Unbeaten Saints wallop Patriots

McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints took New England into never-never land on Monday night in the Louisiana Superdome.

As in the Patriots never had a chance in this one.

The Saints remained one of the NFL’s two unbeaten teams against the Patriots, which wasn’t much of a surprise. It was the manner in which they buried Tom Brady and the Patriots that caught everyone’s eye.

Brees passed for 323 and five touchdowns as the Saints thrashed the Patriots 38-17.

All five touchdown passes went to different receivers, including Marques Colston, whose 20-yard TD catch put the Saints in front 38-17 with 7:49 left in the game.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick pulled three-time Super Bowl champion Brady with 5:20 left, letting the Saints (11-0) savor in the moment and leaving the Patriots (7-4) to ponder what went wrong.

The Patriots closed to within 24-17 on Laurence Maroney’s 2-yard touchdown run with 10:24 left in the third quarter, but the Saints needed just three plays to respond.

Brees fired the ball to Colston on the right sideline before he cut across the field for a reception that covered 68 yards.

Two plays later, Brees hit backup tight end Darnell Dinkins for a 2-yard touchdown pass to put the Saints in front 31-17.

It was the Saints’ first victory over New England since 1995.

The Saints’ defense did its part, too, keeping a steady pass rush on Brady, and coming up with three takeaways, including Darren Sharper’s fourth-quarter interception that forced the Patriots to concede.

Brees was on fire in the first half, completing 11 of 13 passes for an eye-popping 229 yards and three touchdowns.

His 158.3 passer rating for the first half, and later the entire game, was perfect under the NFL’s complex system, but it was clearly evident that he was ready to play this game.

The Patriots grabbed a 7-3 lead when Brady took them 80 yards in 14 plays for the game’s first touchdown with 3:34 left in the first quarter. Maroney scored on a fourth-down play from the Saints’ 4-yard line, slamming through the line on an off-tackle play to the right side.