The Saints came down with it, but that did not matter.
#SAINTS SCORE 2016 FREE#
On the next play, the Chargers had a free play and Rivers threw one up for grabs. Rivers found an open Hunter Henry in the front corner of the end zone, but the rookie tight end could not get both feet in bounds. There was a booth review, but there was nothing on video to support overturning the ruling on the field. Melvin Gordon caught a short pass and fought for the 1st down, though.
Fluker holding penalty threatened to kill the drive. Fluker was shifted to right tackle, Spencer Pulley to right guard, and Joe Barksdale to left tackle. They moved the ball well at first even without Chris Hairston who apparently injured his right leg. Philip Rivers took over in Saints territory to start the two-minute drill. Benjamin was unable to get much on the return. It was a disappointing drive, but it gave the Chargers the lead.Ī pair of Saints holding penalties put them in a tough spot and on 3rd down, Melvin Ingram sacked Drew Brees to force a punt. The drive quickly fizzled out, though, and Josh Lambo came on to kick a field goal. The Chargers took a shot on their first play with the ball and Travis Benjamin bot the offense inside the red zone. And then on the very next play was left all alone down the sideline where he caught a Rivers’ pass for a 57-yard touchdown.ĭrew Brees then threw a pass that got tipped into the hands of Craig Mager. In danger of going three and out, the Chargers turned to an unlikely hero when Inman got open across the middle of the field for a 1st down. The truly scary thing was that Brees had his pick of three guys that were wide open for a touchdown on that play. It did not matter, though, because Willie Snead picked up all of the yards taken away and more on the very next play by beating Casey Hayward.Ī couple runs by Daniel Lasco and a short pass to John Kuhn later, the Saints were back on top 14-7. Ingram had clearly been touched by Brown and the call on the field was reversed. Mike McCoy used his first challenge of the day the hopes that he was down by contact.
On the next play, Mark Ingram caught a pass and fell to the ground, but he was not whistled down by contact. Kyle Emanuel blew up the next play in the backfield. An easy pitch and catch to Brandin Cooks defended by Jason Verrett moved the chains. Then the defense sniffed out a screen to set up 3rd & long. Jatavis Brown made a very solid play going across the field to make a stop after only a two-yard game. Henry scored on a seam route on the next play.Įarly on the Saints’ next drive, the Chargers had an opportunity to get off the field on 3rd & 1 but allowed John Kuhn to convert with ease. Orlando Franklin left the game with an apparent injury.
Melvin Gordon, not to be outdone, picked up another 1st down on the ground. Dexter McCluster then showed off his open-field running on a swing pass that picked up another 1st down. Hunter Henry picked up the Chargers’ first 1st down of the game with a nice catch and run in the middle of the field. Travis Benjamin then had his first big return of the season to set up Philip Rivers and the offense with decent field position. The Saints were moving the ball again and had converted another 3rd down, but on the next 3rd down, Jerry Attaochu won his one-on-one and got to Brees to force a punt. The Chargers offense “responded” by going three and out.
The drive only ended when Mark Ingram was allowed to jog into the end zone untouched. Although, in fairness to Mager, the entire defense looked equally inept. The Chargers defense had a few opportunities to get off the field on 3rd down, but when you need to move the sticks, you can always just throw to the guy covered by Craig Mager. Drew Brees and the Saints showed early on that they could move the ball either passing or running the ball. The New Orleans Saints received the opening kickoff and started the game on offense.
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