NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers fall just short against New Orlean Saints

Drew Brees: helped the Saints rally to win on the road, although only after surviving a late scare

The New Orleans Saints scored 21 second-quarter points to overcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-28, though not before they survived a late scare.

Drew Brees rallied after an early interception to throw for 377 yards and four scores, helping the Saints overcome a 21-7 deficit and register back-to-back wins in what has so far been a tough season, both on and off the field.

The quarterback extended his NFL record for consecutive games with at least one TD pass to 49 while also leading long scoring drives on four straight possessions to turn a 14-point deficit into a 28-21 lead.

The Saints (2-4) barely had the ball in the third quarter, but took advantage of Tampa Bay's inability to get into the end zone when Brees put together a 12-play, 95-yard march that Pierre Thomas finished with a five-yard run.

Brees threw TD passes of 17 yards to Marques Colston, nine yards to Darren Sproles, 48 yards to Joseph Morgan and 20 yards to David Thomas to overcome the New Orleans defense yielding 513 yards.

Josh Freeman threw for 420 yards and three touchdowns for the Bucs (2-4), who scored on their first three possessions of the game.

Vincent Jackson had seven receptions for 216 yards and a score, while only a superb, last-ditch tackle from saftey Malcolm Jenkins denied him another on a 95-yard play.

The Bucs failed on four attempts to punch it in from the one after Jenkins' stop, before then coming up short in the closing stages.

Mike Williams did catch a pass in the end zone as time expired, only for the officials to rule out the touchdown as he had been pushed out of the field of play before making the grab.