The Saints welcomed Gregg Williams back into the town and lit his defense on fire. Drew Brees and the crew showed no mercy, and everybody got in on the whooping.

New Orleans easily collected their fifth win of the season, improving their record to 56, and their 49-21 victory was the worst beating Williams ever took as the Rams' defensive coordinator.

The game was actually competitive in the first half. The Rams scored first on Jared Goff's first career touchdown pass, Brandon Coleman tied it back up, then both offenses got hot in the second quarter, trading blows back and forth. New Orleans took a 28-21 lead into the locker room at halftime, then they completely dominated the second half.


Brees passed for 310 yards and four touchdowns, connecting twice with Michael Thomas (9 catches, 108 yards, 2 TD's), and he tossed one score apiece to Coleman and Mark Ingram. Ingram had himself a fine day as well, racking up 146 yards and a second touchdown on only 15 carries.

Overall, the Saints more than doubled the Rams offensive output. New Orleans outgained them 555 to 247 in the yards department, and they poured it on with almost every offensive player getting involved. Brees spread the ball around on New Orleans' former coach's defense, but he kept things clean and humble when he was asked about the added motivation of paying Williams back for "Bountygate."

"We know that he's a very good defensive coach. The last four games, they haven't given up more than 17 points," Brees said. "We had our challenge, but we rose to the occasion."

That's an understatement, Drew. You took the challenge, shredded it up and lit it on fire.

On defense, the Saints held the Rams to only 69 rushing yards, forcing Goff to shoulder the load. The rookie tossed three touchdowns in the first half, but New Orleans made their adjustments and shut him down for the rest of the game. They ended up with three sacks, a fumble and an interception as their harassment started getting to Goff.

After two straight heartbreaking losses, this was the medicine Who Dat Nation needed. The win was exactly what the doctor ordered, and it felt even better than it looked on paper.

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