New England Patriots 17, New Orleans Saints 38
The New England Patriots (7-4) were not able to keep up with Drew Brees and the high-scoring New Orleans Saints (11-0). The Saints offense did to the Patriots what they have been doing to every other team all season, as they Pats let Brees throw for 371 yards and 5 touchdowns on 18/23 passes. They didn’t do a good job stopping the run either, with Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas combining for 114 yards 24 carries. The defense was not able to slow down the Saints very much at all, which put a lot of pressure on Tom Brady and the offense.
The Patriots offense was able to keep up with the Saints for most of the first half, but the Saints were still able to build a 24-10 lead at halftime. Tom Brady did not have his best stuff, as the Pats needed a near perfect game out of Brady for him to keep up with Brees. Brady overthrew a few receivers and just wasn’t sharp. He ended up with 2 interceptions and failed to reach to the endzone, passing for 237 yards 21/36. Laurence Maroney had a good game, rushing for 64 yards on 15 carries. He had a nose for the endzone as well, getting in for 2 rushing touchdowns. The Patriots need more production like that out of Maroney, although he did lose a key fumble. I thought the Patriots were at the same level as the Saints, but it looks like they need to make some improvements if they want to get to the Super Bowl this year.
Greetings from the Who Dat Nation!! We, here in New Orleans, are just coming down to Earth from Monday’s “Boston Massacre”. Yes, we are proud of our Saints and our 11-0 start. We all have respect for the New England Patriots and this very successful franchaise. I must admit I have a Real Problem with what occurred in the last 5:38 of the last quarter. I have NEVER seen a team fold tent and quit with so much time left on the clock. I mean, Belichick took off the headphones and stopped coaching with almost 6 minutes left in the game. That is appalling!! If I were a Pats fan and spent $1000+ traveling from Boston to New Orleans and have my coach QUIT half way through the last quarter, I WOULD BE FURIOUS!!! I have never seen this in any sport and hope I never see it again. I feel it is disrespectful to ALL athletes who compete to the end. If Brady had been clobbered all game or hurting, that is one thing; however, that was not the case. He pulled Moss, Brady, Maroney, et al. with a huge amount of time left on the clock. You know, one bomb to Moss and an onside kick and the Pats are back in the game. 5 minutes + is an eternity in the NFL; to quit on your fans and team like that is unforgivable. I heard one fan say that they didn’t want to get Brady hurt. I’m sorry, Tom is a NFL football player, not an insurance agent. He is paid to play football!!! He, if anyone, would have been capable of pulling one out or atleast making it a game. Shame on Belichick…You Pat fans should insist on an apology