NEW ORLEANS ? The New York Giants came into Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints with the league's top defense, one of the best offenses.
The Saints left the Superdome with the only thing that mattered - an emphatic 48-27 win that stamps New Orleans as the team to beat in the NFC.
New Orleans improved to 5-0 for only the third time in franchise history by scoring on five of its first six possessions and by ringing up nearly 500 yards of total offense while holding the Giants (5-1) to 325 yards.
And more than 70,000 fans witnessed it, leaving the Dome in unencumbered bliss. They aren't alone.
"It's hard to be 5-0 in this day and age in the NFL," New Orleans safety Darren Sharper said. "There's a long season left, but we're much happier to be 5-0 than anything else."
How'd the Saints do it?
With an offense that couldn't be stopped in the first half and a defense that wouldn't budge for most of a game that was the biggest for New Orleans since the 2006 NFC Championship game.
Drew Brees finished the game 23-of-30 for 369 yards and four touchdowns and spread the ball around the field. Nearly a third of his passes went to Marques Colston, who broke out of a relatively quiet season by grabbing eight passes for 166 yards and a touchdown.
"After watching the film, we felt like there were shots to be had, some opportunities of things we could take advantage of," Brees said afterwards. "We really wanted to dictate the tempo of the game the whole way through with the run, the heavy play-action, the empty packages. Just really mix it up on them and keep them off balance."
"We came into the game knowing they've been banged up in their secondary," Colston said. "Their safeties haven't really been able to cover some of the better receivers, so we knew with that, we could exploit some weaknesses."
Seven different players caught passes and seven different players scored touchdowns for New Orleans.
Meanwhile, a defense that once again came in touted less than its opponents' came out of the game the more impressive unit. In New Orleans' prior game, the Jets came in with the defense that was talked about. That New York team left the Superdome smarting from a 14-point loss.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning, in his return home to New Orleans, didn't fare much better than the Jets' Mark Sanchez. Manning finished the game 14 of 31 for 178 yards and a touchdown, but he threw one interception and fumbled one other time. Both turnovers turned into Saints touchdowns.
"It's not the way I imagined it," Manning said.
If there was any question about whether Brees had lost a step the past two games after having sub-par days, New Orleans' first drive answered any questions.
Brees led the Saints 70 yards in 15 plays, converting three third downs and a fourth down while completing six passes. But it was Mike Bell who gave New Orleans the lead when he dove in from two yards out.
"I think early on we wanted to be somewhat aggressive," Saints Head Coach Sean Payton said. "We wanted to take advantage of the inside lanes."
And after giving up a first down to the Giants on the first play on defense, the Saints buckled down and forced a punt. Six plays and four first downs later, Brees found Jeremy Shockey, the former Giant and current Saints tight end, for a 1-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
"I had no point to prove," said Shockey, whose celebration he called 'riding the horse.' "This wasn't about me proving a point. This was about helping a football team win against the other one. There's no animosity or point proven."
New York answered with a 49-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal to cut the lead to 14-3.
Nevertheless, the onslaught continued. Brees connected with Robert Meachem in coverage for a 36-yard touchdown. But the extra point was blocked and New Orleans led 20-3.
The Giants came right back, taking advantage of a roughing the passer penalty on Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma. Instead of a pick-six by Darren Sharper, New York scored three plays later on Ahmad Bradshaw's 9-yard touchdown run.
Again New Orleans struck back, this time on a Brees-to-Lance Moore 12-yard touchdown.
Again the Giants responded. After Domenik Hixon returned the kickoff to New Orleans' 37, Mario Manningham grabbed the ball away from Sharper in the end zone for a touchdown cut into New Orleans' lead to 27-17.
On the ensuing possession, New Orleans' Pierre Thomas was stuffed at the goal line for no gain on fourth down. An unsportsmanlike penalty gave the Giants the ball at the 15.
However, New Orleans' Roman Harper drilled Manning, forcing a fumble that teammate Scott Shanle recovered and returned to the New York 7.
Two plays later, the Saints' Reggie Bush scored from 7-yards out giving New Orleans a 34-17 halftime lead.
After the break, a Brees-to-Colston 12-yard touchdown and a Heath Evans touchdown sandwiched another Tynes field goal, giving the game its final points.
"We're going to have more big games and just got to continue to improve each week," Payton said. "It was a good win and I'm happy with that, but there's a lot of things I think we can do better."
