NEW ORLEANS — David Bowens, 33, looks even older than he is, with specks of gray in his hair and beard.
So after the Cleveland linebacker intercepted Drew Brees twice Sunday and returned both for touchdowns, teammates celebrating their stunning 30-17 victory over the defending champion New Orleans Saints joked at Bowens’ expense.
“They say I’m the oldest guy to score two touchdowns since Larry Csonka,” Bowens said, alluding to the Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame fullback.
Age didn’t seem to be a factor during Bowens’ returns of 30 and 64 yards, the second of which he punctuated by clumsily somersaulting into the end zone.
“I can’t dance,” Bowens said, explaining that his celebration was a reprise of Reggie Bush’s end zone somersault in the NFC title game in January 2007. “I can’t do it as sweet as he does it. I’m a little heavier than he is and a little older.”
Bowens, 6-3, 265, came into the game with one touchdown in his 11-year career, that coming on a blocked punt.
“You don’t dream of games like that,” Bowens said. “You don’t ever think anything is going to happen like that. It’s unbelievable.”
Perhaps Bowens had a little karma working for him in New Orleans. Several years ago, he helped raise $20,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Incidentally, his career best performance came not only at Brees’ expense, but just days after the quarterback had welcomed a son named Bowen.
Brees, who was intercepted 11 times last season, has thrown 10 already. The only other time Brees had four interceptions in a game was when New Orleans lost to Tennessee in September 2007.
Scott Fujita and Sheldon Brown also had interceptions for Cleveland. Fujita, a defensive leader for the Saints last season and a former fan favorite in the Louisiana Superdome, snagged his interception at the Cleveland 3 tothwart a likely scoring drive. Fujita also had one of three sacks on Brees. He was constantly watching the Saints’ sideline for substitutions, then relayed the information to his own sideline to help with pre-snap adjustments.
Afterward, Cleveland coach Eric Mangini gave Fujita a game ball.
Rookie Colt McCoy completed 9 of 16 passes for only 74 yards but got his first victory as an NFL starter - a desperately needed one for the struggling Browns (2-5). Peyton Hillis (Conway, Arkansas Razorbacks) rushed for a 4-yard score for Cleveland’s only offensive touchdown. McCoy had a 13-yard reception on a halfback pass from Hillis, setting up Phil Dawson’s 28-yard field goal.
The Saints (4-3) never led and got no closer in the second half than 20-10 on Brees’ 11-yard pass to David Thomas early in the fourth quarter.
The Saints outgained Cleveland 394-210, but the Browns made big plays on defense and special teams in building a 20-3 halftime lead that had the crowd booing the defending Super Bowlchampions as they went to the locker room.
First, Joshua Cribbs passed across the field early on his punt return to Eric Wright, who bolted up the sideline for 62 yards to the New Orleans 19. That set up Dawson’s 23-yard kick.
Late in the half, punter Reggie Hodges shocked the Saints by darting through a huge hole up the middle for 68 yards to the Saints 9. Soon after, Dawson hit from 21 yards.
Hillis’ short scoring run was set up by a pass interference call against Malcolm Jenkins on a long attempt to Cribbs.
Bowens’ first interception on a tipped pass that Brees threw under pressure made it 20-3 shortly before halftime.
Brees did not have to miss any work for the birth of his second son last Tuesday, which was a day off for the club. He still was not nearly as sharp as usual. He completed 37 of 56 passes for 356 yards and 2 touchdowns, the second score coming on a throw to Marques Colston in the anticlimactic final minutes.
Sports, Pages 16 on 10/25/2010