Saints steamroll Bills
New Orleans rushes for 298 yards in seventh consecutive triumph.
New Orleans relies on surprising running game to pound host Buffalo,
Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara are so in sync, the New Orleans Saints running back duo is now finishing sentences for one another.
“Listen, it’s fun whenever we’re scoring at will,” Ingram said, before sounding like Oprah on a giveaway episode following a 47-10 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
“Drew (Brees) got a touchdown. AK (Kamara) got a touchdown. Trey (Edmunds) got a touchdown. Man, that’s what we work for, so everybody eats.”
That’s when Kamara interjected by noting to Ingram, “You don’t want to say you got three touchdowns,” before the two broke into a fit of laughter.
Ingram had 131 yards rushing
and scored three times, and the Saints won their seventh straight in producing one of the most prolific running performances in franchise history. The six touchdowns rushing set a franchise record, and New Orleans’ 298 yards rushing were the third highest in team history.
“We came out and wanted to impose our will,” said Kamara, who scored once and added 106 yards rushing. “We were in the locker room and said, ‘We’ve got to put pressure on them to break
their neck.’”
Ingram set a career high by scoring twice from 3 yards and once from 1 yard. Kamara scored on a 5-yard run, while Brees scrambled in from 7 yards. Edmunds capped the run of rushing touchdowns with a 41-yard scamper.
The Saints never punted, scoring on eight of their nine possessions, not including two mean-nothing drives to close both halves, and finished with 482 yards and 32 first downs. The Saints (7-2) became the sec
ond team in the Super Bowl era to win seven straight after starting the season 0-2, joining the 1993 Cowboys, who went on to beat Buffalo in the Super Bowl.
The Bills (5-4) so completely unraveled on defense, linebacker Preston Brown didn’t know what hit them.
“That felt like the longest game of my life,” he said. “Every time they ran the ball: 8 yards. Every time they passed the ball: 15, 20 yards. Nothing worked today.”
It marked the second straight game the Bills defense has caved after allowing 194 yards rushing in a 34-21 loss to the New York Jets on Nov. 2.
“It’s two straight times where you get embarrassed,” Brown said. “And it has to change or we’ll be 5-11 if we don’t make a change.”
The emergence of a ground game only made Brees’ life easier.
“Don’t underestimate Drew,” Ingram said of Brees, who finished
18of 25 for 184 yards.“When we have success running the ball, he’s 8,000 times better.”
Buffalo fell to 4-1 at home and squandered an opportunity to win six of its first nine games for the first time since 1999.
The offense was hardly better
than the defense.
Buffalo managed 198 yards, and 10 first downs. And five of those first downs came on Buffalo’s meaningless final drive that ended with backup quarterback Nathan Peterman hitting Nick O’Leary for a 7-yard touchdown.
After Stephen Hauschka capped a nine-play, 57-yard opening drive with a 37-yard field goal, the Bills didn’t cross midfield on their next eight possessions.
The most notable cheer came with 4:53 remaining when Peterman replaced Tyrod Taylor and then immediately hit Deonte Thompson for a 10-yard reception along the right sideline.
Kelvin Benjamin, like much of the rest of the Bills offense, was rendered invisible in making his debut after being acquired in a trade with Carolina on Oct. 31.
He finished with three catches for a team-best 42 yards.