• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Brees, Stecker help Saints keep playoff hopes alive

Dec 16, 2007 - 11:37 PM NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints know it's not how you start that matters - but how you finish.

Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes and Aaron Stecker recorded his first career two-score game as the Saints kept their playoff hopes alive with a 31-24 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

There were high preseason expectations for the Saints (7-7), who reached the NFC title game last season. Those expectations were quickly tempered, though, as New Orleans started the season 0-4. It then won four straight before dropping three of four.

But the Saints have now won two straight and moved within a half-game of the Minnesota Vikings (7-6) for the NFC's second wild card spot.

"If we pull it out the next two weeks I think we will have earned our right to be in the big show," Brees said. "We will have been through what amounted to be four elimination games. That may even give us more of an edge that we had last year."

Brees took it upon himself to keep their playoff hopes alive. He was razor sharp, completing 26-of-30 passes for 315 yards without an interception.

Stecker, subbing for an injured Reggie Bush, continued his solid play with 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries. Last week he ran for 100 yards on 20 carries in a 34-14 win over Atlanta.

"I was motivated when they drafted a running back (Ohio State's Antonio Pittman)," Stecker said. "I felt they were trying to run me off. I went home and trained harder than I had trained in years. If they wanted to get rid of me, I was going to make it hard for them."

Meanwhile, Kurt Warner threw three touchdowns for Arizona (6-8), which has not made the playoffs since 1998 and was all but eliminated with the loss.

While Brees and Stecker carried the offense, the Saints' defense also made their share of plays. Not the least of which was stopping the Cardinals after wide receiver David Patten committed a costly turnover with 7:06 left in the game.

With the Saints leading, 31-24, Patten caught a pass from Brees and raced down the left sideline before being stripped from behind by cornerback Ralph Brown. Defensive end Calvin Pace returned the fumble 26 yards to the Arizona 43.

However, the New Orleans defense forced the Cardinals to go three-and-out.

Brees and the offense then took over and ran the clock out.

"I thought it was a great effort by the defense," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "We came up with some big turnovers. We were able to hang in there and come up with big plays when we needed them."

The Saints' defense seemed to play with a sense of urgency, scoring 14 points off two Arizona turnovers while pressuring Warner consistently. On the first possession of the second half, Warner was sacked by linebacker Scott Fujita and fumbled on 3rd-and-11.

Fellow linebacker Scott Shanle recovered and returned it 26 yards to the Arizona 7-yard line, which set up a 6-yard TD run from Stecker to make it 28-14 with 12:02 to play in the third.

Warner had a brief argument with offensive coordinator Todd Haley on the sideline after the turnover.

However the former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player immediately made amends by leading a 10-play, 80 yard scoring drive which was capped by a 3-yard strike to tight end Ben Patrick, cutting it to 28-21 with 6:14 left in the third.

"Sometimes you disagree, sometimes you fight," Warner said. "I wish I could say I've never fought with my wife, but we have. I love my teammates and I love my coaches. It's a passion, a fire, a frustration all tied in with a bunch of guys trying to compete. We don't look at it as anything personal."

Arizona answered when Neil Rackers kicked 26-yarder with 9:11 left in the fourth, but it could not get in position for the tying score the rest of the game.

The Cardinals had a first down at the Saints' 13-yard line on their final scoring drive, but cornerback Mike McKenzie got past three blockers, including Warner in the lead, to tackle wide receiver Steve Breaston for a two-yard loss on a third-down reverse from the 6 yard-line.

"I did the only thing I could do," McKenzie said. "I found a way to get them down and hold them to three points."

"I wasn't athletic enough to block (McKenzie)," Warner said. "That was a really good athlete against a not-so-good athlete. I wish I could've done better."

Warner was 19-of-30 for 233 yards and one interception for Arizona, which has lost two straight and will be eliminated from playoff consideration if Minnesota wins Monday at home against Chicago.

The Cardinals are 2-6 on the road, including five losses by seven or fewer points.

"We've done a lot of great things this year," Warner said. "But to be a playoff team we've got to win some tough games on the road and that's what we haven't figured out."