USA TODAY US Edition

Brees, Saints edge Ravens

Tucker’s first-ever missed PAT sealed 24-23 win

- Jarrett Bell Columnist USA TODAY

BALTIMORE – Drew Brees never beats Baltimore … until now.

The Saints icon of a quarterbac­k notched his milestone 500th touchdown (and No. 501, too) and won against the Ravens for the first time in his 18-year career as New Orleans emerged 24-23 with the result enabled by the first missed extra-point kick ever in an NFL game by Justin Tucker.

Go figure. The NFL’s best kicker couldn’t convert after Baltimore (4-3) drove to seemingly tie the score on Joe Flacco’s 14-yard TD pass to John Brown with 24 seconds left. Tucker had made his previous 222 attempts.

“In the moment I was surprised the ball didn’t go through,” Tucker said. “I’ll let this hurt for another couple of hours, and then I’ll do everything I can to move on.”

Said coach John Harbaugh of Tucker, “He’ll handle it great. He’s the best in the business. He’ll be back winning games for us next week.”

The classic matchup pitted the NFL’s highest-scoring team against Baltimore’s No. 1 defense. This time, offense won ... sort of.

Brees threw for a season-low

212 yards and New Orleans (5-1) scored its fewest points since Week 2. But it was enough, as Brees connected on a 5-yard TD pass to Michael Thomas for the go-ahead points with 4:58 left. A 49-yard field goal by Will Lutz provided the essential cushion. Other things we learned:

❚ Sean Payton is still one of the NFL’s most aggressive

gamblers. It started early, with the Saints coach calling for a fake punt and going for it on three other fourth-down plays — on the FIRST drive of the game! This mind-set remained intact for crunchtime as Payton opted not to try for a 35-yard, tying field goal on 4th-and-1 from the 18 with about six minutes on the clock. Instead, he dialed up a Brees sneak … and three plays later the Saints had the lead again. Guess this should come as no surprise when considerin­g that Payton made one of the gutsiest calls in Super Bowl history when he called for an onside kick (successful, at that) to open the second half of XLIV.

❚ The Saints have an alter

ego. In entering Sunday’s game as the NFL’s highest-scoring team, the Saints embody the image of big-play explosive- ness flowing from the golden arm of Brees. Ask Washington, victimized in a 43-19 rout in Week 5. But against Baltimore’s No. 1 defense, the New Orleans offense relied heavily on a ground attack. With a 1-2 backfield punch of Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara, the Saints have hardly lacked balance. But for the second consecutiv­e game, the Saints had more rushing attempts than passes.

❚ Wildcat QBs are all the rave. Both hybrid backup quarterbac­ks — Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and New Orleans’ Taysom Hill — continued to see significan­t duty. Although Brees and Flacco remained on the field flanked out wide was receivers, the Wildcattin­g was weird enough in red-zone situations but no mere window dressing. Jackson scored on a 1-yard run just before halftime to give Baltimore a lead. Hill helped set up Brees’ 500th TD with a 5-yard run … but also helped squander a scoring opportunit­y with a fumble on a pitchout from the 4-yard line.

 ?? TOMMY GILLIGAN/USA TODAY SPORTS ?? Benjamin Watson celebrates after catching Drew Brees’ 500th NFL TD pass Sunday.
TOMMY GILLIGAN/USA TODAY SPORTS Benjamin Watson celebrates after catching Drew Brees’ 500th NFL TD pass Sunday.
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 ?? TOMMY GILLIGAN/USA TODAY SPORTS ?? Saints coach Sean Payton went for it on four fourth-down plays on their first drive Sunday.
TOMMY GILLIGAN/USA TODAY SPORTS Saints coach Sean Payton went for it on four fourth-down plays on their first drive Sunday.

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