Saints Down Chargers, 31-24

The New Orleans Saints won their first game of the 2012 NFL season on Sunday night, defeating the San Diego Chargers, 31-24, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

New Orleans trailed, 24-14, with under 1:00 left in the third quarter, but outscored San Diego, 17-0, the rest of the way, to capture the win.

The Chargers outgained the Saints, in terms of total yards, 427-404, but New Orleans rode the right arm of quarterback Drew Brees to the win.

Brees completed 29-of-45 passes, for 370 yards, along with four touchdowns.

With those four touchdown tosses, Brees set a new NFL record with a a touchdown pass in 48-consecutive games, breaking the old record of Johnny Unitas, which stood for over 50 years.

Marques Colston caught nine Brees passes, for 131 yards, and three touchdowns.

In a losing cause for San Diego, quarterback Philip Rivers passed for 354 yards, and two touchdowns.

View the game box score.

With the win, the Saints improved to 1-4 on the year, while the Chargers fell to 3-2.

The Saints are idle next Sunday. They return to action on Sunday, October 21, when they travel to Tampa, Florida, to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.