Saints 26, Chargers 14 (7:18 4th Quarter)
Chris Ivory confirmed his bid to become the Saints’ latest undrafted free agent running back, taking a pass from Patrick Ramsey 76 yards into the end zone for New Orleans’ first touchdown of the second half.
Ivory broke four tackles on the run, running over San Diego’s Darrel Stuckey, who chased the running back down only to be dragged into the end zone.
Saints 20, Chargers 14 (:50 3rd Quarter)
Garrett Hartley’s 27-yard field goal capped a scoring drive led by Patrick Ramsey. The play of the series came on third down when Courtney Roby made a nice fully outstretched grab for a first down at San Diego’s 12-yard line.
The nice part for Ramsey – he converted three straight third downs before failing on third-and-seven from the 9. Still, he completed passes to three receivers on the series.
Saints 17, Chargers 14 (:37 2nd Quarter)
Garrett Hartley’s 40-yard field came after much reflection by Sean Payton. Two timeouts will do that for you. But the Saints’ scoring drive was very un-Saints-like. And the culprit both times was Marques Colston, who had a very un-Colston-like issue with penalties.
First, he caught a 27-yard pass and then flipped the ball in front of Chargers’ defensive back Quentin Jammer. Flag thrown. Unsportsmanlike conduct. Then he had a false start penalty.
All of this ended with the Saints going for a field goal on fourth-and-two instead of a first down.
Saints 14, Chargers 14 (3:48 2nd Quarter)
Patrick Robinson, Randall Gay, Malcolm Jenkins and Roman Harper appeared to have a slight case of miscommunication as Philip Rivers hit a wide open Malcolm Floyd in the corner of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
Malcolm Jenkins, Patrick Robinson and Randall Gay all were in coverage, so it’s a little tough to know who exactly messed up on that one. As Sean Payton likes to say, we’ll have to watch the film on that one.
Regardless, the drive was easy for the Chargers, who marched 76 yards in 10 plays for the game-tying score.
Saints 14, Chargers 7 (9:30 2nd Quarter)
If you didn’t know it already, Drew Brees knows how to run Sean Payton’s offense. And about that offense, it’s brilliant.
Brees hit Robert Meachem for a 15-yard touchdown, pumping to his right and buying room for Meachem to get wide open in the end zone.
The drive was seven plays and went 80 yards but the key to scoring was Reggie Bush picking up a blitz on the touchdown pass.
Saints 7, Chargers 7 (:05 1st Quarter)
Devery Henderson nearly reprised his role in the Bluegrass Miracle. Only, this time there were fewer tips and players involved.
Still, he caught a 46-yard touchdown from Drew Brees after the ball bounced in and out of the hands of San Diego’s Antoine Cason and into the hands of Henderson in the end zone.
The Saints appeared much more relaxed and in control offensively in the series. Reggie Bush ran hard and without lots of dipping back and forth and the protection for Brees was much better than the first series.
Chargers 7, Saints 0 (8:22 1st Quarter)
San Diego converted two third-and-ones as the Chargers marched down the field without much fight from the Saints. Jabari Greer nearly came up with an interception, but then the Chargers took over. San Diego marched 82 yards in 12 plays, capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by former LSU standout Jacob Hester.
The Saints were gashed right, left and up the middle in the short passing game and that softened up New Orleans up the middle on runs.
