Saints 35, Steelers 32
Drew Brees passed for 257 yards and five touchdowns as visiting New Orleans defeated Pittsburgh.
Kenny Stills had a touchdown catch to go with a career-best 162 yards on five receptions for the Saints (5-7). Mark Ingram rushed for 122 yards as New Orleans halted a three-game losing streak and moved a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South.
Le’Veon Bell rushed for 95 yards and one score and had a career high-tying eight catches for a career-best 159 yards for the Steelers (7-5), who fell 1 1/2 games behind first-place Cincinnati in the AFC North. Ben Roethlisberger passed for 435 yards and two touchdowns and also was intercepted twice.
Stills broke loose on a third-and-10 play and corralled a 69-yard catch-and-run TD to give the Saints a 28-13 lead with 1:50 left in the third quarter. Brees hit Marques Colston on a 3-yard score to make it a 19-point margin with 10:25 to play before Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for two touchdowns in the final 2:34.
After spotting Pittsburgh a 6-0 lead, the Saints got moving in the second quarter as Brees hit Benjamin Watson on a 15-yard TD and Erik Lorig on a 4-yarder to take a 14-6 halftime lead. Brees connected with Nick Toon on an 11-yarder early in the third quarter to make it a 15-point margin before Bell scored on a 1-yard run to pull the Steelers within 21-13 with 4:21 remaining in the third quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Brown had eight receptions for 97 yards to raise his season total to 1,258 and became the first player in franchise history with back-to-back 1,200-yard campaigns. … Brees has thrown five or more touchdowns nine times in his career. … Bell (1,046) went over 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career.