ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- New Orleans Saints running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara were so in sync Sunday that they even decided to do their postgame interview together when they finished dressing at the same time as a crowd of reporters waited.
"It's fun whenever we're scoring at will," Ingram said after the Saints set a franchise record with six touchdown runs in their 47-10 rout of the Buffalo Bills. "Drew [Brees] got a touchdown, AK got a touchdown, Trey [Edmunds] got a touchdown. ..."
Kamara then interrupted and said with a laugh: "You don't want to say you got three touchdowns?"
The Saints are obviously having a lot of fun now that they have become a runaway train with seven straight victories -- each more impressive than the last. And that train just steamrolled through one of the NFL’s other surprise contenders in stunning fashion.
The Saints demoralized the Bills with a total of 298 rushing yards (10 yards short of another franchise record). Ingram and Kamara each surpassed 100 rushing yards and 130 yards from scrimmage. And according to ESPN Stats & Information, the Saints became the first NFL team since 1941 with six rushing TDs and zero punts in a game.
Saints punter Thomas Morstead had some fun on Twitter after the game regarding his usage, adding himself to the team's inactive list.
"We came out and we wanted to impose our will," Kamara said.
Mission accomplished.
Only the Philadelphia Eagles (who also have won seven straight) are preventing the Saints from standing alone as the “hottest team in the NFL.” But right now the two teams appear to be on a collision course for NFC supremacy.
And if the Saints (7-2) do wind up traveling to Philly in January, they have the kind of team that’s built for it.
New Orleans’ run game and defense have been the driving forces behind the team’s longest win streak since 2011.
The Saints’ defense held Buffalo to a total of 198 yards Sunday, not allowing a touchdown until the final two minutes of the game. And the D nearly scored a touchdown of its own, with defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins intercepting a pass in the third quarter and rumbling 27 yards on the return to Buffalo’s 3-yard line.
Saints receiver Michael Thomas also had his best game of the season, with season-highs of nine catches and 117 yards.
But the story of this day was New Orleans’ run game, from start to finish.
Ingram's three rushing touchdowns were a career high and he finished with 21 carries for 131 yards. Kamara, who came into the game leading the NFL with 6.0 yards per carry, improved that number with 106 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. Kamara also caught five passes for 32 yards.
It was just the third time in Saints history when they had two running backs with more than 100 yards and a touchdown in the same game (Reggie Bush/Deuce McAllister in 2006 and Reuben Mayes/Craig Heyward in 1990).
"We’re actually committing to it, as a coaching staff, everybody’s buying into it as players," Ingram said of what's so different with New Orleans' run game this year. "The big boys up front did a great job executing and the coaches did a great job of calling the runs."
When asked about how the traditional "thunder and lightning" tag doesn't really apply to him and Kamara since they're both so versatile, Ingram said, "We go together, we feed off each other, we push each other, we compete against each other ... both make people miss, both can catch the ball, both can run inside. It’s a great combination. I'm glad we’re a good duo together."
The Saints’ 298 rushing yards rank third in franchise history. It was the second time this season that the Saints ran for more yards than they passed for (194). Before this season, the Saints hadn’t done that for eight years. The last time they did it with Drew Brees playing quarterback was the last time they came to Buffalo in 2009.
As a result of all this rushing dominance, Brees has still never thrown a TD pass in Buffalo in three career trips -- the only NFL team he’s never thrown a road TD pass against.
But he still got in on the fun when he scrambled for a rare 7-yard rushing TD in the third quarter -- thanks in part to a hellacious block by left tackle Terron Armstead that Ingram described as "a pancake? Extra-large pancake? A waffle?"
"I felt like he just kind of leveled him, and I thought, 'Oh, OK, now it's time to run," said Brees, who said he was glad it worked out that way since the Saints had run the ball on nine straight plays to start that 94-yard scoring drive and, "I felt like I owed that to the running backs since they did all the work."