Excellence on offence proves the difference in week five clash.
The one-two punch of Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham proved too much for the Chicago Bears defence as they helped New Orleans to a 26-18 victory.
Whether it was long or shot, Brees found Graham with monotonous regularity as the Saints quarterback finished with two touchdown passes from 288 yards on 29-35 throws.
Bree’s completion rate of 82.9 was his third-best in 106 regular-season games where he had thrown 35 or more passes.
Graham was close to unstoppable as he racked up another 100-plus yard game to finish with 135 from his 10 carries with a long of 38 yards.
New Orleans controlled the ball well and they had to, as Chicago wide receiver Alshon Jeffery put on a performance that was worthy of helping his side to a win.
Jeffery had 10 receptions for a franchise-record 218 yards breaking the previous mark set by Harlon Hall of 214, which was was set back on 1954 against San Fransisco.
However, Jeffery said he would have preferred those numbers to come alongside a win.
“What I did out there, I’m more concerned about the ‘W,’ not about what I did,” he said. “It’s a team thing. It took 11 guys to get 200-plus yards or whatever I had.”
The New Orleans defence stepped up early as they ensured their attack had plenty of good field position to work with.
Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler (24-33 358 yards and two touchdowns) was sacked twice in the first quarter as he side managed just one down in the first period.
The Bears would not see the ball until there was only 5.57 left in the first half, and by then Brees and his side were in the zone as they sealed their fifth win from as many games.
New Orleans will put their unbeaten streak on the line when they clash with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in what should be one of the games of the season.
Chicago will been keen to hit back in week six, and they will get a golden chance to do so, when they take on the woefully out of form New York Giants, who will be looking to avoid further embarrassment after starting 0-5 this year.
COMMENTS