BillyCarpenter1

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/score...EWORLEANS0.htm


NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Aaron Brooks and the offense of the New Orleans Saints finally came alive, although it took a half.

Brooks passed for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, including a 35-yarder to Donte' Stallworth, to lead the Saints to a 31-10 victory over the Houston Texans.

Houston (1-1) was powerless on offense in the second half, compiling just 32 total yards in the third quarter and 63 in the fourth.

Brooks was plenty accurate in the first half, completing 8-of-11 passes. But those efforts were good for just 47 yards, six yards fewer than the Saints lost in the opening half to penalties. New Orleans trailed 10-7 at the break before scoring 24 unanswered points to pull away.

After the intermission, Brooks was 10-of-16 and more than tripled his yardage from the first half.

"I think (offensive coordinator) Mike McCarthy did a hell of a job of adjusting," said Saints wide receiver Joe Horn. "We started running different routes, spreading them out, making their d-backs and linebackers get back on their heels."

New Orleans' defense, meanwhile, held its opponent scoreless in the second half for the first time in 22 games.

"The second half was bad," Texans quarterback David Carr said. "In the first half we were able to kind of disguise like we were going to be able to have a running game, even though we weren't."

Houston's leading rusher was Stacey Mack, with 31 yards on 13 carries. The Texans combined to run for only 75 yards.

"We had a bunch of mistakes," Mack said. "But there are things we can get better at."

Deuce McAllister opened the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown run down the right sideline after busting through a gaping hole in the line with 1:24 left in the first quarter. It was the first touchdown of the season for the third-year back, who scored 13 last season.

McAllister, who ran for 99 yards in Week 1 against Seattle, again fell just short of the 100-yard mark, carrying 20 times for 96 yards.

On 4th-and-inches from inside the 1, the Texans ran a strange play, with Carr rolling out without a receiver to pass to. At the 5, Carr looked like he would be taken down for a loss, but stutter-stepped to confuse safety Jay Bellamy and enabled himself to dive just far enough to get into the end zone with 10:17 left before halftime. Kris Brown added a 30-yard field goal just before halftime to give Houston a 10-7 lead.

Carr finished 17-of-36 for 213 yards with two interceptions. After not being sacked in Houston's 21-20 season-opening upset of the Miami Dolphins, Carr was taken down five times.

"That was a physical game," said Carr, who as a rookie last season was sacked 76 times. "Probably the most physical football game I've played in since I've been here. But you've just got to bounce back from that and get ready for the next game."

Two of those sacks were by Willie Whitehead, who replaced the injured Darren Howard. Howard will miss at least eight weeks with a dislocated right wrist.

unsaintly77

Hello forum. This is my first post, i have been watching this forum for the last month. First thing i would like to say is the win yesterday was a good one y. Second thing the real reason i wanted to drop my two cents is the way billy posted bump on the end of all the nay sayers postings, that S*** was the funniest post to date. At this point we can drop the jake discussion I think if you are so intrigued with the guy go to the panther forum im sure they need all the support they can get. I watched the game yesterday and confidence should not be spewed about there quarterback position.

BillyCarpenter1

LOL -- I thought it was rather amusing myself -- They knew it was coming --


PS -- Welcome to the forum and keep on posting -- Although you would probably be bettter off not taking my side very ofen -- They\'re brutal on me in here --

[Edited on 15/9/2003 by BillyCarpenter1]

unsaintly77

Really there have been good points on both sides of every subject, im a die hard fan so i might tend to be more defensive with the team. Ive been a fan since 86 im 26 a lot of heart break and ridicule involved in that faithful decision. One thing that does get me though is that there is less posting since the win. Ive watched people dog AB and try to insert every quarterback into our offense except him. Even jake which i have nothing against was wished upon to take control of the offense, lets be real here there are maybe two quarterbacks in the NFL that we might come on top trading straight up for. Some people need to get out of the fantasy league and come to the real one. :P

Saintsfan4ever

Billy`s post;
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\"That was a physical game,\" said Carr, who as a rookie last season was sacked 76 times. \"Probably the most physical football game I\'ve played in since I\'ve been here.\"
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Coming from a QB that nailed 76 times last year, that`s a huge compliment to our defense!