Saints' Offense Remains Sunny in Philadelphia

Through First Two Games, Brees Has Nine Touchdown Passes and New Orleans Averages 46.5 Points: Saints 48, Eagles 22

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 20 -- The New Orleans Saints revved up their offense for a second straight game and the Philadelphia Eagles, minus injured quarterback Donovan McNabb, couldn't come close to keeping up.

Quarterback Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes, two of them to wide receiver Marques Colston, and the Saints coasted to a 48-22 triumph Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Saints have totaled 93 points while winning their first two games of the season, and Brees has nine touchdown passes.

"We just really go into the game trying to win," Saints Coach Sean Payton said. "We don't get caught up in the statistics. The job is to win. If we'd have won the game 3-0 today, we'd have been excited. . . . We're two weeks into it. We're 2-0 [but] we still have room to improve."

Even so, the Saints are making an early case that they belong in the conversation about which team is the NFC's best. Brees didn't shy from a comparison to the 2006 Saints team that reached the NFC title game before losing in Chicago.

"I'd say the confidence level right now is way higher than it was in '06," Brees said.

Brees connected on 25 of 34 passes for 311 yards Sunday. He threw an interception but had touchdown passes of 15 and 25 yards to Colston in the first half and 11 yards to fullback Heath Evans in the third quarter. Tailbacks Mike Bell and Reggie Bush each ran for a touchdown, and safety Darren Sharper scored the game's final points on a 97-yard touchdown on an interception return with just less than a minute to play.

The Eagles (1-1) committed four turnovers, including a fumble on a kickoff return by Ellis Hobbs to open the second half. Quarterback Kevin Kolb threw the first of his three interceptions on the Eagles' next possession. The Saints converted both of those turnovers into touchdowns, which quickly turned a 17-13 halftime lead into a 31-13 advantage, and the competitive portion of the day essentially was over.

"Obviously there were too many mistakes," Eagles Coach Andy Reid said. "That's my responsibility. I have to make sure this thing is right, and it wasn't right today in any phase of it. It was an absolutely horrendous performance."

Reid put McNabb on the Eagles' inactive list for the game after McNabb suffered a fractured rib in a season-opening victory at Carolina, then didn't practice all week. McNabb was joined on the inactive list by Michael Vick, who'd been put on the 53-man roster during the week so that he could participate in practice but was ineligible to play in this game under the terms of his reinstatement by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Kolb made his first NFL start and was backed up by just-signed veteran Jeff Garcia. Kolb threw for 391 yards and two touchdowns on 31-for-51 passing but was the major contributor to the series of turnovers that undid the Eagles.

"The fact is, we lost," Kolb said. "The fact is, I had three turnovers and it upsets me. . . . It's frustrating from a personal standpoint."