The New Orleans Saints lost 26-24 to the New England Patriots, but they didn’t really mind after a whirlwind of a first quarter thanks to the cooperation between Drew Brees and Brandin Cooks, who plans to pick things up from where he left them last season.
Brees has spoken this week about fixing his throwing motion over the offseason, and he looked sharp as he completed 8-of-10 passes for 159 yards and a couple of touchdowns, feeling very comfortable in the Superdome.
Four of Brees’ passes were caught by Cooks, one of them on a 45-touchdown play. Benjamin Watson, the former Patriots player, also caught one pass for a touchdown, while Mark Ingram looked good both on the ground with 18 yards on six carries and in the passing game, catching three for 45 yards.
The Saints actually led 21-0 and could have had a bigger lead if they hadn’t failed three times on the 2-point conversions. The Saints played without their four starting defensive backs.