NEW ORLEANS — If Tom Brady and the Patriots were suffering from a Super Bowl hangover, it looks as though a trip to New Orleans pulled the defending champions out of it.

The 40-year-old Brady hasn’t often looked better in his long, illustrious career, providing an audible contingent of traveling Patriots fans with ample reason to spend the rest of their Sunday celebrating in the French Quarter after New England’s 36-20 victory over the Saints.

New England Patriots running back Rex Burkhead, right, celebrates his touchdown with quarterback Tom Brady in the first half of the Patriots' 36-20 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in Associated Press/Bill Feig

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“Hopefully they’re all on Bourbon Street,” said Brady, whose name was chanted by fans as the game wound down, and again when he walked across the field to the team bus. “It was a good road game to come to.”

Bouncing back with a vengeance from a season-opening loss, Brady threw three touchdown passes in the first quarter for the first time in his career and eclipsed 300 yards passing in the first half for only the second time, and New England scored 30 first-half points.

“Being 0-1 with a 10-day break felt like a year,” Brady said, alluding to a Thursday night loss to Kansas City in Week 1. “All the veterans had a chance to say the things they wanted to say to their different (position) groups. … I’m glad we executed. There were a lot of tight plays and we made them.”

Saints Coach Sean Payton bemoaned another poor outing by his defense, which also gave up a slew of quick strike plays in a loss to Minnesota in Week 1.

“We’ve got the right type of locker room, but we’re going to have to respond quickly,” Payton said. “We’ll find out a little bit about what we’re made of.”

Brady’s maiden Super Bowl triumph in the Superdome back in February 2002 is bound to be one of his fondest memories, but the 18-year veteran looked like a superior QB in his latest visit. He finished 30 of 39 for 447 yards. Brady joined Warren Moon as the only quarterbacks 40 or older to pass for at least 400 yards and three touchdowns in a game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Rob Gronkowski had a 53-yard catch and run to highlight his six-catch, 116-yard performance, but left the game in the second half because of a groin injury.

The game featured the NFL’s top two active quarterbacks – Brady and Drew Brees – in career yards and touchdowns. Their 922 TD passes and 128,251 yards passing combined represented the most in NFL history by starting QBs in the same game.

But Brees couldn’t keep up.

He was 27 of 45 for 356 yards and two TDs. The Saints’ desperation to stay close was encapsulated by a failed fourth-down attempt – despite being in field-goal range at the 25 with 2:27 left in the first half and New England up by 13.

Brady responded by quickly marching the Patriots to the Saints 10 to set up Stephen Gostkowski’s field goal that made it 30-13 at halftime.

When asked to explain what’s wrong with New Orleans, it seemed Brees wasn’t sure where to begin.

“Unfortunately, it’s just been a little bit everything right now,” he said.

FAST START

The Patriots’ first three drives ended with a 19-yard TD pass to Rex Burkhead, Gronkowski’s long TD, and a 13-yard scoring pass to Chris Hogan.

New Orleans briefly rallied with Brees’ 5-yard TD pass to Brandon Coleman and Wil Lutz’s field goal on consecutive drives, pulling as close as 20-13. But New England answered with Mike Gillislee’s short scoring run on a drive highlighted by downfield passes to Gronkowski, Hogan and former Saint Brandin Cooks.

“Our team responded well to this week of practice,” Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said. “We made some plays early in the game. We were able to play from ahead, and that was a good thing. A lot of different people contributed.”

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