QB Drew Brees tossed for 363 yards, four touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Saints to a dominating 49-24 win over the New York Giants Monday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Brees hit WR Lance Moore and TE Jimmy Graham for two scores a piece and RBs Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas each ran for a score.
The Saints notched 577 total net yards, compared to the Giants 465. The 577 total yards is the 2nd-highest total in team history behind a 595-yard effort in 2006 against the Bengals.
Graham led the Saints in receptions (5) and receiving yards (84). Moore finished with five receptions for 54 yards.
Ingram led the Saints in rushing with 80 yards on 13 carries. Thomas added 63 yards on eight rushes.
LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar led the Saints in tackles with 11 (6 solo).
New Orleans won their first coin toss of the season and elected to receive. New Orleans started at the 20 and advanced to the New York 18.
Eventually after the Saints were hurt by a pair of penalties, which pushed them back, but a 14-yard pass from Brees to Moore set up fourth and 11 from the 19. With the field goal unit out, QB Chase Daniel attempted a fake and threw to Graham for a nine-yard gain, two yards short of the first down marker.
On the Giants' next drive, they advanced as far as the New Orleans 25-yard line, but LB Will Herring intercepted New York QB Eli Manning in the end zone.
The Saints took advantage of the turnover and Brees led the Saints on a ten play, 80-yard drive, which featured a 23-yard pass play to Graham, a 23-yard run by RB Darren Sproles and ended with the four-yard scoring pass from Brees to Moore.
The Giants would start on their 30 and Manning would lead them on a nine-play, 46-yard drive that ended with a 42-yard field goal by K Lawrence Tynes. The Giants had advanced to the New Orleans 26-yard line and had first and ten, but were held back by a false start penalty on T David Diehl.
Sproles would return the kickoff out of the end zone to the 20-yard line. Ingram took the first carry of the drive for a five-yard gain.
Brees then completed a pass to Ingram for a gain of eight yards that set up first and ten at the 33. Sproles took a carry and gained three yards before being tackled by Giants LB Jacquian Williams. A pass on second down intended for WR Marques Colston was incomplete. A second down throw intended for Graham went just short of his arms.
P Thomas Morstead booted a 52-yard punt that was initially fumbled by CB Aaron Ross, but recovered by CB Prince Amukamara giving the Giants starting position at the 17-yard line. A 15-yard roughing the passer penalty against DE Will Smith, put the Giants near midfield. A six yard scramble by Manning moved New York to the New Orleans 46, followed by an incomplete pass intended for Giants WR Hakeem Nicks.
On third and six, a pass was caught by Nicks out of bounds, forcing the punt unit out. P Steve Weatherford hit a touchback, giving New Orleans starting position at the 20-yard line.
On first down with New Orleans having the ball back, Brees found WR Devery Henderson near the middle of the field for a pass play for a 21-yard gain. With a fresh set of downs, Pierre Thomas carried for a gain of three yards before being tackled by Giants DT Rocky Bernard.
A second down pass intended for Sproles hit the ground. However pass plays of 22- and 24-yard respectively to Sproles and Henderson put New Orleans at the Giants ten-yard line. Sproles would run to the five and then Brees would hit Graham for a five-yard touchdown.
Following a touchback by P Thomas Morstead, the Giants would convert on third-and-ten on a ten-yard throw from Manning to Nicks. On a fresh set of downs, Giants RB D.J. Ware carried for a gain of four yards before he was tackled by CB Tracy Porter.
Following a Manning incompletion, he completed a pass to Nicks for the first down, where on the play Porter was called for a personal foul penalty, advancing the Giants to the 37.
However, the Giants would then be pushed back to the 42 on a false start penalty assessed to C David Baas. A pass on second-and-15 intended for Ware was incomplete. On third and 15, Manning was called for an intentional grounding penalty following a pressure by DT Tom Johnson, forcing the punt unit out, for where Sproles would call a fair catch on Weatherford's 30-yard kick at the 12-yard line.
New Orleans would move into Giants territory almost immediately following 50- and 13-yard pass plays between Brees and Colston. On first and ten from the 25, Brees hit a wide-open Colston, but he was unable to hold onto it.
However, the wideout then redeemed himself with a 15-yard reception. Brees then found Moore on an out route for the QB's third touchdown pass of the game and the wideout's second scoring reception to put the Saints up 21-3 near the end of the first half.
The Giants would start their next drive at the 25, where Manning would complete a pass to Ware for a gain of four yards, where he was stopped by CB Jabari Greer.
A pass was then completed to Giants WR Ramses Barden, where he was tackled by Porter after gaining five yards, which would follow by New York calling their final timeout of the first half. Tynes would attempt at a 61-yard field goal at the end of the half that would end up short.
The Giants would start the second half at their 33, where Manning completed a 14-yard throw to Giants TE Jake Ballard before he was tackled by LB Scott Shanle and DT Aubrayo Franklin. Jacobs then took a handoff, but FB Bear Pascoe was called for a holding penalty, setting up first and 20 at the 37.
Manning then threw on the middle of the field to Nicks, but the pass was broken up by S Isa Abdul Quddus, who was called for a 15-yard personal foul penalty. Two plays later, Manning would complete a pass for a gain of 24 yards to the New Orleans 19, before he was stopped by Harper.
Manning would complete a short pass to Ware for a gain of nine, before he was tackled by CB Patrick Robinson and Harper. On second and one from the ten, Jacobs got the first down on a run for two yards before he was tackled by Smith and LB Ramon Humber. Jacobs then raced into the end zone for the touchdown to put the Giants within 11.
Sproles would return the kickoff out of the end zone to the 27-yard line. Brees' first throw of the drive was incomplete, followed by a four-yard run by RB Mark Ingram. On third-and-six, Brees completed a pass to Henderson for the first down for a gain of eight yards.
Brees found the wideout again on the next play for a gain of nine, setting up second and one. RB Mark Ingram took the carry for the first down, for a gain of three before he was tackled by Giants DE Justin Tuck and LB Mathias Kiwanuka.
Graham was subsequently called for a false start penalty. Brees would then scramble though and elude several defenders as he finally found RB Pierre Thomas for a 15-yard gain downfield.
Following a replay review to see if Brees had crossed the line of scrimmage by Giants Coach Tom Coughlin, the ruling on the field was confirmed. Ingram then took a pitch on the outside for a gain of seven before he was tackled by Giants DE Dave Tollefson.
Brees then completed another pass to Thomas, who ran up the middle of the field to the seven-yard line before he was tackled by Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul at the eight yard line, but not before gaining 24 yards.
Brees would then scramble for the touchdown, taking advantage of an opening.
The Giants would then start at their 20-yard line. Following a nine-yard pass play from Manning to Nicks on second-and-ten, Giants RB Da'Rel Scott took a handoff at the 29, when he was tackled by Porter, the running back coughed it up and it was recovered by Harper.
Following a review, ordered by Coughlin, it was ruled that the result stood and the Giants lost their timeout and remaining challenges. Two plays later, Brees would complete a throw to Graham that the tight end took all the way into the end zone to give New Orleans a 35-10 lead.
The Giants would start at their own 20-yard line. After Manning threw a ten-yard completion to Pascoe, Jacobs was stopped for only a two-yard gain by Dunbar, who also forced him to fumble.
On second and eight, Manning was sacked by Smith for a loss of 14 and fumbled before it was recovered by Diehl. Weatherford tried to rush for the first down on four-and-seven, but he was stopped for no gain by Humber.
After New Orleans got the ball back, the punt unit was forced out after a three-and-out. The Giants started at their 16 and Jacobs ran for four yards.
The Giants running back then ran for a first-down on an eight-yard gain before being tackled by Harper. Manning would then complete a 72-yard touchdown pass to WR Victor Cruz on the first play of the fourth quarter.
With the Saints starting at the 20, Thomas gained seven- and nine-yards on subsequent carries. After a Brees attempted pass to Sproles was incomplete.
The running back would then gain 17 yards on a rush, Thomas would run for eight and then Ingram would run for five to the 34. Following a personal foul penalty on New York, Thomas would rush in 12 yards for the touchdown to give the Saints a 42-17 lead.
On the following drive, Manning led the Giants down the field and capped it off with his second touchdown pass to Cruz.
After Graham recovered an onside kick attempt by the Giants, Ingram capped a three-play drive with a 35-yard touchdown for the game's final score.
