Drew Brees Joins the 400 Club

05 Oct, 2015

On the second play of overtime, Brees calmly connected with running back C.J. Spiller on a wheel route down the right sideline, and Spiller used his power to shake off a diving tackle attempt by safety Barry Church and his speed to race 80 yards for the game-winning touchdown and a 26-20 overtime victory.

New Orleans (1-3) snapped its three-game losing streak, while Dallas (2-2) fell for the second week in a row.

The touchdown pass just 13 seconds into overtime — Brees’ second of the game — gave the veteran 400 touchdown passes for his career. Spiller rushed over to Brees after the score and handed him the ball.

“I told him, ‘Brother, you deserve it,'” Spiller said. “He’s probably the best teammate I’ve ever played with — just his preparation. He deserves it.”

Saints coach Sean Payton attributed the winning play to Brees’ arm and craftiness. After running back Khiry Robinson dropped a first-down pass on the Saints’ 20-yard line, Brees noticed that the Cowboys’ defense was slow to line up on second down.

Brees said: “They were late getting lined up, and I felt like if we caught them in man and they had some confusion, we could have a big play. I tried to keep the safety in the middle (of the field). If C.J. gets behind somebody, nobody’s catching him.”

Because the Saints scored a touchdown on their first possession, the Cowboys did not have a chance for an overtime possession.

Brees finished 33-for-41 for 359 yards with no interceptions. Spiller caught five passes for 99 yards.

Hocker’s miss at the end of regulation blunted a furious 68-yard drive by the Saints inside the final two minutes. Brees completed a 30-yard pass to wide receiver Brandon Coleman to the Dallas 17 with 20 seconds left, but regulation ended 20-20.

“It’s funny, but as the ball was bounding off the left upright, I said, ‘This is not the way God intended for us to win the game. He’s got another plan,'” Brees said.

“Before I went out, I guess I was aware of (reaching 400), and I made that part of my thought process. Right when the play call came in for C.J., I said, ‘This is it. This is going the distance.'”

Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden (16-for-26, 246 yards, one TD, no interceptions) led Dallas to the tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter, guiding the team 91 yards on eight plays.

On the drive, Weeden completed passes of 24 yards to wide receiver Terrance Williams, 28 yards to tight end Jason Witten and 19 yards to wide receiver Brice Butler before hitting Williams for a diving 17-yard score on fourth down with 1:51 left.

“It was a big-time throw from Brandon to T. Will for the touchdown,” said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. “We did a good job of surviving. We got a great break that they missed the field goal. Obviously, in overtime, we didn’t get the job done.”

Asked what happened on Spiller’s game-winning catch, Garrett said the Cowboys “didn’t get the matchup the right way. They made the play, and we didn’t.”

Robinson put the Saints up 20-13 with a 1-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

The victory snapped the Saints’ six-game home losing streak and extended Weeden’s streak of consecutive losing starts to 10.

Reuters 

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