A Giant step

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Oct 19, 2009

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NEW ORLEANS — Despite winning all five of their games by a total of 99 points, the New Orleans Saints contend it’s much too early to be talking about the big picture.

Maybe, but that certainly won’t stop others from talking about where the Saints could be headed after matching the second-best start in club history Sunday with a 48-27 hammering of the previously-undefeated New York Giants in the Superdome.

“I don’t think you can talk about big picture after Week 5,” Saints coach Sean Payton said after the Saints moved to 5-0 for the first time since 1993.

A raucous crowd of 70,011 and many national observers would beg to differ after the Saints won by at least 14 points for the fifth straight time, crushing the Giants (5-1) with a dazzling offensive display.

“The last couple of years, we put ourselves behind the eight-ball — especially when we were 0-4 a couple of years ago,” said right tackle Jon Stinchcomb. “We have a real confident group. But having said that, we still have 11 games left and we’ve got to maintain this for the long haul.”

The Saints roared to touchdowns on their first four possessions as quarterback Drew Brees connected on 15 straight pass attempts — the longest such streak in a single game in club history — against the NFL’s top-ranked defense.

The Saints got seven touchdowns from seven different players en route to piling up 493 total yards as Brees completed 23 of 30 attempts for 369 yards and four TDs. He compiled a passer rating of 156.8, just off the maximum rating of 158.3.

The win came two weeks after the Saints last game, a 24-10 victory over the New York Jets, and it ended a three-game losing streak in their first game following a bye under Payton.

“We made a huge emphasis of that, and there was a huge sense of urgency that we needed to make sure we handled our business during the bye week,” Brees said. “When we came back last Monday, we were ready to prepare ourselves to win a big game.”

The Saints led 27-10 after their first four possessions as they cranked out drives of 70, 80, 57 and 61 yards to get things started.

Mike Bell had a 2-yard TD run, tight end Jeremy Shockey had a 1-yard scoring reception against his old team, Robert Meachem caught a 36-yard scoring strike from Brees and Lance Moore had a 12-yard TD grab.

Reggie Bush added a 7-yard TD run with nine seconds left in the first half after strong safety Roman Harper forced Giants quarterback Eli Manning to fumble and weakside linebacker Scott Shanle recovered. That gave the Saints a 34-17 halftime cushion.

The Saints had 207 total yards on the first three possessions alone against a Giants defense that was allowing just 210.6 yards per contest — including 104.8 through the air.