The Shootout in the Superdome is what many people are going to call this matchup between the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants on Saturday afternoon.
In a game that had 14 touchdowns between both teams, it all came down to the leg of kicker Kai Forbath, who had signed with the Saints only two weeks ago.
But it was Eli Manning connecting with fellow New Orleans native Odell Beckham Jr. for the opening score of the game on a 4th and goal at the 2 yard line.
Brees responded back quickly with a flea flicker to connect with Willie Snead to tie it up.
After the Saints defense forced a three-and-out, Brees found paydirt again, this time connecting with Brandin Cooks to take the lead.
OBJ and Manning were in sync once again with a short pass to tie things up again.
Brees and the Saints continued to fight onward with another touchdown pass connecting with Marques Colston who waltzed into the endzone from 53 yards out.
After another Giants three-and-out, the Saints extended their lead over the Giants with a methodical drive that was capped off by a short pass to Willie Snead. But the Giants were able to close the gap heading into the locker room thanks to drive extending penalties by the Saints defense and the drive was capped off with a short pass to Shane Vereen.
The Giants got the ball back to open the second half and wasted little time in tying the game up with Manning once again finding his favorite target in Beckham for his third touchdown of the game to knot things up 28-all.
Brees responded with a 21 yard pass to Cooks to get the lead back. He did it again when he connected to one of his favorite targets over the last three game in Ben Watson to go up two scores.
But the Giants weren’t about to go away that easily. Manning continued to shine with a methodical drive ending it with a short pass to Dwayne Harris. Manning found Harris on the next possession to tie things up.
The Giants defense gave the team the lead with a fumble by Snead that was recovered by Trumaine McBride and taken to the house.
When the Saints got the ball back, they had a slow and methodical drive that ended with Brees getting his 7th touchdown of the game, tying the all-time record for touchdown passes in a single game.
The Saints defense got the job done forcing a three-and-out and forcing a punt that Marcus Murphy returned to the Giants 47 before fumbling the ball forward. The Giants had gotten a 15-yard facemask penalty on the play that put the ball at the Saints 32 which set the stage for Forbath to either end it in regulation or send it to overtime. And he sent it through the uprights to give the Saints their third straight win.
The Saints (4-4) will stay inside the Superdome to take on the Tennessee Titans (1-6) with kickoff scheduled for 12 pm.
-Clint Domingue