blacksaint

Patten, Bush, Brees help spark offense

By LARRY HOLDER


The offense wasn't offensive to the eyes for the first time this season.

David Patten, for all the Super Bowl rings he won with the New England Patriots, never performed quite like he did Sunday night. Reggie Bush showed he can run the football inside and out.

Drew Brees played like the Drew Brees everyone saw last season. The offensive line opened gaping holes and kept Brees comfortable in the pocket.

It all added up to a New Orleans Saints 28-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks and a rejuvenation of an offense that moved the ball with ease a season ago.

Patten nearly doubled his season's output in one game. He caught a career-high eight balls for 113 yards to help push the Saints to their first win of the season.

Saints coach Sean Payton made it a point to highlight Patten in the game plan after the veteran wide receiver had hauled in only five passes for 90 yards through the first four games. Payton practiced what he preached.

"He was healthy and running," Payton told reporters after the game. "He is someone that has played well throughout the preseason. We just have to find out ways to keep him involved. (Seattle cornerback Marcus) Trufant started matching up a little bit with David in the first half. (Patten) went to the other side and made some big plays."

Patten said that something positive, anything positive, to go in the Saints' direction might turn the team's troubling start around.

"That first turnover, that first big play we had on special teams, that really just sent a little shock wave through our team," Patten said. "That's what we needed. We just needed something good to go our way. Something we really didn't earn but it kind of got the ball rolling and gave us extra fire."

The guy throwing Patten the ball woke up from his early season slumber. Brees threw for 246 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, which was by far his best outing of the season. It's the most scoring passes for Brees and the first game he hasn't turned the ball over.

"I thought (Brees) had good command of what we were doing," Payton said. "We had some good, long drives. We had a turnover and it was troublesome. We had a big third down drop right there at the end that would have been a touchdown.

"I thought he did a good job of hanging in there and directing us at the end of the half for a score. That was really encouraging. There were a lot of encouraging signs and he played with a lot of confidence."

Bush and the offensive line scratched each others' back. The front five opened the holes and Bush found just about all of them.

He nearly chalked up his second career 100-yard rushing game as he ran for 97 yards on 19 carries. Bush also caught six passes for 44 yards. His fourth-quarter fumble left the Seahawks with a smidge of hope, but the Saints defense halted them in the final three minutes.

"It's just the first of many wins," Bush said. "We have to focus on just one game, one win. That's all we wanted to do, was just win this game and that's all we can worry about. Now we have to focus on Atlanta. This game is behind us now, and that's it."

All went well for the first time in five games for an offense that was turned upside down through the first four games. But Payton wasn't thinking the Saints have turned the corner with simply one win.

"There is no corner," Payton said. "We're 1-4 and we won a game. We have to get back and have a good week of practice."

SunHerald.com : Saints glad to get that monkey off

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