Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints hope they have finally put their high-scoring offense in gear. The Cleveland Browns hope they may have just found a quarterback who can provide them any sort of offense at all.
The Saints, coming off their best game of the season, welcome the struggling Cleveland Browns and rookie quarterback Colt McCoy to the Superdome on Sunday.
The defending Super Bowl champions have struggled with consistency in 2010, pulling out close victories against the Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers.
They have averaged just over 18 points and 326 yards in those wins – far below the NFL-leading totals of 32 points and 404 yards per game they averaged last season.
Mixed in with the wins were a 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and a 30-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals two weeks ago in which New Orleans turned the ball over five times – three on picks by Brees.
Brees and the rest of the Saints (4-2) responded last week, pounding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-6. Brees threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns and rookie Chris Ivory, playing in place of injured Pierre Thomas, ran for 158 yards – the most by a Saint since 2003 – on 15 carries.
The Saints had season highs of 475 yards and 212 yards rushing after entering averaging just 75.6 yards per game on the ground. The six points surrendered were the fewest New Orleans had allowed in over two years.
Brees is leading the NFC with 1,673 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s completed 70.6 percent of his 231 passes with six interceptions. The 31-year-old is 3-0 against Cleveland, has won his last eight games against the AFC with a 108.2 passer rating and has a 114.6 passer rating at home since 2008.
The Browns (1-5) are coming off a 28-10 defeat against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
McCoy, playing in place of injured quarterbacks Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace, held his own in his pro debut and now gets rewarded with a start against the defending champs. The third-round pick completed 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions against the NFL’s top defense.
Cleveland ranks among the worst 10 teams in the NFL with averages of 98 yards rushing, 208.5 yards passing and 14.8 points – next to last in the NFL. And the Browns could be without wide receivers Joshua Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi, who both suffered concussions after helmet-to-helmet collisions with Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison.
Cleveland will also be without defensive end Robaire Smith and right tackle Tony Pashos, who both sustained season-ending injuries last week
Peyton Hillis has become the focal point of the office in recent weeks. He has 391 yards rushing and is averaging 4.4 yards per carry. Tight end Ben Watson leads the club with 29 catches and Hillis is second with 26.
Despite just one win, Cleveland has been competitive. Prior to last week’s loss, the Browns had a second-half lead in each of their first five games.
Cleveland leads the all-time series 11-4, but New Orleans won the last contest 19-14 in 2006.