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The New Orleans Saints seemed like they were in quicksand for most of anxious second half. But, he has done so many times, Drew Brees rescued them.
After seeing a 35-14 lead evaporate as the Los Angeles Rams made a charge, Brees led the Saints to a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter. Brees hit Michael Thomas for 72 yards on third-and-7 to put the Rams away (and to cue up Thomas' Joe Horn epic cell-phone celebration). That put the Saints up 45-35, and that ended up being the final score of a great matchup.
The Rams came into the game 8-0, the last undefeated team in the NFL. They leave still leading the 7-1 Saints by a half-game in the NFC standings, but New Orleans has a leg up in the potential tiebreaker with the head-to-head win. Brees' pass to Thomas to seal the win may be a big deal at the end of the season when the NFC playoffs are seeded.
Michael Thomas has a huge day
We've seen Brees come in the clutch so often, that when he was facing third-and-7 with the possibility of giving the ball back to the red-hot he wanted to be in. He came through with a perfect pass to Thomas for the back-breaking score.
And give Thomas credit, obviously. The Saints' Star Receiver had a monster day, torching Rams Marcus Peters cornerback all day long. Thomas had 12 catches for 211 yards and that huge touchdown.
The Saints got a fourth-down after that, and then converted to fourth-and-1 after the two-minute warning to officially seal the win.
Saints let the Rams back in the game
Two conservative moments by the typically un-conservative Sean Payton and his staff gave the Rams life, despite New Orleans scoring 35 points in the first half.
After an unnecessary roughness penalty, the Saints played a soft zone defense. That allowed a remarkably easy (and fast) 20-yard catch. The Rams have a good kicker in Greg Zuerlein, and he came through with a 56-yard field goal to end the half. It makes little sense to allow the Rams such an easy chance to get in Zuerlein's range. That cut the Saints' lead to 35-17.
Then in the third quarter, with the Rams having some momentum, the Saints punted on fourth-and-4 from the Rams' 44-yard line. That's not a bad thing to do, but the Saints were pretty comfortable with a 35-24 lead at the time when they should have known the Rams had the offensive ability to get back into the game.
And that's what happened.
Saints get a big edge in potential playoff rematch
There are not many teams with an offense so good that they could give up 35 points in a half, on the road to a good team like the Saints, and still get back in the game. The Rams tied it to 35-35 on Kupp's Cooper's long fourth-quarter touchdown, after it seemed the Rams were done at 35-14. Give the Rams a lot of credit for fighting back.
Los Angeles showed in the world that it's every bit as good as its 8-0 record indicated. But the Saints were just a little better, thanks to a great play from Brees to Thomas. Would you like to watch these teams run it back in January? After Sunday, there's a lot better luck than rematch would happen in the Superdome.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees hit a huge touchdown to Michael Thomas to knock off the undefeated Rams. (AP)
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