Drew Brees, Saints Outlast Lions in Wild Win Featuring 4 Combined Defensive TDs

Thirty-five point leads are supposed to be safe in the second half of NFL games, but the New Orleans Saints nearly blew their 45-10 advantage over the Detroit Lions on Sunday before winning 52-38.

Rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore returned an interception to put New Orleans ahead by 35 in the third, but Matthew Stafford responded by throwing two touchdown passes before the end of the quarter.

Lattimore scoring a non-offensive touchdown was a sign of things to come as the Lions cut the deficit to 45-38 with a 74-yard punt return score from Jamal Agnew and an interception return for a touchdown from A'Shawn Robinson.

Suddenly, it was 45-38, and the Lions had the ball with an opportunity to tie down the stretch, but the Saints countered with their own defensive touchdown to open up some much-needed breathing room. Cameron Jordan snagged Stafford's deflected pass in the end zone with just more than five minutes remaining to help secure New Orleans' third win of the season.

There were five non-offensive touchdowns in all as the Saints opened the scoring with a Kenny Vaccaro fumble recovery for a score.

The defensive firepower along with two touchdown passes from Drew Brees and 114 rushing yards and two scores from Mark Ingram was enough to make some fans quite happy with the scoring, as Lindsay Jones of USA Today pointed out:

Stafford threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns, but his three interceptions proved costly.

His Lions now enter their bye week before a Week 8 showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Saints will face the Green Bay Packers in Week 7.