Packers can’t slow Saints

NEW ORLEANS – Drew Brees and Deuce McAllister gave Saints fans what they longed to see after 43 days away from the Louisiana Superdome.

Brees threw for four scores, McAllister set a Saints record with his 54th career touchdown and New Orleans rolled to a 51-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night.

Brees dismantled a Packers secondary that came in ranked third in the NFL with 176.3 yards passing allowed per game. He was 20 of 26 for 323 yards as New Orleans tied a club record for points scored in a game. Two of Brees’ touchdowns went to Lance Moore.

“We spread the ball around pretty good,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “You just saw (Brees) being very comfortable with where he was going each time and I thought he was extremely efficient — and those guys up front did a good job for him as well.”

Brees remained on pace to break Dan Marino’s 1984 record of 5,084 yards passing in a season. He has 3,574 yards with five games remaining. He also has the Saints (6-5) feeling better about their hopes of rallying for a playoff spot now that they’ve won two games in a row for the first time all season.

The Packers (5-6) dropped a game behind Minnesota and Chicago in the race for first in the NFC North.

“We didn’t slow them down at all tonight,” Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. “Give credit to the Saints and the play of their quarterback. He was on fire coming into the game and we didn’t cool him off any.”

Aaron Rodgers’ attempt to keep up with Brees’ torrid passing resulted in three interceptions, two by Jason David and one by Kevin Kaesviharn. David returned his first pick to the 3, setting up McAllister’s scoring run, which broke Dalton Hilliard’s club record set in 1993.

The sellout crowd erupted after McAllister’s score. The Saints’ career rushing leader kept the ball as he trotted to the sideline, where he was hugged by Payton.

“Obviously, a lot of emotion and we couldn’t be happier for him,” Payton said. “A typical Deuce McAllister run with a second effort that finished into the end zone.”

It might have been McAllister’s final game at the Superdome this season. He has appealed a four-game suspension levied after he tested positive for a diuretic banned by the NFL because it could be used as a masking agent for steroids. It is not clear when the league will rule on McAllister’s case.