Saints Brees past Manning, Giants

Who knew the Saints were this good?

Drew Brees torched the Giants' league-leading defense, swarming Saints defenders ruined Eli Manning's homecoming and undefeated New Orleans matched its best start since 1993 with a 48-27 throttling of previously unbeaten New York on Sunday at the Superdome.

"We wanted to really dictate the tempo of the game the whole way through," Brees said. "Seven different guys scored touchdowns. That's big. That's the type of rhythm that, when you get in, you feel like you can call anything and it's going to work."

Brees ended his two-game streak without a touchdown throw by completing 23 of 30 passes for 369 yards and 4 scores, giving him 101 TD passes since the Saints signed him as a free agent in 2006.

The Giants (5-1) came into the game giving up averages of 210.6 yards and 14.2 points. The Saints (5-0) had 34 points and 315 yards by halftime.

The Saints have beaten all comers by 14 points or more and have yet to trail this season, looking more and more like the team to beat in the NFC.

Yet the architect of this juggernaut, coach Sean Payton, bristled at the notion that New Orleans' latest convincing victory over an undefeated team from New York - they beat the Jets 24-10 in Week 4 - meant that the Saints had established themselves as clear Super Bowl favorites.

"I don't think you can talk about big pictures after (Game) 5," Payton said.

Manning looked like his father Archie sometimes did when he played for woeful Saints teams of old, fumbling on a sack by Roman Harper to set up a Saints score and throwing an interception under pressure that stalled a promising drive.

It was Manning's first game in the Superdome, but not a memorable one for him - or for fellow Louisiana natives Brandon Jacobs and Corey Webster. Manning was 14 of 31 for 178 yards. He lost his cool at least once, yelling at Ahmad Bradshaw and slapping his shoulder pad after the running back's lapse in protection precipitated a rushed throw that Jabari Greer intercepted early in the third quarter.

"It's not the way I imagined it during the week, but you're going to encounter all sorts of games and all sorts of situations," Manning said before walking across the Superdome field to the team bus, his mother on one side, his father on the other. "I look at it as a loss. We need to go back to work this week, fix some things and try to improve."

Manning connected with Mario Manningham for a 15-yard score in the second quarter, but also overthrew an open Steve Smith on a deep pass that could have resulted in a touchdown in the first half. Manning was replaced by David Carr late in the fourth quarter.

By contrast, Brees connected on 15 straight throws at one point, 2 short of the franchise record he already owns. That stretch included his first 3 touchdown passes: 1 yard to former Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey, 36 yards to Robert Meachem and 12 yards to Lance Moore.

Saints players and coaches praised the offensive line, which routinely gave Brees time and did not allow him to be sacked.

"I don't know that we ever hit him," Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said of Brees, exaggerating only slightly. "At this level, if you're going to stop the pass, you've got to get pressure. You've got to force the quarterback not to throw it on his tempo."

Former Hofstra standout Marques Colston put on a show for his fans watching back in the New York area, often victimizing Webster as he caught eight passes for 166 yards and a 12-yard touchdown.

Patriots 59, Titans 0: Tom Brady threw 6 touchdown passes - including an NFL-record 5 in one quarter - and host New England pummeled Tennessee (0-6).

The 6 touchdown throws tied Brady's own Patriots record, and the 59-point margin matched the largest since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, the Los Angeles Rams' 59-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons in 1976.

The Patriots (4-2) gained a club-record 619 yards, with Brady completing 29 of 34 passes for 380 yards.

Texans 28, Bengals 17: Matt Schaub tied his career high with 4 TD passes - 2 to tight end Owen Daniels - and Houston pulled away to deny host Cincinnati another chance to win at the end. The Bengals (4-2), who host the Bears on Sunday at 3:15 p.m., had won three straight games in the last 22 seconds. Schaub recorded his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season, completing 28 of 40 for 392 yards for the Texans (3-3). Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, playing with a glove on his left (non-passing) hand to support a sprained thumb, was 23 of 35 for 259 yards. The Texans held Cedric Benson, who was the NFL's leading rusher, to 44 yards on 16 carries, his worst showing of the season.

Steelers 27, Browns 14: Ben Roethlisberger threw 2 touchdown passes before the Steelers' offense began stopping itself with turnovers, and host Pittsburgh (4-2) benefited from a curious first-down measurement to beat rival Cleveland (1-5) for the 12th time in a row. Roethlisberger was 23 of 35 for 417 yards in his second career 400-yard game. Hines Ward made 8 catches for 159 yards and scored a touchdown, and Santonio Holmes caught 5 passes for 104 yards.

Cardinals 27, Seahawks 3: Arizona (3-2) moved into a tie for the NFC West lead as Kurt Warner completed 32 of 41 passes for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns in a win over host Seattle (2-4). Warner tied an NFL record for being the fastest to throw for 30,000 yards in a career, and Larry Fitzgerald tied his career high with 13 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Raiders 13, Eagles 9: Louis Murphy threw 2 key blocks to spring Zach Miller's 86-yard touchdown catch, Justin Fargas ran for 87 yards and Oakland's defense sacked Donovan McNabb six times as the Raiders (2-4) shocked Philadelphia (3-2).

Bills 16, Jets 13 (OT): Rian Lindell kicked a 47-yard field goal with 2:44 left in overtime, making up for a miss at the end of regulation, and Buffalo stunned the host New York Jets. The Bills (2-4) took advantage of Mark Sanchez's fifth interception of the day to snap a three-game losing streak, and send the sputtering Jets (3-3) to their third straight loss.

Panthers 28, Buccaneers 21: DeAngelo Williams gained a season-best 152 yards on 30 carries and scored twice, including the winning touchdown with 29 seconds left as Carolina (2-3) beat host Tampa Bay (0-6).

Chiefs 14, Redskins 6: Ryan Succop's 4 field goals, including the go-ahead 46-yarder with 3:36 to play, plus a last-minute safety lifted Kansas City (1-5) past host Washington (2-4).

Jaguars 23, Rams 20 (OT): Torry Holt had 101 yards receiving in his first game against his former team, Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 133 yards and 3 touchdowns and host Jacksonville (3-3) beat St. Louis (0-6) on Josh Scobee's 36-yard field goal with eight minutes left in overtime.