On a third-and-5 scenario at the Rams 9, Drew Brees completed a 6-yard pass to David Thomas to earn the first down.

Then Reggie Bush skipped through a huge hole on the next play to score easily. It took a little longer than expected, but New Orleans had its first lead at 7-0.

That capped an impressive 78-yard scoring drive. As always, Brees used multiple weapons to move his team down the field.

Steven Jackson, who had 56 yards from scrimmage in the scoreless first quarter, got back to work. He broke a 14-yard gain to move the ball out to the Rams 39. Then he plowed for seven more.

On a rare Bulger roll out, he rifled a 19-yard completion to tight end Randy McMichael. Then Jackson drove off tackle for eight more yards as the Rams reached scoring territory.

Samkon Gado converted the first down, running up the gut with Jackson catching his breath.

On second-and-10 from the Saints 24, Bulger tried to give the ball back to the Saints. He tried to scramble up the middle, got hammered and spit up the ball.

The ball sat there for a while, waiting for somebody to pick it up.  Steven Jackson hustled back and got to it first, which was a HUGE play.

On third down, Bulger regrouped and went up top for a 29-yard TD pass to Donnie Avery. The second-year wide receiver ran a nice route, used his speed to gain separation and ran under Bulger’s well-thrown ball.

That stunning passing TD tied the game 7-7.

Of course, the Saints are hard to outscore. They opened with an end-around play which netted 41 yards for speed Robert Meachem.

So New Orleans immediately got back into scoring position. A Brees-to-Henderson connection move the ball to the Rams 15.

Rams defensive end Chris Long tried to slow the charge, dumping Brees as Drew threw a first-down pass to force an incompletion. Then the left side of the Rams defense blew up a screen pass to force New Orleans into a third-and-10 situation.

But Reggie Bush’s 15-yard catch-and-run TD play pushed the Saints to a 14-7 lead. The Rams probably should have rushed more than three guys on that play, eh?

Brandon Gibson, filling in for the injured Burton, opened the next Rams series with a 6-yard catch. An encroachment penalty on New Orleans gave the Rams a first down.

Jackson found a seam for a 5-yard gain. After Bulger was sacked for a 2-yard loss, he regrouped with a 16-yard completion to Gibson up the right sideline.

A 12-yard completion to tight end Billy Bajema moved the Rams back into scoring position at the Saints 29. In a third-and-9 scenario, the Rams played it safe and stayed with Jackson on the ground.

It worked! Jackson found a hole and rambled to the Saints 15 for the first down at the two-minute warning.

Fans would have surely howled had that call netted just two yards, forcing the Rams to settle for a field goal and giving the explosive Saints ample time to march back for more points. As it was, the call paid off big.

A pair of Jackson runs moved the ball to the Saints 5 for another first down. And with two more carries, Jackson blasted into the end zone as the Rams tied the game 14-14.

At the half, Jackson has 121 yards from scrimmage. For the third consecutive game, Jackson built a 100-yard rushing half.

That’s not something you see every season.