NEW ORLEANS — Fans sitting in the upper deck of the Superdome turned their backs to the field, where the New Orleans Saints were setting franchise records, and saluted head coach Sean Payton, who was sitting high above in a booth with his broken leg propped up.
He might as well have had both feet up by the middle of the third quarter.
Drew Brees completed 31 of 35 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns, and the Saints set a franchise record for points and victory margin in a 62-7 demolition of the hapless Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night.
Even with coach Sean Payton up in the booth, the Saints were firing on all cylinders Sunday and it showed in the final score.
“I was real proud of how we played tonight, how we handled the week of practice,” said Payton, standing on crutches after the game. “We spent a lot of time during the week just talking about us beginning to play our best football, because we really felt while we were 4-2, we hadn’t done that.”
Payton had called offensive plays from the sidelines since he took his first head coaching job with New Orleans in 2006, but that changed after he was caught up in a tackle along the sideline during a loss at Tampa Bay last week and was injured. Payton had surgery on Monday and didn’t attend a practice until Thursday.
Sitting high up in the Superdome for the game against the Colts, he had to like what he saw down below, where offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. called plays for the first time.
Brees had two touchdown passes to Marques Colston and one to Darren Sproles in the first quarter. His fourth and fifth touchdown tosses went to second-year tight end Jimmy Graham in the third quarter.
It seemed the Saints (5-2) could do whatever they wanted, also rushing for 236 yards.
“We had a great game plan. We played with a lot of confidence. Pete did a phenomenal job,” Brees said. “It was just our night, one of those games that doesn’t come along too often. … We needed a win like this, especially after the past week and everything we’ve gone through.”
The Saints’ point total tied the most in a game by any team since the AFL merged with the NFL in 1970.
The Saints’ previous franchise high for points in a game was 51 on three occasions and their largest previous victory margin was 42 over Denver in 1988.
When the large video board in the Superdome showed Payton peerin
via Indianapolis Colts vs. New Orleans Saints – Recap – October 23, 2011 – ESPN.
