Saints' offense continues to fly high

Big second half propels New Orleans to 46-34 victory

MIAMI -- The New Orleans Saints hadn't trailed a minute of any game all season. On Sunday at Land Shark Stadium, it looked as if they might never take the lead. First they couldn't score. Then they couldn't score quite enough. The game veered from an apparent Miami Dolphins blowout to a wild shootout to, finally, a spectacular comeback.

New Orleans, which had already scored 40 points three times this season, outdid itself, putting 43 on the scoreboard in the final 31 minutes to overcome a 21-point deficit.

The 46-34 victory over the Miami Dolphins left the crowd of more than 66,000 shellshocked. The Saints brought the league's highest-scoring offense, but trailed 24-3 with just seconds remaining in the first half. Drew Brees, the league's top-ranked quarterback, threw three interceptions, fumbled once and was sacked five times, but by midway through the final period, he was dunking the ball over the uprights, celebrating the two-yard run that put the Saints on top for the first time all day.

"Obviously, the first half was something to be forgotten," Brees said. "We all knew they have given us their best shot, and we had played about as bad as we could play."

New Orleans outscored Miami 22-0 in the fourth quarter to collect its sixth straight victory. After putting up just 112 first-half yards, the Saints compiled 414. Brees finished with 22 completions in 38 attempts for 298 total yards and one touchdown.

"We can score fast," said running back Mike Bell, who had all 80 of his rushing yards in the second half. "It's good to have Drew in the huddle."

For Miami, a combination of big-play defense and a bruising running game seemed to set the stage for a full turnaround after an 0-3 start. But instead of knocking off the league's hottest team and improving to 3-3, Miami couldn't mount any sort of threat after losing the lead.

"It was demoralizing," Miami defensive tackle Jason Ferguson said. "No doubt about that."

The Saints' turnaround started quietly, with New Orleans scoring late in the first half after a questionable timeout by Miami Coach Tony Sparano. With 12 seconds left, Brees found wide receiver Marques Colston at about the 3-yard line. Colston made a leaping grab, then tried to dive into the end zone.

Though officials signaled a touchdown, the call was overruled and the ball placed inside the 1-yard line because replays showed Colston's knee was down.

As the Saints and Dolphins awaited word of the review, the Saints' kicking team was on the field, prepared to attempt the extra point or a field goal. Saints Coach Sean Payton said he knew if the call was overturned, the clock -- which showed five seconds left -- was due to start immediately, and the Saints had no timeouts left.

Sparano, however, elected to call a timeout. Instead of rushing to kick a field goal, New Orleans responded by sending its offensive team back on the field, and Brees sneaked in for the touchdown, making the score 24-10.

"I think the score at the end of the half was significant, obviously, to get us close," Payton said. "We just kept fighting in the second half."

Payton exhorted his players in the locker room by telling them that if they wanted to be great, they had to do something they hadn't been asked to do all season, and the Saints got another big play just seconds into the second half.

Miami quarterback Chad Henne tried to hit Ted Ginn Jr. on a lob pass on third down. Ginn bobbled the ball -- the first of many drops by Miami receivers Sunday. Defender Tracy Porter also bobbled it, then Darren Sharper grabbed it -- and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. Suddenly, just more than a minute into the period, the score was 24-17.

"It's not always going to be perfect," said Porter, who clinched the game with a 54-yard interception return with 1 minute 53 seconds left. "We had to fight through adversity, but this offense is one that . . . never quits."

The Saints didn't quit, but they sure had a difficult a time catching up.

New Orleans looked ready to tie the game after a 37-yard completion to Devery Henderson put the Saints on the Miami 25 four minutes into the third quarter, but a third-down throw to Colston at the goal line produced Brees's third interception of the day, a nifty snag by cornerback Nathan Jones, who wrestled the ball from Colston. Minutes later, former Redskin Jason Taylor stripped Brees as he scrambled inside the Dolphins 20, resulting in a 33-yard field goal for a 27-17 Miami lead.

But a 35-yard run by Bell into Miami territory set up the Saint's next score: a strike from Brees to Colston alone in the right corner of the end zone from 10 yards out. That brought the score to 27-24 -- at least for the next minute.

Miami's Brian Hartline took a slant pass right down the middle on the third play of Miami's next drive, going 67 yards to the Saints 4 and setting up a four-yard burst by Ricky Williams for a 34-24 lead just before the third period expired.

New Orleans, however, owned the fourth quarter. After a 66-yard completion from Brees to Jeremy Shockey, Reggie Bush took a double reverse around the corner and made a flying leap for a touchdown from 10 yards out to bring the Saints within three again, 34-31.

Brees's two-yard burst capped an eight-play, 60-yard drive, and Porter's interception sealed the game.

"It's a huge win," linebacker Scott Shanle said. "It can be a season-defining win. . . . You don't want to be behind, but this was a test we haven't faced yet. We couldn't be more happy with the way we responded."