Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes as the New Orleans Saints overcame a lacklustre offensive showing to hold off the Atlanta Falcons 17-13 in the NFL on Thursday.
Brees hooked up with Jimmy Graham on a 44-yard touchdown throw and Benjamin Watson on a 1-yard scoring play, both in the first half. The two TDs were good enough to give the first-placed Saints a sweep of the season series with their NFC South conference rivals.
Atlanta dropped their fifth straight game and ensured a first losing season since 2007. The Falcons were also officially eliminated from the division race with five weeks remaining in the regular season.
The Falcons had a chance to pull off the upset, driving to the Saints 29-yard line with less than 3 minutes to go. But New Orleans turned up the pressure on Matt Ryan, Atlanta missed a long field goal, and the Saints ran off all but the last 5 seconds.
Brees was 23 of 33 for 278 yards. Ryan was 30 of 39 for 297 yards, but Atlanta's offence produced only one touchdown - the fourth time that has happened during its five-game losing streak.
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