Brees help Saints over Cowboys with 400th career touchdown

As Drew Brees watched Saints teammate Zach Hocker clank a potential winning field goal off the upright Mark Streit Elite Jersey before a stunned Superdome crowd, the veteran quarterback began trying to convince himself that he was simply meant to throw his 400th career touchdown pass in overtime. Brees hit a couple notable career throwing marks on Sunday night, passing for his 5,000th career completion and his 400th touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys. The former set his team on the winning path, and the latter won the game for the Saints in overtime, 26-20. There was a time, not so long ago, when New Orleans-Dallas would have been must-watch television. Brees vs. Tony Romo, among so many others, made The Big Easy vs. The Big D one of the year's great showdowns. But Romo is on the sidelines. Brees is a weak-armed shadow of his former self, at least for the moment. The game ended on a high note for Brees, but the overwhelming message is clear: These are two teams that don't scare anybody. Brees, who had been limited http://www.authenticsabresshop.com/authentic-1-jhonas-enroth-jersey.html in action because of injuries sustained earlier this season, threw completion No. 5,000 to Josh Hill in the first quarter for a go-ahead touchdown, No. 399 on his career list. He would finish 33 of 41 for 359 yards and two touchdowns against a depleted and inexperienced Dallas defense. Brees ranks behind only Brett Favre (6,300) and Peyton Manning (6,025) on the career completions list. Brees' 400th touchdown came on an 80-yard pass to C.J. Spiller, a touchdown that slammed the door on Dallas without even giving the Cowboys a shot in OT. For the record, Brees' first touchdown came on November 4, 2001, while with the San Diego Chargers. He completed a 20-yard pass to Freddie Jones, his only touchdown of his rookie season. He'd get better. Brees hit C.J. Spiller with a short pass that the running back turned into an 80-yard touchdown on the second play of overtime and New Orleans won for the first time this season, 26-20 over the injury-decimated Cowboys on Sunday night. ''Right when the play call came out of (coach) Sean Payton's mouth for C.J., I thought, 'This is it. This is going the distance,'' Brees recalled. ''I thought it was great for our team to have to recharge and immediately snap back into what we were going to need to do to win the game. ''That's how a team grows,'' the quarterback continued, adding, ''Man, it makes for an exciting locker room afterward.'' Brees then quickly marched New Orleans into what should have been easy Serge Savard Kids Jersey field goal range, only to have the celebration delayed when Hocker, a first-year kicker who had hit from 51 yards earlier, hit the left upright from 30 yards out, crouching in agony afterward. ''It's unacceptable, but (I'm) thankful those guys have my back out there,'' Hocker said. ''Next time I'm going to get it.'' New Orleans won the toss and took the ball first. Two plays later, the game was over on the first TD of the season by Spiller, who was signed as a free agent last offseason. ''I knew nobody was going to catch him,'' Brees said. Dallas safety Barry Church had the best chance to make a game-saving tackle, but was no match for Spiller's speed. ''We were in man-to-man coverage, and Brees saw that from the jump http://www.authenticwildshop.com/authentic-9-mikko-koivu-jersey.html and saw we had a linebacker on Spiller,'' Church said. ''He laid the ball up there perfectly for him. I tried to get over the top to help him out, but he was down the sideline.''