Drew Brees tossed three touchdown passes and the red-hot New Orleans Saints romped to a 45-28 victory over the Detroit Lions in a National Football League wild-card shootout on Saturday.
The Saints, Super Bowl champions two years ago, raced into the post-season as the NFL’s hottest team and rode that momentum to a ninth-straight win to set up a divisional showdown against the San Francisco 49ers on January 14.
Only four quarterbacks have ever passed for over 5,000 yards in a single NFL season and two of them, Brees and Lions Matthew Stafford, were on the field in New Orleans promising a night of offensive fireworks at the Louisiana Superdome.
As usual, it was Brees at the controls of the NFL’s top offence providing most of the pyrotechnics as the Saints attack piled up a post-season record of 626 total yards.
Brees, who set the new single season passing mark, zeroed in on some playoff records completing 33 of 43 passes for 466 yards – the second most ever in the NFL post-season.
After a slow start, the Saints were unstoppable in the second half where Brees had all his touchdown passes, including a 56-yarder to Robert Meachem and a 41-yard strike to Devery Henderson as New Orleans outscored Detroit 35-14 over the final two quarters.
Jimmy Graham was also on the receiving end of a Brees touchdown pass while Darren Sproles ran for a pair of scores and Pierre Thomas added one late in the game.
Stafford provided his share of thrills completing 28 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns, including two to the NFL’s leading receiver Calvin Johnson and another to Will Heller. source: www.reuters.com/article
Lindsey Vonn won a Lake Louise downhill for a remarkable ninth time on Saturday and for her tenth World Cup victory in all at the Canadian resort.
The American’s 44th World Cup win, in one minute 51.35 seconds, was just marginally less impressive than the previous day’s when she had left nearest rival Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein nearly two seconds adrift.
This time, Vonn beat France’s Marie Marchand-Arvier by 1.68 seconds while world champion Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was third, 1.91 adrift. Vonn also won a Super-G in Lake Louise last winter.
“This course fits me so perfectly. I have been skiing on it for almost 15 years since I was a kid and I hope to ski on it many more times before I give up skiing,” said the American, who equalled Austria’s Renate Goetschl, the only other winner of 10 races in the same resort, in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
But Vonn disclosed she had struggled a little more than in Friday’s opening downhill on the same piste.
She said: “The course was rough, there were lots of ruts. It was more challenging and in the middle part, I nearly lost my balance. I was lucky to make it down to the finish without serious problems.
“I don’t have that many doubles so this is great,” added the downhill Olympic champion who also won both downhills on her favourite piste two seasons ago.
Finishing second was an achievement for Marchand-Arvier, who had only three previous World Cup podiums behind her.
“It’s great for my confidence and I hope to score more podiums this season. For wins, it’s almost impossible. Lindsey is on another planet,” said the Frenchwoman, who has taken time to recover after a bad crash two seasons ago.
Goergl’s medal placing was also a morale booster in the speed events as she had finished a disappointing 20th in Friday’s opening downhill.
The Austrian is also recovering from a recent crash and improving steadily.
Giant slalom Olympic champion Vitkoria Rebensburg confirmed her progress in the discipline with her second fourth place in two days.
The German is now second in the overall World Cup standings, 42 points behind Vonn.
The race was halted after American Laurenne Ross crashed heavily before being flown to hospital by helicopter. The extent of her injuries was not immediately known but she was conscious throughout. source: www.reuters.com/news/sports
