It’s halftime in New Orleans and the Saint lead the Seattle Seahawks, 27-16 . The Seahawks appeared to stop the Saints with just under two minutes left in the half, but a controversial rougher the passer call allowed New Orleans to prolong the drive, leading to a touchdown and 14 point lead. Seattle had just closed the gap to 21-13 on a Ben Obomanu touchdown catch. Instead of going into the half down eight, or perhaps less, it’s a two score game as a result.
After the Saints kicked the ball out of bounds following the score, Seattle was driving, reaching field goal range with just under a minute left in the half. Holding and intentional grounding penalties backed them up out of field goal range momentarily, but Olindo Mare hit a 43 yard field goal as time expired in the half.
New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees became the Saints’ all-time leader in completions, passing Archie Manning late in the first half. Brees has thrown for 205 yards and three touchdowns so far. Marques Colston leads the Saints’ receivers with 93 yards and two touchdowns. Robert Meachum added a three yard touchdown catch for the Saints. Chris Ivory was running well in the first half before leaving with an injury, carrying the ball 10 times for 65 yards and a touchdown.
Playing with a broken left wrist, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw for 244 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Mike Williams led all receivers with 99 yards in the half, including an impressive 68-yard grab in the first quarter. Ben Obomanu added 76 yards and a touchdown for the Seahawks. The ground game has been largely ineffective for Seattle so far, with Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett only picking up six yards in one half of play.