From a city that was ravaged by the likes of a giant storm called “Hurricane Katrina”, a new giant would show up 10 years later by the name of “Eli Manning”. And, just like the first time Drew Brees and the city of New Orleans showed it’s resiliency against such a foe, this time would also prove to be no match for the tag team of Brees and the Crescent City once again. To say that the city of New Orleans was back and better than ever would be an understatement. If fans of the NFL think that the Seattle Seahawks (outdoor) stadium is the loudest in the NFL, then you have never been to the Superdome on a meaningful gameday! November 1st, 2015 would prove to be a game for the ages to say the least. If you would have told me that this game between the Saints and Giants would end up one of the best games in history, and have several records broken on the day, I would have politely called you a liar!

Pregame: On a rainy day in New Orleans, and I mean rainy, we made our way to the Superdome for our first ever credentialed NFL game. With the weather not cooperating, the tailgates were moved into the parking garages. While walking through on our way to Media Will-Call to pick up our press passes you could feel a buzz in the air. The Saints were getting back on track having won two consecutive games, and an impressive 27-21 victory over the Colts the week prior to the days matchup. After receiving our credentials our name was on the list to cover the game from the press box. The Saints go all out in media preparation giving out programs, the usual breakfast and lunch to media, worksheets, Gameday notes, current depth charts, etc. The piece of candy that awaits you is a nice touch as well (kudos) for giving me a Twix, which is my favorite! After studying our material for the game and the ever so beautiful National Anthem it was time for kickoff.

Game-time: New York won the coin toss and elected to defer, so the home team Saints would get the ball first, and try to get on the board. The Saints first series ended up being a 3 and out. Drew Brees missed Brandin Cooks on a deep pass to the left that would have been a touchdown, and the go ahead score. The Giants would get on the board first by driving down the field on a 10 play, 60 yard drive with Manning hitting Beckham for the score on a 2 yard touchdown pass. On the next possession, Brees would get things going by hitting Snead on a flea flicker deep for a 34 yard touchdown. To sit and try to give you every score for this game would not do justice of how back and forth this game really was. Brees would later hit Brandin Cooks on a TD pass to take a 14-7 lead going into the second quarter. Both QB’s started to heat up, and go toe to toe for the duration of this game. In the second, Manning hit Beckham for his second touchdown of the game. Brees would counter with a 53 yard bomb to Colston. The score at the half 28-21 good guys (Saints). Before the start of this game I mentioned that Brees would get back on track after only throwing 8 touchdowns on the year so far. I had mentioned that the Saints would win and Brees would throw 4 for the day. He had 4 in the first half. You could tell by the flow of the game that something special was about to happen and that this game would end up going down to the wire. The third quarter rolled around, Brees connected on 2 more TD passes (cooks with his 2nd and Snead with his 2nd). Manning would throw another to Beckham giving him 3 touchdowns on the day. After 3 quarters of play Manning had thrown 4 TD passes, Brees 5. In the fourth the QB’s would continue to trade blow for blow. Manning threw 2 more TD’s while Brees threw another to take his total to six. The Giants fell behind 42-28. After a TD to Harris in the 4th bringing the score to 42-35, Eli would throw another to Harris to tie the game at 42-42. The Giants then forced a fumble from the hands of Willie Snead returned by McBride for a score of 63 yards to take the lead with just over 7 minutes remaining. With the score 49-42, Spiller would find the endzone on a 9 yard pass from Brees for his record tying 7th TD pass of the game. New York would get the ball back with the game tied at 49-49 with 36 seconds left to play. The Giants would punt the ball to be fumbled and picked up by Willie Snead at the NYG 47 yard line. With a penalty on the play, the ball was moved to the 32 yard line to set up a game winning field goal by Saints kicker, Kyle Forbath. The kick was up and it was good for a final score of 52-49. This game was amazing to witness live. It featured the most combined Touchdown passes ever. Brees tied the record by throwing 7 TD’s on the day while piling up 511 yards while going 40-50 with only one pick. Manning went 30-41 with 6 TD passes and 350 yards as well. O’Dell Beckham had a huge day reeling in 3 TD passes on 8 catches for 130 yards. For the Saints, Ben Watson had another huge game catching 9 balls for 147 yards and a score. Willie Snead scored twice. Cooks had 2 TD’s as well. After a game for the ages we made our way down onto the field, and into the locker room.

Post-Game: The Saints were visibly not happy about giving up 49 points to the Giants, but happy to get another big win nonetheless. We spoke to Watson, Cooks, and Snead after the game, but with the day Brees had we decided to focus solely on his words afterwards. When Brees was asked about this wild game he responded “We were just in the flow of the game. We had a really nice rhythm. Sometimes that’s how this game is played” When asked about the kicker getting the game ball after putting up these types of numbers Brees replied ” That’s fine. Did you see that kick?” Brees would go on to say that this is one of the craziest games he has ever been apart of, and I can’t help but agree. After the media session, we made our way out onto the field to take in New Orleans one last time before heading back home.

In Closing: This was a great experience for us, and helps us gain credibility with what we are trying to do here at Sportsnerdz.com. We met a ton of great people and look forward to seeing you guys soon.

 

Written By: Joshua Petry

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