Brees powers Saints to Giants rout in NFL

Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes and ran for another to spark the New Orleans Saints to a 49-24 rout of the New York Giants in a game of National Football League contenders. Brees, the 32-year-old quarterback who led the Saints to a 2010 Super Bowl title, completed 24 of 38 passes for 363 yards, giving him 3,689 passing yards this year, keeping him on pace for the NFL's most prolific passing season. "I'm not allowing it to become a distraction," Brees said of his record bid. "As long as we win ball games, we invite all those records. You want to put your best performance on the field every week." The Saints produced 577 total offensive yards, the second-most ever conceded by the Giants since their 1925 creation -- Giants' defenders surrendered 682 yards in a 1943 game. "I can't say enough about our team," Brees said. "We won tonight in every aspect." The Saints (8-3) stayed one game in front of the Atlanta Falcons atop the NFC South division heading into next Sunday's home game against Detroit (7-4) while New York (6-5) fell one game behind first-place Dallas in the NFC East. The Giants suffered their third loss in a row ahead of Sunday's home game against reigning Super Bowl champion Green Bay, this season's only unbeaten NFL squad at 11-0. "We can't sit here and feel sorry for ourselves," Giants defensive end Justin Tuck said. "We have to go back out there and keep swinging." Brees threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, marching the Saints on three scoring drives of 80 yards or more, and both ran and threw for touchdowns in the third quarter to frustrate the Giants. Asked how the Saints could top such a stellar effort, Brees laughed. "You can always get better," he said. "There is always something to prove." New York quarterback Eli Manning, who lived in New Orleans when his father Archie was the Saints' quarterback, had his homecoming spoiled by a Saints' defense that muffled his side's run attack and kept him under pressure. "It was a big win for us," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "Like any game it wasn't perfect. But I was pleased with the win." Brees opened the scoring eight seconds into the second quarter on a four-yard touchdown pass to Lance Moore, flipped a five-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham with 2:21 remaining in the period and tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Moore only 1:46 later to give New Orleans a 21-3 half-time lead. "He made some fantastic throws," Payton said. "There's a confidence players have around him. He has thrown the ball with good rhythm and balance." Moore had five catches for 54 yards in the first half while Graham caught four passes for 55 yards. Marques Colston caught three passes for 78 yards, all on the Saints' final first-half scoring drive, which took only 34 seconds. The Giants, whose only first-half points came on a 42-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal, trimmed the New Orleans lead to 21-10 on an eight-yard Brandon Jacobs touchdown run only 4:17 into the third quarter. But the Saints answered with a 73-yard touchdown drive that was capped when Brees ran eight yards for a touchdown after 9:12 of the third quarter. It was the first rushing touchdown of the season for Brees. Just 95 seconds later, Brees connected with Graham on a 29-yard touchdown pass, boosting the Saints' lead to 35-10. Manning cracked the New Orleans defense in the fourth quarter, hooking up with Victor Cruz on touchdowns of 4 and 72 yards. Brees guided a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended on a 12-yard Pierre Thomas touchdown run and Mark Ingram added a 35-yard touchdown run with 62 seconds remaining. Manning completed his first 21 passes of the second half, one shy of the NFL single-game consecutive completions record held by Mark Brunell and David Carr.