|
NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) --
Aaron Brooks
was dialed in.
Joe Horn
decided to dial up.
Brooks threw a career-high five touchdown passes - four to Horn - as the
New Orleans Saints
kept alive their playoff hopes with a 45-7 rout of the reeling
New York Giants
.
One week after losing three fumbles in a disappointing home loss to Tampa Bay, Brooks answered coach Jim Haslett's criticism with a career night.
Brooks had touchdown passes of 50 and 13 yards to Horn in the first half, helping the Saints build a commanding 24-7 lead. After intermission, he added scoring strikes of seven and 18 yards to Horn and 26 yards to
Jerome Pathon
.
"Aaron understands the criticism of being a QB in the NFL," Haslett said. "I was proud of him. I thought he stepped up to the plate. We threw the ball around and Aaron did a nice job."
Brooks fell one touchdown pass shy of matching Billy Kilmer's franchise record, set in 1969. Horn did establish a club record for TDs in a game.
Working against the Giants' depleted secondary, Brooks completed 26-of-35 passes for 296 yards while sitting out much of the fourth quarter. Horn finished with nine receptions for 133 yards yards.
Horn also came up with a creative celebration following his 13-yard TD in the second quarter. Fellow receiver
Michael Lewis
grabbed a cell phone from under the padding of the goalpost and handed it to Horn, who pretended to make a phone call which drew him an unsportsmanlike penalty.
"More than anything it cost us field position," Haslett said of Horn's stunt. "Whatever the league does doesn't bother me but when it hurts the football team it bothers me and it hurt the team."
Deuce McAllister
also rushed for 80 yards and had eight catches for 65 yards as the Saints (7-7) remained one game behind Green Bay and Seattle for the NFC's second wild card spot with two games left.
Led by the trio of Brooks, Horn and McAllister, the Saints established a franchise record for points in a home game. The previous mark was 43 against San Francisco on November 23, 1969.
It was another nightmarish performance for the Giants (4-10), who saw their losing streak reach six games with the worst defeat in coach Jim Fassel's seven seasons. They have been outscored 163-51 during the skid.
"We're not anywhere close to where we started the season as a football team because of the amount of guys we have out (with injuries)," Fassel said. "But when I expect young guys to go in, they have to learn what we're doing. They made a lot of mental mistakes. It's hard. But I'm not being unrealistic. I know exactly what we're putting out there."
The Giants surrendered their most points since a 50-21 loss to Washington on September 19, 1999. It also was their worst regular-season loss since a 42-0 rout at Oakland in 1973.
Making his first career start, Giants quarterback
Jesse Palmer
went 15-of-26 for 140 yards, including a four-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end
Visanthe Shiancoe
in the second quarter.
|
