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Well, the thriller turned into a thrashing. Thirty-five second half points on five New Orleans scoring drives while holding the Lions to 14 points, as the Saints turn a four-point deficit into a 17-point win in Saturday's NFC Wild Card Playoff Game. That'll do it. Saints 45, Lions 28, and the Saints head on to San Francisco for the Divisional Playoff against the 49ers.
Drew Brees turned in an MVP-esque performance: 33 of 46 for 466 yards and 3 TDs. He did fumble once, and had a few throws that could have been picked off, had the Lions brought their "pass-catching m***** f******", but they didn't, so the Saints caught a break there. The offense rolled up 167 rushing yards and 626 yards overall, while possessing the ball for almost 38 minutes.
Pierre Thomas rang up 121 CLUTCH rushing/receiving yards and a TD, while Darren Sproles totaled 85 rushing and receiving yards and two TDs. Robert Meachem pulled down four catches for 111 yards and a score, while Marques Colston had 7 catches for 120 yards (and he did have a fumble and dropped a tough TD at the end of the first half). Jimmy Graham and Devery Henderson also added TD catches on this great night.
On the defensive end, Jabari Greer snagged two interceptions in the second half to counteract the two Saints fumbles in the first half, and added seven tackles. Tracy Porter had seven solo tackles, and Roman Harper added six for a defense that gave up some yards, especially to Calvin Johnson (12 catches for 211 and two TDs).
That's it for my game recap. Make the jump to jump into the thread to share your thoughts. feelings, observations, etc., check out the final stats, and vote in the Player of the Game poll, too!! Who Dat!?!
Lions vs Saints coverage
NFL.com Lions @ Saints GameCenter
Passing | CP/AT | YDS | TD | INT |
D. Brees | 33/43 | 466 | 3 | 0 |
Rushing | ATT | YDS | TD | LG |
P. Thomas | 8 | 66 | 1 | 31 |
D. Sproles | 10 | 51 | 2 | 17T |
C. Ivory | 13 | 47 | 0 | 19 |
D. Henderson | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
D. Brees | 4 | -1 | 0 | 2 |
Receiving | REC | YDS | TD | LG |
M. Colston | 7 | 120 | 0 | 40 |
R. Meachem | 4 | 111 | 1 | 56T |
D. Henderson | 2 | 64 | 1 | 41T |
J. Graham | 7 | 55 | 1 | 14 |
P. Thomas | 6 | 55 | 0 | 14 |
D. Sproles | 4 | 34 | 0 | 12 |
J. Collins | 2 | 20 | 0 | 15 |
A. Arrington | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Passing | CP/AT | YDS | TD | INT |
M. Stafford | 28/43 | 380 | 3 | 2 |
Rushing | ATT | YDS | TD | LG |
K. Smith | 6 | 21 | 0 | 9 |
T. Young | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
N. Burleson | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
M. Stafford | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1T |
Receiving | REC | YDS | TD | LG |
C. Johnson | 12 | 211 | 2 | 42 |
N. Burleson | 4 | 50 | 0 | 21 |
B. Pettigrew | 4 | 49 | 0 | 22 |
T. Young | 4 | 33 | 0 | 15 |
K. Smith | 2 | 20 | 0 | 13 |
W. Heller | 1 | 10 | 1 | 10T |
T. Scheffler | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |