NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees and Deuce McAllister gave Saints fans what they longed to see after 43 days away from the Louisiana Superdome.
Brees threw for four scores, McAllister set a Saints record with his 54th career touchdown and New Orleans rolled to a 51-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night.
Brees dismantled a Packers secondary that came in ranked third in the NFL with 176.3 yards passing allowed per game. He was 20-of-26 for 323 yards as New Orleans tied a club record for points scored in a game. Two of Brees’ touchdowns went to Lance Moore, one for 70 yards.
“We spread the ball around pretty good,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “You just saw (Brees) being very comfortable with where he was going each time and I thought he was extremely efficient — and those guys up front did a good job for him as well.”
Brees remained on pace to break Dan Marino’s 1984 record of 5,084 yards passing in a season. He has 3,574 yards with five games remaining. He also has the Saints (6-5) feeling better about their hopes of rallying for a playoff spot now that they’ve won two games in a row for the first time all season.
The Packers (5-6) dropped a game behind Minnesota and Chicago in the race for first in the NFC North.
“We didn’t slow them down at all tonight,” Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. “Give credit to the Saints and the play of their quarterback. He was on fire coming into the game and we didn’t cool him off any.”
Aaron Rodgers’ attempt to keep up with Brees’ torrid passing resulted in three interceptions, two by Jason David and one by Kevin Kaesviharn. David returned his first pick to the 3, setting up McAllister’s scoring run, which broke Dalton Hilliard’s club record set in 1993.
The sellout crowd erupted after McAllister’s score. The Saints’ career rushing leader kept the ball as he trotted to the sideline, where he was hugged by Payton.
“Obviously, a lot of emotion and we couldn’t be happier for him,” Payton said. “His teammates, all the fans here had a chance to witness that. It was pretty special. It was a good run, great effort. A typical Deuce McAllister run with a second effort that finished into the end zone.”
It might have been McAllister’s final game in the Superdome this season. He has appealed a four-game suspension levied after he tested positive for a diuretic banned by the NFL because it could be used as a masking agent for steroids. It is not clear when the league will rule on McAllister’s case.
Rodgers was 23-of-41 for 248 yards and touchdown passes of 7 yards to Greg Jennings and 4 yards to Ruvell Martin. Rodgers also ran for a 10-yard score. Ryan Grant rushed for 64 yards in the first half, but the Packers were forced to throw more as their deficit grew and Grant finished with only 67 yards.
Leading 24-21 at the half, the Saints began to seize control with a long touchdown drive that ended with Brees’ 16-yard strike to tight end Billy Miller. McAllister then went in from the 3 and Brees hit Marques Colston in stride down the sideline for his second 70-yard TD pass of the game. It was Colston’s first score of the season after battling back from a thumb injury on opening day.
Pierre Thomas rushed for 87 yards and two touchdown runs, a 4-yarder in the first half and a 31-yard scamper in the fourth quarter that gave New Orleans a 51-29 lead. The Saints had scored 51 points twice before in their four-decade history and easily could have reached 52 if Payton had elected to kick the extra point. However, Payton called for a 2-point conversion that failed in an attempt to go up by 24 points.
The Packers scored first on a 1-yard touchdown leap by fullback John Kuhn. It was the first rushing touchdown for Kuhn in his three-year career and only his eighth carry.
But that would be Green Bay’s last lead. Moore’s 70-yard score came on the Saints’ next play, and New Orleans took the lead on Thomas’ first TD run. Green Bay tied it at 14 and again at 21 before New Orleans took the lead for good shortly before halftime on Garrett Hartley’s 30-yard field goal, set up by Courtney Roby’s 62-yard kickoff return.
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