*Brees passes Saints past Jaguars*
William Dunn PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) - The New Orleans Saints had a record-breaking day on their way to beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 41-24, on Sunday.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees put the team on his back, completing 35-of-49 passes for 445 yards and three touchdowns to lift New Orleans (4-4) to its fourth consecutive victory. He did not have an interception.
"We knew going into this game that we would have some opportunities in the passing game," Brees said. "We thought if we could take advantage of them we would do it all day and that was the case."
Brees set a team record by throwing for 346 yards in the first half on 25-of-37 passing. Marques Colston led all receivers with 10 catches for 159 yards.
"We got him (Colston) a little bit more inside today," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "He was used both on the outside and the inside. Drew was able to find him. He did a pretty good job after he caught the ball, too. I thought he secured it well."
The Saints racked up a total of 539 yards of offense, the third-highest total in team history.
"You have to give them credit," Jaguars defensive back Sammy Knight said. "They ran the football down the field and played better than us. We have to take this one like a man. We just got beat out there today; it's just that simple. We are known across the NFL as a tackling team, and we just didn't tackle real well today."
Saint running back Reggie Bush accounted for 115 yards of total offense and added a pair of touchdowns.
"We were kind of challenged because over the past two years we haven't been too successful against AFC teams," Bush said. "We really wanted to use that as motivation. We really wanted to match them with their physical play and I think we did that today."
The Jaguars (5-3) kept the game close early with two big plays for long touchdowns in the first half.
Quinn Gray hit Reggie Williams for an 80-yard touchdown in the first quarter and Maurice Jones-Drew returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter to tie the game at 17-17.
The Saints gave up three plays of 20 yards or more but none came from the running game. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew were limited to a combined 82 yards rushing.
Saints defensive tackle Hollis Thomas said his team's offense took the Jaguars out of their game plan by scoring early.
"We're just trying to come out and do our jobs," Thomas said. "We try to stop our opponents and make them one-dimensional. Once you fall behind, your game plan goes out the window."
The Saints' aerial attack flourished as nine different receivers caught passes. David Patten had four receptions for 81 yards and a TD and Bush added seven catches for 43 yards.
Trailing, 24-17, in the third quarter, Gray moved the Jaguars downfield toward a potential tying score, but Mike McKenzie then turned the game around, picking off a pass and returning it 75 yards for a 31-17 lead with 8:47 left in the period.
"On that play I think the receiver ran the wrong route," Gray said. "I expected him to go inside and he went outside and I threw it inside."
Gray completed 20-of-33 passes for 354 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
McKenzie said the Saints were expecting Quinn to throw a short pass on the play.
"They had been running a lot of six- and seven-yard hitches," McKenzie said. "They ran the hitch and he (Gray) pumped it and then he threw it, and I couldn't believe he threw it because he saw me. I'm sure he wanted that one back."
Jason Craft and Jason David also recorded interceptions for the Saints.
"It feels good to really get a win," McKenzie said. "But there's still a lot of things that we can improve on and I think that's going to be the key for us for the rest of this year."
