Tradeskills » convert them to keep the drive moving

INDIANAPOLIS -- Drew Brees reverted to his customary form Saturday night. He was quick, creative and accurate. Even a couple of weeks away from practice, a pair of missed games and a seemingly stronger Colts defence couldnt derail Brees. Six days after returning to practice, the Pro Bowl quarterback threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter and led the still unbeaten Saints to a 23-17 preseason victory at Indianapolis. "I feel like it was a progression throughout the week, just getting the feel and the timing back," Brees said after going 9 of 15 for 127 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. "I dont think Im 100 per cent yet, but I feel like the tempo and the rhythm and those things are coming back." He was so impressive that Saints coach Sean Payton parked Brees on the bench after three series. Brees is likely to spend Thursday nights game against Baltimore there as the Saints try to complete their first perfect preseason. Naturally, Payton would rather make sure Brees plays this way in the Sept. 7 season opener at Atlanta. Brees went 9 of 15 for 128 yards with two touchdown passes, no interceptions and no sacks in his first career start at Lucas Oil Stadium. His passes were crisp and on time, and on the few occasions Brees did get into trouble, he found a way out. On the opening series, he threw an improvisational shovel pass to avoid a sack. A couple plays later, he converted third-and-8 by running for 10 yards, then slid at the Colts 3-yard line. Brees then threw a 3-yard TD pass to Austin Johnson, on the next play for a 7-0 lead. Two series later, Brees did it again with a 13-yard pass to Marques Colston for a 14-7 lead the Saints never surrendered. He had plenty of help, too. In the first half, New Orleans (3-0) rushed for 124 yards, piled up 288 total yards, and ran nearly twice as many plays (48) as the Colts (26). And the Saints defence allowed just 132 yards and picked off Andrew Luck once in the half, too. Payton couldnt have scripted it much better, with the exception of eight first-half penalties. But that was still better than what the Colts (0-3) endured. Luck played into the third quarter and still couldnt match Brees numbers. Indys starting quarterback was 10 of 18 for 103 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception on a night the Colts (0-3) welcomed back Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne. "Not a very good grade," Luck said when asked to evaluate his personal performance. "We never got in a rhythm, missing throws that I would like to make and turning the ball over." The best news of the night was that 35-year-old Wayne played for the first time since tearing the ACL in his right knee last October. Wayne received loud ovations from the fans when he ran onto the field after being announced as a starter during pregame introductions, and after making two catches. Both were wiped out by penalties, but Wayne did get tackled twice and bounced right up both times. "You think eight or 10 plays is right on time, but when it gets going, you want more," Wayne said. "Its good to be in the fire again. Its the way I wanted it." The Saints made sure it was a miserable night, too. Lucks 21-yard TD pass to Coby Fleener tied the score at 7, but Brees broke the tie with the TD pass to Colston. Lucks interception then set up a 39-yard field goal from Shayne Graham, and Graham hit a 24-yarder late to give the Saints a 20-7 lead. Adam Vinatieri closed the half with a 20-yard field goal, but the Colts couldnt get any closer until Chandler Harnish threw a 22-yard TD pass to Josh Lenz with 13:39 left in the game. New Orleans sealed the win with a 45-yard field goal from Derek Dimke and a defensive stop in the final minute. "What was really important in those drives, especially in the first one, were the third-down conversions because we had to convert them to keep the drive moving," Payton said. "Thats encouraging." Notes: The Colts had a moment of silence in honour of Maveah Alice Hughes, the 3-month-old daughter of defensive lineman Montori Hughes, who died last week as the result of a sudden illness. ... Saints receiver Kenny Stills left in the first half with a leg injury. Payton did not provide an update. ... Colts cornerback Darius Butler left with an ankle injury and will be re-evaluated overnight. Discount Detroit Lions Jerseys .com) - A chant of Zeke reverberated around AT&T Stadium before Ezekiel Elliott powered into the end zone for his fourth and final touchdown. Cheap Detroit Lions Gear . The St. Louis Cardinals were scheduled to arrive in Boston in time for a workout on Tuesday afternoon. Much of Mondays discussion focused on Bostons lineup considerations as the series progresses, specifically when the venue shifts to St. http://www.cheaplions.com/. But San Diego had even more trouble against right-hander Tanner Roark, who pitched a three-hitter for the first complete game of his career as the Nationals shut out the Padres 4-0. The 27-year-old set down the first 16 batters before San Diego catcher Rene Rivera, an . Cheap Detroit Lions Jerseys Online . -- Chad Labelle scored the winner 17:36 into the third period to give Medicine Hat a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday and lift the Tigers into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. Wholesale Detroit Lions Jerseys . -- Top-seed Shahar Peer and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the second round of the inaugural WTA Citi Open.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins hope to rebound from a loss in the opener of the Eastern Conference second round series when they host the rival New York Rangers in Sundays Game 2 from CONSOL Energy Center. New York placed second in the Metropolitan Division this season, finishing 13 points behind the Penguins, but the Rangers were able to strike first in this best-of-seven set, taking Game 1 by a 3-2 score in overtime. Derick Brassard scored at 3:06 of the extra session to lift the Rangers to victory, although the end of the game was far from conventional. Brassard knew he scored off a feed from Benoit Pouliot, but the game went on. Seconds later, with the Penguins still scrambling around in their zone, Brassard set up Pouliot for what appeared to be the winning goal. However, the original shot by Brassard was reviewed and showed the puck clearly going underneath the crossbar and inside the left post. Because the puck sprung back out so quickly, it wasnt evident that it was a good goal and play continued, albeit momentarily. "It was all (Pouliots) play," Brassard said. "First of all, he cut (off) the pass behind the net and right away he found me in front of the net. At first, I thought it went in. I thought it went under the bar and the ref said it wasnt in. The puck came back to me and (Pouliot) was open. It was a great feeling." New York opened a playoff series with an OT win for the first time since Game 1 of the Patrick Division Finals on Apr. 17, 1986 at Washington . The Blueshirts have won eight of the last 10 playoff series in which they won Game 1, including four of the last six playoff series in which they won Game 1 on the road. Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for the Rangers, including one on Lee Stempniak in the final 11 seconds of regulation. New York won a Game 7 at home against Philadelphia on Wednesday to advance to the second round for the third consecutive year.dddddddddddd The Flyers and Rangers had played Game 6 in Philly on Tuesday, so Fridays tilt was New Yorks third test in three different cities over the span of four days. When the Rangers host Pittsburgh in Game 3 on Monday it will mark five games in seven days for New York. Despite New Yorks recent workload and the fact that the Penguins had three days off ahead of Fridays opener, the home club was the team that looked flat for large stretches of Game 1. "For whatever reason, we didnt come out hard enough," said Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby. "I thought those goals in the second definitely gave us a boost. I thought from there on we had some good chances. Pretty even after that." Stempniak and James Neal scored second-period goals for Pittsburgh, which outshot the visitors by a 36-27 margin in the loss. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24-of-27 shots for the Pens after struggling at times during his teams first- round win over Columbus. "They got the first one tonight. Its disappointing, but (we) got to have a short memory," said Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma. Both teams were 0-for-4 on the power play. The Rangers have failed to score 25 straight times with the man advantage dating back to its first-round series against Philadelphia. The Penguins have won all four previous playoff series with the Rangers. After Fridays loss, Pittsburgh fell to 16-5 all-time against New York in the postseason. Pittsburgh defenceman Brooks Orpik missed Game 1 with an undisclosed injury and he is questionable for Game 2. Orpik also sat out Game 6 against Columbus and Robert Bortuzzo could fill in for him on Sunday for a third straight game. 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