NEW ORLEANS — With one pinpoint throw after another, Drew Brees put New Orleans' pursuit of perfection into overdrive and left Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the dust.

Brees threw for a season-high 371 yards and five touchdowns, carving up coach Bill Belichick's defense like few quarterbacks ever have in the Saints' 38-17 victory last night.

"It only counts for one win on the stat sheet, but emotionally, those types of wins can mean a little more," Brees said. "Anytime you can win, and win that way, it builds confidence for you."

By harassing Brady all game and routing one of the NFL's top powers, the Saints joined the Indianapolis Colts at 11-0 — the first time two NFL teams have opened with that many consecutive wins in the same season.

The convincing victory left little doubt about New Orleans' credentials as the Saints try to match the Patriots' 16-0 regular-season mark in 2007. New England remains the only team to go undefeated in a 16-game regular season.

Brees threw touchdown passes to five different players: Pierre Thomas, Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, Darnell Dinkins and Marques Colston. In doing so, the Pro Bowl quarterback kept New Orleans on pace to narrowly eclipse New England's single-season scoring record of 589 points set in 2007.

"He was special," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "Let's just say he's playing really well."

The Saints averaged 9.6 yards per play, a club record that Brees called "ridiculous."

Brees went 18 of 23 and finished with a perfect passer rating of 158.3. His average of 16.1 yards per passing attempt also was a team record.

"We were able to accomplish something offensively tonight that was pretty special," Brees said.

It was the second time the Patriots (7-4) lost to an unbeaten team on the road in three weeks. Unlike in Indianapolis, there was no drama at the end this time, only thunderous chants of, "Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints?"

"There's obviously a big gap between us," Brady said. "It wasn't nearly as competitive as we all were expecting."