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Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — The New Orleans Saints‘ offense had its performance of the season, when many of the players were at their lowest.
The Saints (4-4) put up a season-high in points in their 38-27 win against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and posted 511 yards of total offense — the most since they beat the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 25, 2020.
“I felt like there was a rhythm to what we were doing offensively, and that was good to see,” coach Dennis Allen said.
As Saints quarterback Derek Carr came to the podium for his postgame media session, he took a breath and said “gosh it feels good to fricking smile” after the turmoil amid their two-game losing streak.
Multiple players and coaches said after the game that the team needed a game like this, not only to regain confidence, but to reset after a week in which Carr said it probably looked like “the world was falling down” on them from the outside.
“Inside our building, we’re getting better, we’re talking about things, we’re communicating and I think that showed today,” said Carr, who’s 19-of-27 passing for 310 yards (and two touchdowns and no interceptions) marked the third straight game Carr went over the 300-yard mark.
Coming off a Thursday night game in Week 7, the Saints didn’t exactly have an easy time the last two days heading into the game. An illness swept the Saints locker room at the beginning of the week, sidelining two key starters in safety Marcus Maye and wide receiver Michael Thomas late in the week.
“Look, it’s no fun,” Allen said. “It’s a [gastrointestinal] bug that’s kind of been going through the group a little bit. … Hopefully it kind of runs its course.”
For some, like Alvin Kamara, it was a minor issue.
“I didn’t have what everyone else had.” said Kamara, who had 110 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. ” … I just had a little respiratory. But it’s cool. Once you’ve been in this league for a minute, the preparation is the preparation. … You’ve got to be a pro about it.”
For others like Thomas, it was 12-24 hours of misery — citing fever, chills and the inability to keep anything down.
Thomas said he came down with the sickness sometime Saturday morning. He barely ate for two days and instead relied on IVs, going through about nine bags between Saturday morning and Sunday to keep hydrated.
After missing the majority of three seasons because of injuries, he was insistent that he not miss a game.
“My guys needed me to be there,” Thomas said. “I just knew that, you know, it’s just accountability. If it wasn’t something, like how I missed all those games, I’m probably going to play. That’s just the mindset. That’s how much I missed it. … I was going to find a way to play.”
Thomas responded with four catches for 68 yards, his highest single-game total since 2020. But he was just a small part of the offensive firestorm, which included two rushing touchdowns for quarterback Taysom Hill, who ran for 63 yards, had a 44-yard pass and also a 14-yard reception.
It was also a career day for second-year wideout Rashid Shaheed, who had three catches for 153 yards and a touchdown. Shaheed had the third-most yards per reception by a player with at least three receptions in a game over the last 10 seasons.
All three of Shaheed’s catches came at critical moments. His 58-yard touchdown in the second quarter put the Saints up 21-17 at halftime, and he was able to secure the 44-yard pass from Hill despite a defender’s attempts to rip away the 50-50 ball.
“Sheed, for as fast as he is, the dude plays the ball as good as anyone I’ve been around,” Hill said. “When you get a look and an opportunity like that, you’re gonna let him go up and make a play, and man he did. I was certainly grateful.”
He also had a 51-yard pass from Carr late in the fourth quarter to set up a field goal and secure the game.
“That big one from Taysom, he wasn’t even really running,” Thomas said. “Sometimes he’s running so fast, when he gets next to guys he already has them beat. … He can outrun anyone, sometimes he can outrun the quarterback’s arm with how fast he is. The other thing he does tremendous, I’ve seen him do it week in and week out is the contested big boy catches.
“They try to label the speed guys as one dimensional, but to see him make those plays, that’s impressive.”
The Saints were able to build on some of the success they found late against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, incorporating some of the no huddle elements that helped them score two fourth-quarter touchdowns in that game.
The offense, which came into Week 8 tied for 28th in red zone efficiency, went 3-of-4 in the red zone, with the lone miss coming in the final two minutes of the game as the Saints set things up for a field goal to put the game out of reach.
“We were right on the brink of a game like this,” Hill said. “It was good to finally put it all together. Gives us a lot of confidence moving forward. … From the beginning, our expectations were to be able to score like this. Historically, we’ve been moving the ball, but we haven’t been scoring as much as we should have. I think it’s nice as an offense to see everything come together.”
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