If that was a rusty Drew Brees on the field in New Orleans on Sunday, then the rest of the NFL is probably going to be in a lot of trouble once that rust wears off.
After missing the Saints' past five games with a thumb injury, Brees finally returned to the field on Sunday and he didn't miss a beat. With Brees under center, the Saints offense exploded for 510 yards in a 31-9 win over the Cardinals. It was the Saints' first time cracking the 500-yard mark since Week 1 when Brees was also under center.
In his return to the field against the Cardinals, Brees threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns. The most impressive thing about Brees' performance is that it came barely six weeks after he suffered a thumb injury that was supposed to take up to eight weeks to heal. After dicing up the Cardinals, Brees said his goal was always to return this week, even though doctors had suggest a return after the Saints' Week 10 bye might make more sense.
"This was kind of the week that I had in my mind from the moment that I got hurt," Brees said. "I think the doctors and everybody were saying after the bye week, but I was trying to fast track that as much as possible."
Brees clearly made the right call about playing, and once he hit the field, it was pretty much impossible to tell that he had ever missed any time. Fittingly, Brees' first completion of the game went to Michael Thomas, and after that, the two seemed to be reading each others' minds. Brees threw a total of 11 passes to Thomas, who caught all 11 of them for 112 yards and a touchdown.
The most surprising part of Brees' performance might have been the fact that he put up huge numbers without one of his favorite targets on the field. With Alvin Kamara out against Arizona, the Saints turned to Latavius Murray. Although some NFL teams have a thunder and lightning tandem at running back, Murray managed to fill both of those roles on Sunday.
When the Saints needed him to be a bruiser, he did it, and when they needed him to be more of a pass-catcher, he did that too. Murray totaled 155 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals with 102 of that coming on the ground and 55 yards coming through the air.
As for Brees, he did make one mistake -- a third quarter interception to Patrick Peterson -- but mistakes are kind of expected when you have a quarterback returning from a six-week break.
Brees will now be getting another break, except this one is planned. The Saints have a Week 9 bye, which means they'll likely be at full strength when they return in Week 10 to play the Falcons. With the Saints getting healthy and Brees having already worked off the rust, the road to the NFC title could end up going through New Orleans.
New Orleans 31-9 over Arizona
Cardinals-Saints grades by Cody Benjamin (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
L.A. Rams 24-10 over Cincinnati (in London)
Seattle 27-20 over Atlanta
L.A. Chargers 17-16 over Chicago
Detroit 31-26 over N.Y. Giants
Tennessee 27-23 over Tampa Bay
Indianapolis 15-13 over Denver
Jacksonville 29-15 over N.Y. Jets
Philadelphia 31-13 over Buffalo
Eagles-Bills grades by Jeff Kerr (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
San Francisco 51-13 over Carolina
Panthers-49ers grades by Jordan Dajani (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Houston 27-24 over Oakland
Raiders-Texans grades by Bryan DeArdo (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
New England 27-13 over Cleveland
Browns-Patriots grades by Tyler Sullivan (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
