Cam Jordan celebrates his 4th sack of the year, after chasing down Ryan Tannehill.
Monday night’s game went pretty much the way most people thought it would go with a dominating win by the New Orleans Saints. Drew Brees led the way with a phenomenal game as he tied a few records and moved past legends in a few other categories. Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham were the other offensive heroes, while the defense put up another impressive performance. They forced four turnovers and were all over Ryan Tannehill throughout the night.
Drew Brees tied his own records for both consecutive games with 25+ completions and consecutive games with 300+ yards. Brees moved past Fran Tarkenton’s mark of 47,003 passing yards to get to 6th all-time. He also moved past John Elway’s mark of 4,123 completions to get to 4th all-time. He finished the night 30/39 for 413 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Monday’s win was the first game since a Week 16 win at Dallas last year that Brees did not throw an interception.
Darren Sproles proved to be a match-up nightmare for the Dolphins, as he helped get the Saints off to a quick start. On the opening drive, he had a 48 yard reception to get the Saints deep in to Dolphin territory, where he’d punch the ball in to the end-zone on a 5 yard touchdown run. He finished with 4 carries for 28 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while amassing 7 receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown through the air. Jimmy Graham continued to be unguardable by defenses, as he fairly easily worked his way to a 4 reception 100 yards and 2 touchdown performance in the rout. He didn’t have a catch until halfway through the 2nd quarter, when Brees lofted a 27 yard touchdown pass to him in between two defenders. Drew simply threw it up and let him go up and get it. He added his second touchdown on a quick 43 yard strike on the Saints first play following a Ryan Tannehill interception.
The defense continued their high level of play, giving even more reason for everyone to believe that they are for real. They forced three Tannehill interceptions, along with one fumble from the Dolphin quarterback. The pass rush turned up the heat about halfway through the 3rd quarter, when Junior Galette provided the first of four sacks in the last 25 minutes of the game. It was clear that as soon as the Saints opened up a comfortable lead and established strong momentum, the defense pinned their ears back and went after the Miami offense.
Ryan Tannehill finished the game 22/35 for 249 yards with 1 touchdown and the 4 turnovers. Lamar Miller looked good for Miami on the ground, but with his team falling behind by a big margin early in the 3rd quarter, his carries became limited. He finished with 11 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Charles Clay did the most damage from the receiving standpoint, albeit not being anything too hurtful. He did catch Tannehill’s only touchdown pass as part of his 6 receptions for 42 yards.
The Saints rushing offense looked putrid once again, as Dolphin defensive tackles were in the backfield all night. The middle of the offensive line got beat multiple times, resulting in tackles for losses. New Orleans did try and get rookie Khiry Robinson going, giving him 12 carries that he turned in to 37 yards. The O-line allowed 2 sacks on Brees for a loss of 16 yards.
The Saints will take their 4-0 record to Chicago to face the 3-1 Bears who are coming off of a 40-32 loss to the Detroit Lions. The Saints are 0-3 against the Bears in Chicago under Sean Payton, with one of those losses being the 39-14 defeat in the 2006 NFC Championship game. Thankfully, this is the first match-up in Chicago under the Payton/Brees tenure that isn’t taking place in December or January, so the weather will not be frigid. The Saints and Bears will kickoff at noon on Sunday on Fox.
Stats
Drew Brees – 30-39 / 413 yards / 4 TDs / 0 INTs
Darren Sproles – 4 carries / 28 yards / 7 receptions / 114 yards / 2 TDs (1 rushing/1 receiving)
Jimmy Graham – 4 receptions / 100 yards / 2 TDs
Marques Colston – 7 receptions / 96 yards
Jabari Greer, Chris Carr, and Will Herring – 1 INT each
Malcolm Jenkins – 7 tackles (team lead)
Junior Galette, Cam Jordan, Tyrunn Walker, and Martez Wilson – 1 sack each
Who Dat?!
