ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) - Given how well Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara were running the ball against Buffalo, Saints quarterback Drew Brees couldn’t resist getting in on the fun.
Unable to find an open receiver while dropping back on first-and-goal from the 7, Brees took off to his left and scampered into the end zone courtesy of a key block from tackle Terron Armstead.
“I felt like I owed that to the running backs since they did all the work,” Brees said, in noting how the Saints ran the ball nine times for 87 yards to get into scoring position in the first place. “We needed another rushing touchdown.”
The Saints totaled a franchise-best six touchdowns rushing to win their seventh straight game by plowing through a porous Bills defense in a 47-10 rout on Sunday.
Ingram led a 298-yard ground attack with 131 yards rushing and a career-high three touchdowns. Kamara added 106 yards rushing and a score. And even Trey Edmunds found the end zone on a 41-yard scamper up the left sideline with 3:04 left.
The Saints (7-2) matched their win total from each of the past three seasons and became the second team in the Super Bowl Era to win seven in a row after an 0-2 start. The other team to do so was the 1993 Cowboys, who went on to beat Buffalo to win the title.
New Orleans’ defense isn’t a pushover either.
After Stephen Hauschka capped a nine-play, 57-yard opening drive with a 37-yard field goal, the Bills never crossed midfield over their next eight possessions.
Buffalo finished with 198 yards and 10 first downs - five of them coming on a meaningless final drive that ended with backup quarterback Nathan Peterman hitting Nick O’Leary on a 7-yard touchdown pass.
The Bills (5-4) have lost two straight in which they’ve allowed a combined 492 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, including a 34-21 loss to the New York Jets on Nov. 2.
“It’s two straight games where you get embarrassed,” linebacker Preston Brown told The Associated Press. “It has to change or we’ll be five and what, 5-11 if we don’t make a change.”
A number of things that stood out:
TIME OF POSSESSION
The Bills finished with just 18 minutes and 37 seconds in time of possession, including a measly 5:52 in the second half.
One reason was the Saints never punted in a game they crossed midfield on all but their final possession, which ended with them kneeling three times.
“They didn’t punt at all?” Brown said. “That felt like the longest game of my life.”
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Saints coach Sean Payton was unimpressed when reminded of how New Orleans was 4-7 in games when the temperature dipped below 44 degrees since he took over in 2006.
“I don’t know that anyone’s said that of late,” said Payton, when reminded the game-time temperature was 42. “I think it’s a little cliche. I think we’ve played well on the road.”
New Orleans improved to 4-1 on the road this season, matching its best win total since 2014.
STOPPING SHADY
Defensive end Cameron Jordan was pleased with how the Saints contained Bills running back LeSean McCoy to 49 yards rushing.
“Yeah, and he got almost all of that on the first run, right?” Jordan said, referring to McCoy’s 36-yard run up the left sideline.
Buffalo finished with 69 yards rushing, 7 yards more than it managed against the Jets.
TURNOVERS
Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins had an interception that bounced off tight end Charles Clay’s hands. Rankins returned it 27 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the Buffalo 3.
Bills linebacker Ramon Humber punched the ball out of tight end Josh Hill’s hands and defensive tackle Kyle Williams recovered the fumble at the Bills 9 to end New Orleans second possession.
MILESTONES
The Saints became the NFL’s fifth team - including playoffs - to gain at least 295 yards rushing and score six TDs rushing, and first since the Cleveland Browns did it on Nov. 24, 1957. … Ingram joined George Rogers in 1981 and Ricky Williams in 2000 in topping 130 yards rushing and scoring three TDs in Saints history. … The Bills’ run of scoring 20 or points at home ended at 13 games to snap the NFL’s longest active streak. … In dropping to 4-1 at Orchard Park, New York, Buffalo squandered a chance to open 5-0 at home for the first time since 1995.
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