It was a premature celebration when Tre’Quan Smith caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees with seven seconds remaining in the first half.
Officials flagged Smith for offensive pass interference. It was a questionable call that negated Brees’ record-setting touchdown pass.
That would have been Brees’ 540th career touchdown pass. Instead, he remains at 539 and tied with Peyton Manning at halftime.
The Saints settled for a 26-yard Wil Lutz field goal on the final play of the first half, giving them a 20-0 lead over the Colts.
Brees has touchdown passes of 15 yards to Michael Thomas with 12:37 remaining in the second quarter and 21 yards to Smith with 6:11 left in the half.
Brees is 20-of-21 for 230 yards with two touchdowns and a 144.0 passer rating. Thomas has nine receptions for 108 yards as he moves closer to setting the single-season record for receptions.
Thomas now has 130 receptions for the season, 13 behind Marvin Harrison’s 2002 mark.
The Colts have only six first downs and 86 yards. Jacoby Brissett is 5-of-15 for 69 yards; Marlon Mack has 5 yards on eight carries; and T.Y. Hilton has no catches on two targets.
