NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees made a little more history for the New Orleans Saints and kept the mistake-prone Detroit Lions struggling.
Brees passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns, and the Saints won their fourth straight, 31-17 on Sunday night.
The performance gave Brees 4,031 yards this season, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to eclipse the 4,000-yard mark in the first 12 games.
Brees’ touchdown passes went for 67 yards to Robert Meachem, 20 yards to Lance Moore and 6 yards to Darren Sproles. Brees also connected eight times with tight end Jimmy Graham for 89 yards as the Saints (9-3) improved to 6-0 at home while taking a two game lead over Atlanta in the NFC South.
Matthew Stafford passed for 408 yards and one touchdown for the Lions (7-5), who have lost five of their last seven, but remain in playoff contention.
The Lions hurt themselves with 11 penalties for 107 yards, including three offensive pass interference penalties and a personal foul on tight end Brandon Pettigrew for shoving an official who was trying to get between him and Saints safety Roman Harper after the whistle.
The mistakes made it impossible for the Lions to keep pace with the league’s No. 1 offense, and Detroit missed a chance to take a one-game lead over Chicago and Atlanta in the NFC wild-card race.
