subject: Drew Brees rallies Saints over Steelers with two 2nd-half TDs [print this page] Drew Brees rallies Saints over Steelers with two 2nd-half TDs
"There was no better way to get back on track than to beat these guys. I felt like we played as complete a game as we've played all year, especially in the second half."
Brees' first TD went to Marques Colston for 16 yards and the second went for 8 yards to Lance Moore with 2:37 left, breaking open a defensive struggle in which neither team scored a touchdown through three quarters.
Leigh Torrence then intercepted Ben Roethlisberger to seal it for the Saints (5-3), who were coming off an embarrassing 30-17 loss at home last nfl jersey week to the scuffling Cleveland Browns.
"We have a special group," Brees said. "I think we all knew that from the start. We just had to come out and prove it. It's a long mlb jerseys season. ... You're going to have your ups and downs."
Rashard Mendenhall had the only touchdown for Pittsburgh (5-2) on a 38-yard run in the fourth quarter. Roethlisberger was 17 of 28 for 195 yards.
"This is definitely a gut check for us," Roethlisberger said. "We got knocked down a little bit tonight and now it will be interesting to see how we bounce back."
"It was a hostile environment for us. The fans were into it," Tomlin said. "We struggled a little bit on possession downs because of it, but that's no excuse. ... We knew this was going to be a tough place to play coming into it. I was hopeful that we would perform better than we did."
The Saints came in ranked third in total defense and lived up to it, forcing two turnovers and stopping the Steelers on a goal-line stand in the first half after coach Sean Payton challenged what was initially ruled a TD catch by Antwaan Randle El.
"We knew it was going to be a boxing match, a slugfest," said safety Darren Sharper, wearing a boxing robe which said "World Champs" on the hood. "We knew the most physical team was going to win this game, and we felt we were the most physical team out there."
The Saints struggled to run against a Steelers defense that came in ranked first in the NFL against the run and allowed New Orleans only 30 yards on the ground.
Brees was sacked twice and intercepted once, giving him 11 interceptions and matching his total from last nfl jerseyseason.
The Saints tried some trickery, to no avail. In the third quarter, right tackle Zach Strief, who had reported as an eligible receiver, was wide open in the end zone, but was backpedaling and unable to reach high enough to snag a short pass Brees lobbed over his head. New Orleans had to settle for a field goal to go up 6-3.
The Saints went ahead 13-3 when Colston hauled in his touchdown, running the last few yards and reaching to get the ball over the pylon before he was bumped out of bounds.
Pittsburgh had only one possession in the third quarter, which ended when cornerback Malcolm Jenkins broke up a fourth-and-4 pass from the New Orleans 40.
