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Saints pull away from Chiefs

Nov 16, 2008 - 11:41 PM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Drew Brees led the NFL's top yardage offense to 369 yards and five straight scores as the New Orleans Saints beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-20, on Sunday.

Brees threw a pass to Lance Moore and Pierre Thomas rushed for 88 yards and a score as the Saints pulled away in the second half.

Moore, who led all receivers with 102 yards and eight catches, caught a 47-yard strike from Brees to open the second half and give New Orleans a 20-10 lead.

"It looked and felt like it was time for a double look, and there goes Lance does the sideline, out-running the defensive back," Brees said. "It was the second play of the second half, so it kind of set the tone."

It was the fourth of five consecutive possessions in which the Saints scored, including the last three of the first half to take a 13-10 lead at intermission.

"It was just a great call with the defense they were playing," Moore said. "And Drew threw a great ball. He threw a perfect pass and I just had to run under it. Drew is Drew - he's been doing this a long time."

After Connor Barth's second field goal, the Saints added another score on Pierre Thomas' 1-yard dive to close out the third quarter with a 27-13 lead.

"We got into a good rhythm," Thomas said. "Our O-line did a great job. I have to give them all the credit. Coaches were saying in practice that we wanted to run more. We were trying to run on this team because we thought that might be their weakness. And we wanted to prove we can run the ball."

"The key for us was on first down," New Orleans head coach Sean Payton said. "We were really getting ahead of the chains and that helped us in managing our third downs. We had pretty good balance between the run and the pass and we blocked pretty well on the edges. This was a good win for us on the road to get to .500."

Kansas City closed the gap with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Thigpen to Dwayne Bowe, cutting the deficit to 27-20 with 13:54 left in the game. Thigpen kept the drive alive with a 32-yard quarterback keeper on 4th-and-2, taking the ball to the New Orleans 3-yard line.

"If I'm not mistaken, they tried to double (tight end) Tony Gonzalez and just let me free right up the middle," Thigpen said.

"I thought early in the game we had some rhythm offensively," Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards said. "But, again, we stalled two times down there and had to settle for field goals. When you play a team like this you know they've got a pretty good offense and a very accurate quarterback and they can move the ball - and they did - you've got to score."

After an exchange of punts, the Saints used a long drive to eat much of the remaining clock before Garrett Hartley capped the scoring with a 35-yard field goal with 3:28 to play.

Brees completed 25-of-36 passes for 266 yards, one touchdown and one interception while Thomas carried 16 times for 88 yards and a score.

"We feel like this is our time to make a run," Brees said. "A loss here or there early in the season doesn't necessarily take you out of it. But at 5-5 and with the way the NFC looks, we have to win now."

The Chiefs struck first on a 6-yard pass from Thigpen to Bowe, grabbing a 7-0 lead at 5:31 in the first quarter.

"They were great throws by the quarterback and the linemen protected very, very well," Bowe said. "It was a simple fade route. Tyler looked at me, gave me the wink, so I knew to take it over the top and he made a perfect throw. I had to do what D-Bowe does, make big plays."

Kansas City's drive began in New Orleans territory after Jarrod Page picked off Brees' pass. The Chiefs also converted a 4th-and-1 play on a direct-snap run by Larry Johnson, who returned after a four-game absence.

Hartley's 30-yard field goal put New Orleans on the board with 29 seconds left in the opening period following a 54-yard kickoff return by Courtney Roby.

Deuce McAllister's 1-yard plunge gave New Orleans a 10-7 lead with 11:23 remaining in the first half. Brees' 24-yard completion to Thomas on 3rd-and-5 kept the drive alive at the Chiefs 14.

"Our third-down percentage was above 50 percent," Brees said. "We were able to make some plays when we needed to. And we had no sacks. Our offensive line did a great job. I can't say enough about the guys up front."

"On third down, we operated pretty efficiently," Payton said. "It was a tough game and I thought we did some good things. It was an important win, and that's really where we're at right now."

Kansas City tied it on the next series on a 20-yard field goal by Barth after New Orleans made a goal-line stand, holding the Chiefs on three straight downs from a yard out.

The defensive stand was highlighted by Johnson's plunge over the middle in which he appeared to get into the end zone, but was ruled to have been stopped short. The Chiefs' challenge was denied.

"We didn't get any push at all," Edwards said. "They pushed us back and we didn't get any yards. I thought the one was in, but I guess the way it looked on camera, they couldn't see it. They couldn't get the sideline angle on that side of the field."

Thigpen completed 19-of-38 passes for 235 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while Johnson rushed for 67 yards on 19 carries in his return from suspension as Kansas City lost its fifth straight.

"He's another threat to have back," Thigpen said of Johnson. "I thought he did a good job today. I think we've got more weapons now and offensively we're jelling together. That's the biggest thing when it comes down to it. We definitely have more weapons."