CHICAGO, Ill. - Drew Brees threw three touchdowns and Jay Cutler three interceptions as the New Orleans Saints handle the Chicago Bears 31-15 on Monday night.
The Bears added two late touchdowns and two-point conversion to avoid their first shutout at Soldier Field since 1982, Mike Ditka's first game as a head coach, also against the Saints.
New Orleans (6-8) rebounds from the wrong end of a 41-10 rout at the hands of Carolina to bring themselves into the lead in the NFC South before they battle Atlanta Dec. 21.
"You want to be playing for a lot at the end of the season, and we are right now," Brees said. "No bigger game than the one coming up."
Drew Brees connected on 29-of-36 pass attempts for 375 yards, clinching his 9th straight season with 4,000 passing yards, the best all-time mark in pro football history. He improves to a 12-4 career record in Monday night contests with the victory.
"We were pretty balanced and able to make some plays in the passing game," Brees said, outpassing Jay Cutler 111-2 in the first quarter and 217-41 at the half.
"They had a good plan," Cutler said of the Saints in a two-minute meeting with reporters. Chicago was shutout in the first half for the fourth time this season.
Jimmy Graham gained 87 yards on 5 receptions for the Saints. Pierre Thomas and Kenny Stills matched the catches for 83 and 67 yards respectively. Thomas snagged two screen plays for 39 and 31 yards on two drives.
Josh Hill caught two touchdowns and Marques Colston another as the Saints bookended the second quarter in pay dirt, the first one second in and the other with 32 seconds left, and took a 24-0 lead into the fourth quarter.
Their second scoring drive went 95 yards, three yards better than the Bears could muster in the entire game to that time.
New Orleans would outgain the Bears 443-278, enjoying a 131-27 yards advantage after the first quarter and a 245-92 lead at the half.
"You should have heard this locker room before the game started," Jimmy Graham said. "We need to come out every week just like that."
Chicago (5-9) began and ended the second quarter with interceptions, as they drop their third straight game and will miss the playoffs for the fourth-straight and seventh out of eight campaigns.
But they would respond in the fourth quarter, as they did in their losing result against Dallas Dec. 14, a game in which they were outgunned 35-7 before a three-touchdown fourth quarter.
Marquess Wilson and Alshon Jeffery hauled in two scores late to finally put the Bears on the board Monday night. Martellus Bennett added a two-point conversion.
Jay Cutler threw three interceptions through three quarters against five completions to his own team in that time, ending the night with his 15th interception and 24th turnover, both worst marks in the league.
He was sacked seven times, including three from David Hawthorne and twice on consecutive plays. His 31 pass attempts found 17 completions for 194 yards.
The game began with consecutive turnovers in what became a slop after a driving rainstorm. Jay Cutler was intercepted on his third pass attempt and Nick Toon fumbled Drew Brees' first pass on the Bears 3.
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