The top 10 games in Saints history - #8

#8 - 2015 Week 8: New Orleans Saints - 52 vs. NY Giants - 49

The highest scoring game in franchise history and one of only five games in NFL history with more than 100 combined points featured an all-time quarterback duel between two future Hall of Famers and their .500 teams. The New Orleans Saints were in the middle of the 7-9 era and the Giants were getting further and further away from their Super Bowl team of 2011, but despite this, Drew Brees and Eli Manning produced one of the most exciting games in NFL history.

The Saints entered the game 3-4, trailing the undefeated Panthers and the 6-1 Falcons (who the Saints had just beaten two weeks prior and who would finish the year 8-8 and miss the playoffs) for the division lead. The Giants came in at 4-3 and keeping pace in the NFC East. Both teams would wind up having a top 10 offense that year, and finished as the two worst defenses in the league. You can see where this is going.

Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Believe it or not, there were actually punts in this game, six of them in fact. What set it apart was the fact that every score of the game was a touchdown save for the Saints final drive. The Saints would go on three 80+ yard touchdown drives in the first half and go into the locker room with a seven point lead at 28-21. The two teams combined for seven touchdown drives of 60+ yards including five of 79+ yards in one half of football.

The Giants would quickly tie the game at 28 as Eli would hit Odell Beckham Jr. for a 50-yard touchdown. The Saints would respond with their own touchdown drive to grab the lead back, and then hold the Giants to a fumble and a punt on their next two drives, capitalizing by taking a 42-28 lead headed into the fourth quarter.

The Giants started the quarter on an 11-play 80-yard touchdown drive that only took around three minutes, and would then tie the game on a minute long 65-yard touchdown drive over three plays. Not ideal. Brees would then throw his seventh touchdown of the game, the only problem was it was caught by Trumaine McBride, who was not on the same team. The pick six gave the Giants their first lead since they led 7-0, and marked 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Also not ideal.

This proved to be light work for Brees however, as he would march the team right down the field on a 14-play 80-yard drive of over six minutes to tie the game with his actual seventh touchdown pass of the day to CJ Spiller with 36 seconds left in the game.

Photo by Rob Leiter via Getty Images

Willie Snead proved to be in the right place at the right time when it mattered most, recovering a fumble to set up the game winning field goal

The Giants would not elect to take a knee and take the game into overtime, instead trying to drive into field goal range for a game winner. This would backfire however, as they would be forced to punt the ball back to the Saints with 20 seconds left. The ensuing return would prove to be one of the craziest plays in recent memory. Rookie running back Marcus Murphy would field the ball at the Saints 29 yard line and return it all the way to the Giants 47 before the ball was knocked out. Fortunately for the Saints, the ball was knocked directly into the hands of Willie Snead, who was then immediately tackled by punter Brad Wing with five seconds left. Wing however, had gotten ahold of Snead’s facemask during the tackle. The penalty was called which moved the ball all the way up to the Giants 32 yard line, setting up Kai Forbath for the game winning 50-yard field goal.

This game earns its spot on this list for the pure excitement it brought to an otherwise unremarkable season. This game not only saw Brees tie the single game touchdown record, but also saw Marques Colston score the final touchdown of his career and was also his final 100+ yard game of his career. The highest scoring game in Saints history was easily the best of their three year stretch of mediocrity in the mid 2010s, and is a game none of us will ever forget.

Watch highlights of the game here.

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