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NEW ORLEANS -- The great folks at ESPN Stats & Information passed along some great stuff on Drew Brees' phenomenal game against New England.

Brees was absolutely perfect throwing to the right side of the field.

A few other note include that Brees was 10-for-10 for 295 yards and three touchdowns on first down. Fourteen of Brees’ 27 pass touchdown passes this season have come on first down. Brees also was a perfect 10-for-10 for 255 yards and four touchdowns over the second and third quarters.

NEW ORLEANS -- For the last hour or so, e-mails and texts have been coming in from friends, who should know better than to e-mail or text while I’m working, to ask if I saw this coming.

I’ll answer one and all now: No. Not like this. Not anything like this.

Yeah, sure, I thought the Saints were very good and had a chance to win against New England. But I thought, if they won, it would be on some dramatic last-second play.

But absolutely blowing the Patriots out? No. And if anybody told you that, they were either a delusional Saints’ fan or they were lying.

You can’t make up what happened Monday night. With rookie Malcolm Jenkins and two really old cornerbacks (Mike McKenzie and Chris McAlister), who were signed off the street in the past two weeks, having to play significant roles because of injuries, this one should have been a mismatch for Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

Turned out it was a mismatch. The Saints made Brady look ordinary and I’m having a tough time recalling Moss doing anything of significance.

By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a quarterback have a better game than Drew Brees. All right, that’s all I’ve got right now. I’m heading down to the locker room for post-game interviews. I’ll be back with a full column in a bit.

NEW ORLEANS – With that touchdown catch by reserve tight end Darnell Dinkins, which was his first catch of any sort this year, the Saints have now had 19 different players score touchdowns this season.

Pretty amazing, but it’s not a record. There are several teams who have had 20 or 21 players score in a season. With five games left, the Saints can chase that.

So far tonight, Drew Brees has thrown touchdown passes to Dinkins, receivers Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson and running back Pierre Thomas.

NEW ORLEANS – The Saints really are going to find out how much recently-signed veteran cornerbacks Mike McKenzie and Chris McAlister have left in the second half.

The team just announced that cornerback Randall Gay has a leg injury and will not return to the game. The Saints already were without injured starters Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter. Rookie Malcolm Jenkins and Gay were the primary corners in the first half with McKenzie getting a lot of work as the third corner.

Now, the Saints have moved McKenzie and McAlister each up one spot.

NEW ORLEANS -- Marques Colston gets most of the attention for being the Saints’ best receiver.

But he’s been quiet so far tonight. Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson haven’t. Each of those two receivers has caught a touchdown pass as the Saints have stormed to a 24-10 halftime lead.

Yes, Drew Brees can make any receiver look good, but let’s give Meachem and Henderson some credit. These guys took a lot of criticism early in their careers and they have overcome it quite nicely. Henderson was pretty much a drop machine early in his career. But he became a sure-handed receiver last year and that’s only continued.

He’s having the game of his life so far tonight. Henderson has caught three passes for 116 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown. Meachem also caught a touchdown.

The first-round pick in 2007, Meachem was a non-factor in his first two seasons. But he suddenly has become a touchdown machine. He now has at least one touchdown catch in each of the last four games. He has caught six touchdowns in the last six games and has seven on the season.

NEW ORLEANS -- The Saints just scored on a 75-yard pass from Drew Brees to Devery Henderson to take a 17-7 lead.

But I think the real hero on that play might have been tight end Jeremy Shockey. He stayed in and picked up blitzing cornerback Jonathan Wilhite. Shockey took Wilhite out of the play and nobody picked up Henderson.

NEW ORLEANS -- A bit of good news for the Saints on the injury front.

Running back Mike Bell, who limped off the field a few minutes ago, will return to the game. According to the Saints, he suffered a stinger.

NEW ORLEANS – History will tell us for sure, but I think we might have just seen a coming-out moment in Sean Payton’s ascendancy as a head coach.

Under the brightest of lights, he just went for it on fourth down against Bill Belichick, who already has gone for it on fourth down twice (and succeeded both times) tonight, and I seem to recall Belichick going for it on fourth down a few other times in recent weeks.

Anyway, Payton’s moved paid off in a big way. On that fourth-and-2 from New England’s 21-yard line, Pierre Thomas produced a 3-yard run.

On the next play, Thomas took a screen pass from Drew Brees and scored. That’s a lot better than settling for a field goal to give New Orleans a 10-7 lead.

I wouldn’t recommend going for it on fourth down all the time, but Payton showed he can do it too.

NEW ORLEANS – He was announced as a starter in the pregame, and cornerback Mike McKenzie, who just re-signed with the Saints last week, was in the lineup on the first defensive play.

The Saints opened with three cornerbacks (Randall Gay and Malcolm Jenkins were the other two) and I think we’re going to see lots of McKenzie tonight with Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter out with injuries.

Although McKenzie hasn’t played in coordinator Gregg Williams’ system before tonight, he was a starter for the Saints before injuries prompted the team to let him go after last season. The Saints also recently signed veteran cornerback Chris McAlister.

NEW ORLEANS -- It didn’t end quite the way it started, but, still, the Saints were impressive on the opening drive.

They had to settle for a John Carney field goal that hit the upright before going through. Taking three points, instead of seven, is a bit disappointing. But the Saints looked great early in a drive that went 53 yards on eight plays.

Drew Brees opened the game with a 33-yard pass to Devery Henderson and Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell each had a nice run.

Now, let’s see what the New Orleans defense can do.

NEW ORLEANS -- The Saints have declared starting cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Jabari Greer inactive for tonight's game. Running back Reggie Bush also is inactive.

All three had been listed as questionable because of injuries. Also inactive for the Saints are Garrett Hartley, Jonathan Casillas, DeMario Pressley, receiver Lance Moore and fullback Kyle Eckel.

NEW ORLEANS – Alright, I just arrived at the Superdome with surprisingly little difficulty.

It’s a great atmosphere outside. Right now, the inside of the dome is very quiet. One of New England’s team buses just arrived and some players are walking across the field to their locker room.

There are a few Saints out stretching and the national anthem is being rehearsed. But that’s about it for now. I’ll be back as soon as I start getting injury updates and/or inactives.

NEW ORLEANS -- As many of you know, I generally don’t make predictions -- just a personal philosophy that predictions really don’t mean anything.

But my friend Jeff Duncan of The New Orleans Times Picayune asked me for a pick on the game between the Saints and Patriots and I answered. You can hear and see it here. Duncan also makes his pick and it’s pretty similar to mine.

NEW ORLEANS -- I’m getting ready to head over to the Superdome for Monday night’s clash between the Saints and Patriots.

However, we’ve got some interesting developments elsewhere in the NFC South.

It appears many Carolina fans might finally get their wish of seeing Matt Moore as the starting quarterback. But it may be coming for a reason different than you’d expect. Jake Delhomme has a broken finger on his throwing hand.

Of course, John Fox wouldn’t reveal which finger is involved and will only say that Delhomme is day to day. But this opens the way for a somewhat dignified switch from Moore to Delhomme.

Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris explained his controversial decisions in Sunday’s loss to Atlanta.

How big is tonight’s game in New Orleans? The city is shutting down -- seriously. I better get on my way to the Superdome.

Merril Hoge debates Merril Hoge over who will win Monday night's game.