NEW ORLEANS — 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.
“We wanted to really dictate the tempo of the game the whole way through,” Brees said. “Seven different guys scored touchdowns. That’s big.”
Brees ended his two-game streak without a touchdown throw by completing 23-of-30 passes for 369 yards and four scores.
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 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’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. “I look at it as a loss. We need to go back to work this week, fix some things and try to improve.”
