NFL 2011 Week 5 - Drew Brees Directs Late Scoring Drive to Lead Saints Past Panthers

Drew Brees Directs Late Scoring Drive to Lead Saints Past Panthers
John Nestor

Charlotte, NC

Drew Brees directed a late scoring drive to lead the New Orleans Saints to a 30-27 victory over the Charlotte Panthers Sunday afternoon.

Brees threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Thomas with 50 seconds left to cap a 13-play, 89-yard drive and lift the Saints (4-1) to their fourth straight win.

The Panthers (1-4) drove into New Orleans territory in the final minute, but a holding penalty was a killer and time ran out of time before they could get into field goal range.

It was another gut-wrenching loss for the Panthers, who had had all of their games decided by seven points or less.

Brees extended his streak of games with at least one touchdown pass to 32 with a 1-yard scoring strike to Jed Collins. That score was set up by Patrick Robinson, who intercepted Carolina rookie quarterback Cam Newton on the first offensive play.

The streak is the third-longest in NFL history behind Johnny Unitas (47) and Brett Favre (36).

Brees also extended his streak of consecutive games with at least 20 completions to an NFL-record 25 games.