blacksaint

Brees' passing is picture perfect, and McAllister and Bush rush for touchdowns in the Saints' first victory of the preseason

Sunday, August 19, 2007
By Mike Triplett

CINCINNATI -- For about 19 minutes Saturday night, the Saints were outstanding on offense, dominant on defense and downright special on special teams.

Things turned a little sloppy after that. But that's the beauty of the preseason. Those first 19 minutes are the ones that matter most.

The result was a 27-19 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals -- the first win in three tries for the Saints this preseason.

"There's some good things and some things that need to be corrected," Saints Coach Sean Payton said, relatively pleased despite a series of penalties and five fumbles -- two of them lost -- in the second and third quarters.

"The encouraging thing about this evening is that I saw some improvement," Payton said. "I thought our defense did a good job in reacting to their no-huddle offense. I liked the offense's tempo with our first unit."

Saints quarterback Drew Brees looks armed and ready for the opener. He was scheduled to play the entire first quarter, but he called it a night after one perfect drive.

Brees completed all six of his passes for 55 yards before Deuce McAllister capped the drive by plowing 8 yards up the middle for a touchdown.

"I'm excited," Brees said. "Obviously preseason serves a purpose. The last two games, we've started out pretty sharp and established a good tempo. Tonight, to score the first touchdown early was very positive."

Brees doesn't have anything left to prove after his MVP-caliber performance in 2006, but the touchdown was still a milestone moment.

It was the first time he led the first-string offense on a touchdown drive in seven preseason games.

"He's been practicing well and has worked hard on his game throughout camp," Payton said. "He has a good feel for what we're doing and did a good job of moving the chains."

Backup Jamie Martin took over midway through the second quarter and started out fine -- leading the Saints to a 48-yard field goal by Olindo Mare and a 6-yard touchdown run by Reggie Bush.

He had some help on both scoring drives. The first was triggered by Lance Moore's 47-yard kickoff return. The second was set up when Saints defensive end Charles Grant sacked Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and forced a fumble at the Cincinnati 22-yard line.

By the time those first 19 minutes were up, the Saints led 17-3 and had outgained the Bengals 125 yards to 67.

Then came the downward spiral.

First, wide receiver Terrance Copper fumbled after a reverse, and the Bengals recovered, leading to a field goal.

On the Saints' next drive, they fumbled twice. They recovered the first one, by tailback Aaron Stecker. But they lost the second one when Martin was sacked by linebacker Eric Henderson.

The Saints' defense stayed tough, holding Cincinnati to one field goal after another. Grant, linebacker Scott Shanle and safety Roman Harper were particularly impressive, delivering several punishing blows to Bengals ball carriers.

Martin fumbled two more times -- once in the second quarter and again in the third -- but the Saints recovered both of them.

Eventually, the veteran backup settled into a groove and completed five consecutive passes on a touchdown drive that ended with Antonio Pittman's 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Four of those passes were caught by Moore, who continued an impressive preseason with a team-high six catches for 70 yards.

Martin finished 14-of-19 for 139 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

The rest of the offense was spread evenly.

In his debut with the Saints, third-string quarterback Matt Baker went 7-of-13 for 75 yards and led a 17-play field-goal drive. He scrambled twice for 8 yards.

The Bengals finally scored a touchdown with two seconds remaining on a 14-yard pass from Jeff Rowe to former LSU receiver Skyler Green.

The Saints have a short turnaround before their next preseason game Thursday night in Kansas City.

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