New Orleans Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro (32) intercepts a pass ahead of New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) but the play is negated by a defensive holding on safety Vonn Bell (not pictured) during the second half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.Derick E. Hingle
If Tom Brady and the Patriots were suffering from a Super Bowl hangover, it looks as though a trip to New Orleans pulled the defending champions out of it.
The 40-year-old Brady hasn't often looked better in his long, illustrious career, providing an audible contingent of travelling Patriots fans ample reason to spend the rest of their Sunday celebrating in the French Quarter.
"Hopefully they're all on Bourbon Street," said Brady, whose name was chanted by fans as the game wound down, and again when he walked across the field to the team bus. "It was a good road game to come to."
Bouncing back with a vengeance from a season-opening loss, Brady threw three touchdown passes in the first quarter for the first time in his career, eclipsed 300 yards passing in the first half for only the second time, and New England scored 30 first-half points en route to a 36-20 victory over the winless Saints.
"Being 0-1 with a 10-day break felt like a year," Brady said, alluding to a Thursday night loss to Kansas City in Week 1. "All the veterans had a chance to say the things they wanted to say to their different (position) groups. ... I'm glad we executed. There were a lot of tight plays and we made them."
Saints coach Sean Payton bemoaned another poor outing by his defence, which also gave up a slew of quick strike plays to Minnesota in Week 1.
"We've got the right type of locker room, but we're going to have to respond quickly," Payton said. "We'll find out a little bit about what we're made of."
Brady's maiden Super Bowl triumph in the Superdome back in February 2002 is bound to be one of his fondest memories, but the 18-year veteran looked like a superior QB in his latest visit. He finished 30 of 39 for 447 yards. He committed no turnovers — at least not any that counted. Saints defenders twice caught Brady's passes, but both plays were wiped out by New Orleans penalties. Brady joined Warren Moon as the only QBs 40 or older in NFL history to pass for at least 400 yards and 3 TDs in a game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Rob Gronkowski had a 53-yard catch and run to highlight his six-catch, 116-yard performance, but left the game in the second half with a groin injury.
In Brady and the Saints' Drew Brees, the game featured the NFL's top two active quarterbacks in terms of career yards and touchdowns. Their 922 TD passes and 128,251 yards passing combined coming in represented the most in NFL history by starting QBs the same game.
But in this matchup, Brees couldn't keep up.
He was 27 of 45 for 356 yards and two TDs. The Saints' desperation to stay close was encapsulated by a failed attempt to convert a fourth down — despite being in field goal range on the Patriots 25-yard line — with 2:27 left in the first half and New England up by 13.
Brady responded by quickly marching the Patriots to the Saints 10 to set up Stephen Gostkowski's field goal, making it 30-13 at halftime.
When asked to explain what's wrong with New Orleans, it seemed Brees wasn't sure where to begin.
"Unfortunately, it's just been a little bit everything right now," he said.