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The New Orleans Saints came up short in Drew Brees' return, falling 32-29 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Dec. 20 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints' franchise quarterback had missed the previous four games with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Brees and the Saints' offense, missing star receiver Michael Thomas, got off to a rusty start with four three-and-outs and an interception to start the game. Brees was 0 for 6 in those possessions. After the sluggish start, Brees completed 15-of-28 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns, including a 51-yard strike to Emmanuel Sandersthat helped set up a Taysom Hill touchdown. Hill, the Saints' Swiss army knife, notched his sixth rushing touchdown of the 2020 campaign on the 1-yard scamper. It's the most rushing touchdowns by a Saints quarterback in a season, surpassing Archie Manning (1977). Sanders led the team with four receptions for 76 yards.New Orleans' defense made Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes feel it all game. The Saints sacked Mahomes four times, led by defensive end Trey Hendrickson who registered two takedowns. Hendrickson recorded his third game of the season with at least 2.0 sacks, moving his season total to 12.5 sacks good for first amongst all NFL defenders alongside Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Green Bay Packers linebacker Za'Darius Smith. Hendrickson added five quarterback hits and one forced fumble. "Played their hearts out," Saints coach Sean Payton said of the Saints defense in his postgame press conference. "(I'm) proud of the effort." Mahomes proved to be too much in the end, completing 26-of-47 passes for 254 yards and three scores. Chiefs running back and former LSU Tiger Clyde Edwards-Helaire led the team with 79 rushing yards on 14 carries before leaving the game due to injury. Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan was disqualified after throwing a punch with 13:50 remaining. The Chiefs dominated the time of possession, 41:14 to 18:46. The Saints (10-4) host the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day at 3:30 p.m. on Fox. The Chiefs (13-1) host the Atlanta Falcons at noon on Sunday, Dec. 27. For complete Saints-Chiefs stats click here.

Saints News | New Orleans Saints | NewOrleansSaints.com

Game recap - New Orleans Saints come up short in Drew Brees' return, fall to Kansas City Chiefs 32-29

Saints fall to 10-4