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Bush Powers Saints To Victory

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By BRETT MARTEL, The Associated Press

Published: October 22, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - Call him Reggie 'The Bruiser' Bush.

People know the flashy Heisman Trophy winner out of Southern Cal by all those highlights of him cutting, spinning and sprinting away from people in the open field.

Yet it was his underrated power and grit that turned a day of frustration into one of celebration for the New Orleans Saints.

His legs churning and body squirming as three Atlanta tacklers met him around the 2-yard line, Bush spun free and dived across the goal line on a crucial third-and-goal screen pass. His touchdown lifted New Orleans to a 22-16 victory against the Falcons on Sunday.

'How about Reggie Bush today? That was unbelievable,' Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said. 'You hear about all the flack he's taken from people for not being able to run downhill ... but that guy competes more than many people I've ever seen in the league. There was no chance he wasn't going to score on that.'

Bush threw the ball into the second deck of the Louisiana Superdome after the score. While fans chanted 'REG-GIE, REG-GIE' in celebration, Bush took a handoff on a 2-point conversion, raced to the sideline and dived for the pylon to put the Saints (2-4) up by six points with 5:04 remaining.

'I was just excited to make a play for my team. We struggled throughout the game. We really didn't have the game we wanted to,' Bush said. 'I just kept fighting, kept my feet moving and refused to go down.'

When the Falcons punted with less than 2 minutes to go and all of their timeouts left, Bush clinched the game with 7-yard first-down run, allowing the Saints to run out the clock.

Bush finished with only 54 yards rushing and 19 yards receiving on a difficult day during which New Orleans' offense often sputtered. He also had several good gains called back by penalties.

Atlanta (1-6) lost more than a game. Its newest starting quarterback, Byron Leftwich, left with what Coach Bobby Petrino said was a high ankle sprain after Saints defensive end Will Smith brought him down on a long incompletion early in the third quarter.

Joey Harrington, the starter until a loss to the New York Giants a week earlier, finished the game, going 12 of 18 for 128 yards. He led one scoring drive, which ended with Morten Andersen's 21-yard field goal to give Atlanta a 16-14 lead with 10:19 left.

Leftwich, who was cut by Jacksonville shortly before the season, completed 15 of 23 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown pass to Roddy White. He also led a pair of scoring drives that ended with Andersen field goals of 38 and 31 yards, giving the Falcons a 13-7 halftime lead.

'I was happy with the way he performed,' Petrino said. 'He was standing in there. He made good throws. The injury certainly hurt.'

Leftwich said after the game he did not know how long he'd be out and was too upset to speak at length.

'It's really, really frustrating out there right now, man,' he began. 'I'm sorry, but I just can't do this.'

Pierre Thomas, an undrafted rookie who made the Saints' regular-season roster against long odds, scored on a darting, tackle-breaking 24-yard run in the third quarter. Drew Brees gave New Orleans an early 7-0 lead with a 37-yard touchdown pass across the middle to Devery Henderson.

3

10

0

3

-

16

New Orleans

7

0

7

8

-

22

First Quarter

NO-Henderson 37 pass from Brees (Mare kick), 7:16.

Atl-FG Andersen 38, 2:26.

Second Quarter

Atl-FG Andersen 33, 10:21.

Atl-White 9 pass from Leftwich (Andersen kick), 3:31.

Third Quarter

NO-P.Thomas 24 run (Mare kick), 10:15.

Fourth Quarter

Atl-FG Andersen 21, 10:19.

NO-Bush 4 pass from Brees (Bush run), 5:04.

A-69,994

RUSHING-Atlanta, Norwood 6-38, Dunn 13-28, Leftwich 3-6, Mughelli 1-3, Harrington 1-0. New Orleans, Bush 17-54, P.Thomas 2-28, Brees 2-8, Stecker 1-1.

PASSING-Atlanta, Leftwich 15-23-0-145, Harrington 12-18-0-128. New Orleans, Brees 22-34-1-219.

RECEIVING-Atlanta, White 8-110, Jenkins 6-69, Robinson 3-53, Horn 3-25, Norwood 3-1, Milner 2-10, Blakley 1-4, Dunn 1-1. New Orleans, Johnson 5-54, Bush 5-19, Colston 3-45, Patten 2-29, Stecker 2-11, Karney 2-7, Henderson 1-37, Moore 1-10, Miller 1-7.

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