The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Saints’ Brees overcomes bum thumb
Drew Brees had the Arizona Cardinals under his surgically repaired and splint-aided thumb.
Brees passed for 373 yards and three touchdowns in his first game since thumb surgery more than five weeks ago, and the New Orleans Saints won their sixth straight with a 31-9 victory Sunday.
“I definitely had some butterflies, maybe a little more than usual,” Brees said. “A lot of it was just excitement. And then as game time approached, that just turned into gratitude — just grateful for the opportunity to get back out there again. I’m grateful for this team. I’m grateful for just this moment.”
With few exceptions, Brees was accurate and looked composed, even when his pass blocking collapsed. He completed 34 of 43 passes and was not sacked.
He was intercepted once, by Patrick Peterson, but was not pressured before throwing that aggressive, risky pass down the left sideline, where fullback Zach Line was double-covered.
“Bad decision,” Brees said. “Got a little greedy.”
The Cardinals were unable to capitalize on that turnover early in the second half, however, and Brees made them pay by leading three touchdown drives after that, ending with passes to running back Latavius Murray, dynamic reserve QB and utility player Taysom Hill, and leading receiver Michael Thomas.
Cardinals rookie Kyler Murray completed 19 of 33 passes for 220 yards, but Arizona never reached the end zone. Eight of Murray’s completions went to Christian Kirk for 79 yards in the receiver’s return from an ankle sprain.
“We just didn’t win enough of our individual matchups today,” said receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who had two catches for 8 yards. “You have to win those against a great defense like this one.”
Arizona, which saw its three-game winning streak snapped, was held to 40 yards rushing and the Saints’ defense held a fifth-straight opponent below 260 total net yards.
With backup Teddy Bridgewater filling in, the Saints (7-1) had won all five games since Brees’ ulnar collateral ligament surgery on Sept. 18. But coach Sean Payton said during the past week that the 40-year-old Brees had been medically cleared and that there were no misgivings about playing the NFL’s all-time leading passer as soon as he felt ready.
Chargers 17, Bears 16: Chicago kicker Eddy Pineiro missed a 41-yard field goal try as time expired and Los Angeles hung on. The Bears took over at their 35 with 1:33 remaining and had a chance to win it after driving to the 21. Chicago had QB Mitchell Trubisky take a knee with about 40 seconds left rather than try to get closer to the goal line. Pineiro hooked the kick wide left as time expired.
Seahawks 27, Falcons 20: Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to DK Metcalf, Chris Carson ran for 90 yards and a score, and Seattle beat reeling Atlanta. Seattle led 24-0 at halftime as the Falcons offense floundered early in their first start without QB Matt Ryan in 10 years. Ryan’s streak of 154 consecutive regular-season starts was ended by a sprained right ankle.
Colts 15, Broncos 13: In his 200th career game with the Colts, Adam Vinatieri made a 51-yard field goal with 22 seconds left to help Indianapolis rally for a victory over Denver. The NFL’s career scoring leader overcame two earlier misses to keep Indy atop the AFC South with its third straight victory. The Broncos lost their second straight overall and their third this season in the final 30 seconds.
49ers 51, Panthers 13: Tevin Coleman scored three of his four touchdowns in the first half, rookie Nick Bosa had three sacks to go along with an acrobatic interception and San Francisco remained unbeaten with its highestscoring game in 26 years. Jimmy Garoppolo and the offense had little trouble carving Carolina’s defense with 232 yards rushing and a pair of touchdown passes.
Texans 27, Raiders 24: Deshaun Watson threw for 279 yards and three TDs, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter to lift Houston. There were about 6 minutes left when Watson evaded the rush and hit Darren Fells on a 9-yard scoring toss to put Houston up 27-24 for its first lead of the game. Watson appeared to get kicked in the face but was OK and returned on the next possession.
Rams 24, Bengals 10: Wide receiver Cooper Kupp caught seven passes for a career-best 220 yards, Jared Goff threw for two touchdowns and Los Angeles beat winless Cincinnati to make for another successful trip to London. Kupp caught a 65-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter on a double reverse flea-flicker from Goff. The Rams blanked Arizona 33-0 in London in 2017.
Titans 27, Buccaneers 23: Ryan Tannehill threw an 8-yard TD pass to A.J. Brown with 6:55 left, and Tennessee rallied to beat Tampa Bay for its second straight win. The Bucs lost their third straight and fourth in five games despite Jameis Winston and Mike Evans putting the Bucs up 23-17 by connecting on a TD pass at the end of the first half and a second early in the third quarter.