New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees passed for 363 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score as the Saints rolled to a 49-24 victory over New York on Monday, extending the Giants losing skid to three NFL games.
Tight end Jimmy Graham had five catches for 84 yards, including touchdowns of five and 29 yards. Brees’ two other scoring strikes went to Lance Moore, who had five catches for 54 yards.
This was a game New York was desperate to win after losing their previous two to San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Instead, the Giants (6-5) dropped a game behind first-place Dallas in the NFC East and face the likelihood of a four-game losing streak given they host unbeaten Green Bay next weekend.
The Giants took a beating on the scoreboard and on the field. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora went out with a sprained ankle and receiver Hakeem Nicks was rocked by a vicious collision with Saints rookie safety Isa Abdul-Quddus.
Nicks stayed in the game despite bruised ribs.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning passed for 406 yards, but most of that came after the Saints had a big lead. He was also intercepted by linebacker Will Herring in the end zone on the team’s first series.
The Giants, who have been struggling to run the ball all season and were without leading rusher Ahmad Bradshaw, gained only 73 yards on the ground.
The Saints (8-3), meanwhile, maintained a one-game lead over Atlanta in the NFC South.
They also padded their rushing stats with 205 yards on the ground, including touchdown runs of 12 yards by Pierre Thomas and 35 yards by rookie Mark Ingram.
The Saints never trailed, striking first early in the second quarter on Brees’ four-yard touchdown pass to Moore, who snagged a quick throw on the right side and dove to stretch the ball across the goal line before he was tackled.
The 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive included a 23-yard pass to Graham and a 23-yard run by Darren Sproles, and it was the first of three touchdown drives of more than 80 yards in the opening half.
The only scoring the Giants managed in the first half was Lawrence Tynes’ 42-yard field goal. Tynes also attempted a 61-yarder, which fell short, at the end of the half.
Marques Colston had three catches for 78 yards, all on the Saints’ 34-second, 88-yard touchdown drive late in the second quarter that gave New Orleans a 21-3 halftime lead. Colston’s longest reception went for 50 yards when he caught a pass along the left sideline, slipped a tackle and raced up field.
The Giants did not get into the end zone until Brandon Jacobs steamrolled safety Roman Harper on an eight-yard scoring run that made it 21-10 in the third quarter, but the Saints went right back down the field and scored on Brees’ eight-yard scramble.
After Giants running back Da’Rell Scott fumbled on his own 29, Brees connected with Graham, who rumbled down the left sideline and dove for the pylon for his second touchdown of the game and his team-leading eighth receiving score of the season.
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