Bush helps Saints stay unbeaten with win over Rams
New Orleans 28, St. Louis 23
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Sunday, November 15, 2009; 6:07 PM
ST. LOUIS -- Reggie Bush helped the New Orleans Saints overcome another bundle of mistakes to stay unbeaten for the best start in team history.
Bush scored twice for the first time in more than a year and Drew Brees compensated for two interceptions with two touchdown passes that allowed the Saints to escape with a 28-23 victory Sunday over the St. Louis Rams.
Courtney Roby opened the second half with a 97-yard kickoff return and Robert Meachem's 27-yard grab early in the fourth quarter gave New Orleans (9-0) just enough breathing room to tie the franchise record with nine straight wins.
"You're not going to blow everyone out," said cornerback Randall Gay, who played on the Patriots' 16-0 team in 2007. "It's a lot harder to blow teams out when for a lot of teams, this is like their playoff game."
Marc Bulger's 19-yard pass to Donnie Avery made it a five-point game with 2:44 to go and the Rams (1-8) made it to the New Orleans 32 before Bulger threw incomplete into the end zone on the final play.
The Rams had no timeouts on their final drive and burned a lot of clock on Bulger's 5-yard checkdown to Steven Jackson the previous play, leaving them just enough time for one final snap.
"It would have been really nice to pull it off," Bulger said. "There's a reason they're unbeaten. They made plays when they had to."
The Rams had a season high for points against a defense that played most of the second half without both starting cornerbacks. Tracy Porter limped off with a left knee injury in the opening minute and Jabari Greer was inactive because of a hurt groin.
Turnovers hurt more. The Saints had three for a four-game total of 13.
They also stalled on offense late in the game, scoring fewer than 30 points for the first time in five games, and opening the door for the Rams.
"We're not content with where we're at, and we're certainly not content with the way we've played these last few weeks," Brees said. "We need to close the game out when we're given the opportunity."
St. Louis got big games from Avery, who caught two touchdown passes, and Jackson, who had 131 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries and totaled a season-high 176 yards from scrimmage.
