Saints by the Numbers: Brees back in big way in victory over Cards

NEW ORLEANS – Drew Brees was back on the field for the first time in 42 days Sunday.

Rust? Not a chance.

Brees completed 34 of 43 passes for 373 yards and three touchdowns as the Saints rolled to their sixth consecutive victory, 31-9 over the Arizona Cardinals at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Brees hit one major milestone and extended several NFL records with his effort.

*On the final drive of the first half, Brees became the first quarterback in NFL history to surpass 75,000 passing yards.

*Brees had 30 or more completions in a game for the 61st time in his career, extending his own NFL record.

*Brees also extended his NFL records for career games with at least 300 passing yards (now 117) and games with at least 350 yards (now 63).

Seven of Eight: For the second straight year and the fourth time since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978, the Saints have started with seven wins in their first eight games.

From 1978-2018, 72 NFL teams started 7-1 and 68 of those, or 94 percent, reached the playoffs. One of the four to miss the postseason? The 1988 Saints, who finished 10-6.

500 Again: The Saints finished with 510 total yards, the 29th time since Sean Payton and Brees arrived in 2006 that New Orleans has gone over the 500-yard mark in total offense. That is easily the most in the NFL over the last 14 seasons.

Second on the list is the New England Patriots with 17.

The Saints are 23-6 since 2006 when topping the 500-yard mark.

Defense Keeps It Going: For the fifth consecutive game, the Saints held their opponent below 260 yards of offense.

Going back to the Week 4 victory over Dallas, New Orleans’ defense has allowed, in order, 257, 252, 256, 252 and 237 yards.

Only the 1991 “Dome Patrol,” which ran off a streak of six straight games of less than 260 yards, has done better in Saints history.

Since 1980, there has only been one streak of longer than six games allowing less than 260 yards – the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles, which had a run of 10 consecutive games. Five of those 10 games were below 200 yards.

Murray’s Career Day: With Alvin Kamara sidelined for a second consecutive Sunday, running back Latavius Murray stepped up again.

Murray had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game and had a career high receiving day against the Cardinals.

Murray had 21 rushes for 102 yards and a touchdown and caught a career-high nine passes for 55 yards and another score.

He becomes the 15th player in Saints history with a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. How many others can you name? Check at the end of the story for the full list.

More Murray: For the second straight week, Murray had at least 150 yards from scrimmage. He hit the mark on the nose last week in Chicago before finishing with 157 yards from scrimmage on Sunday.

Only one other Saint this decade has had back-to-back games of 150 scrimmage yards – the guy Murray is spelling, Kamara, who had 190 yards against Atlanta and 183 against the New York Giants last season.

Thomas Gets to 13 – Twice: Michael Thomas finished with 11 receptions (on 11 targets) for 112 yards and a touchdown Sunday.

Matching his jersey number, Thomas racked up his 13th career game of double-digit catches and his 13th career 100-yard game.

Since entering the league in 2016, Thomas has more 10-catch games than anyone in the NFL.

At the Halfway Point: Only one player in NFL history has more catches through eight games than Thomas’ 73.

A year ago, the Vikings’ Adam Thielen started with 74 receptions through eight games. Thomas had 70 catches at the midway mark of 2018 before finishing with a franchise-record 125 receptions.

The list of players in NFL history with 70 catches through 8 games:

Adam Thielen, Vikings, 2018  —    74

Michael Thomas, Saints, 2019    —  73

Julio Jones, Falcons,  2015    —  70

Michael Thomas, Saints,    2018  —    70

Thomas actually had more receiving yards at the midway point of last season (880) than he has this year (875).

Sack Streaks: Cameron Jordan had one of the Saints’ four sacks Sunday, giving him at least one sack in four consecutive games.

For Jordan, it’s the longest sack streak of his career and the longest streak by a Saint since the late Will Smith had a streak of five straight games in November 2009.

If Jordan can register a sack in two weeks when the Falcons come to town, he would be the sixth player in franchise history to have a streak of at least five games. Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson holds the team record for consecutive games with a sack – six straight games overlapping the 1984 and 1985 seasons.

Answer: The list of players with both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game in Saints history (numbers in parentheses indicate multiple games): Reggie Bush (5), Brandin Cooks, Coby Fleener, Tony Galbreath, Dalton Hilliard (3), Mark Ingram (2), Alvin Kamara (6), Mike Karney, John Kuhn, Deuce McAllister, Don McCall, Darren Sproles (4), Pierre Thomas (5) and Ernie Wheelwright.

Research assistance provided by the website database Pro Football Reference.