New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - The Advocate Rabalais: For the most part, Saints able to complete checklist

INDIANAPOLIS — CBS saw a tantalizing matchup between New Orleans and Indianapolis when it decided to televise Saturday’s preseason game, in full denial of the fact preseason games rarely resemble the real thing.

For the Saints, though, there was a lot about this one that had real meaning. They came to Indy, checklist in hand, with some important personnel points to tick off.

Call it their Agenda Game.

That the Saints actually won the game 23-17 is of little consequence. By the time this one was decided, Drew Brees was somewhere having a massage and a martini.

But getting Brees back in the game was the prime directive after he missed the first two preseason games with a strained oblique.

If you’ve never strained an oblique, you don’t know how hard it makes it to throw passes in the formerly Slap Ya Mama Red Zone. But in the brief time Brees was on display, he showed no signs of rust, no evidence of tender oblique-ness.

Brees’ performance reminded me of the mythic joke about a retired Cary Grant replying to a telegram:

“How old Drew Brees?”

“Old Drew Brees fine. How you?”

There were a couple of wayward throws, perhaps miscommunications, but for the vast majority of a breezy quick first quarter Old No. 9 was on form as ever.

On the Saints’ first touchdown drive, Brees found Marques Colston for a 13-yard gain with Colston wearing Colts’ cornerback Greg Toler like an extra jersey. Later, Brees lofted a patented 38-yard pass to Jimmy Graham that sailed just over the fingertips of linebacker D’Qwell Jackson with a jeweler’s touch that would have made Joe Montana weep.

And then he was gone, his final stat line: 9 of 15 for 128 yards and two touchdowns, one to surging fullback Austin Johnson, the other on a balletic back-of-the-end-zone grab by Colston.

“The confidence is the same as it’s always been,” Brees said. “You have a lot of trust and confidence in the guys you’re throwing to.

“We have some subtle nuances built into our offense that allows guys to make plays.”

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