Saints were in total control throughout the game as the Colts could only stand and watch Brees tear them apart.
Indianapolis managed to score just seven points through Delone Carter’s second quarter rushing touchdown.
New Orleans played with perfection and won the game by a mammoth 62-7 margin.
Brees had nothing but praise for the team.
"We had a great game plan. We played with a lot of confidence. Pete did a phenomenal job. It was just our night, one of those games that doesn't come along too often. ... We needed a win like this, especially after the past week and everything we've gone
through."
To be continued
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