Broncos 38, Saints 23
NEW ORLEANS — Mike Anderson once again left the Superdome tired but happy.
The former high school drummer beat the New Orleans Saints to the tune of 251 yards and four touchdowns Sunday to set an NFL rookie rushing record in Denver's 38-23 victory.
"I kind of lost track of the yards after the first quarter," said Anderson, after his first trip to the Superdome since high school. "Then someone told me about the record, but I thought it was just a Denver record, not NFL."
Actually, Anderson had both.
Anderson broke the rookie NFL mark of 246 yards on 39 attempts set by Corey Dillon on Dec. 4, 1997. He also broke Terrell Davis' 215-yard single-game rushing record for the Broncos.
"They had it going," Saints defensive end Darren Howard said. "They were blocking 10 of our people with 10 of their people, so it was just good execution by them."
The victory left Denver (9-4) in striking distance of the Oakland Raiders (10-3) in the AFC West. The Saints (8-5) stayed tied with the St. Louis Rams for first place in the NFC West.
The Broncos opened up a big lead in the second quarter with three touchdowns, taking a 28-13 advantage at the half. They made it 31-13 in the third quarter with Jason Elam's 22-yard field goal, and Anderson scored his final touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter.
Anderson was helped off the field in the third quarter with a badly bruised
left knee, but he returned and kept carrying the football.
"We ran two base plays all day," Anderson said. "Hand off left, hand off right."
In 1991, Anderson was in New Orleans with his South Carolina high school band during Mardi Gras, ending each day in the Superdome.
His romp Sunday seemed almost as choreographed.
"I don't think anybody has ever attacked the Saints this way," said quarterback Gus Frerotte, who's filling in for injured Brian Griese. "Everybody tries to spread them out and throw the ball on them. They're so good at pass rushing that we just had to wear them down on the run."
Anderson ran for a 13-yard touchdown in the first quarter, for touchdowns of 5 yards and 7 yards in the second quarter and for a 2-yarder in the fourth. He's the first Denver player to score four touchdowns in a game.
Frerotte, who had offset six touchdown passes with seven interceptions going into the game, was 11-of-16 for 201 yards with no interceptions and one sack. He threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Carswell in the second quarter.
New Orleans got another big game from Aaron Brooks, who completed 30 of 48 passes for 441 and two touchdowns, breaking Archie Manning's single-game team record of 377 yards set in 1980.