With Monday's loss, the Saints fall to 4-7 on the season and are tied for first place in the NFC South. The Saints will play travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday.
QB Drew Brees completed 35 of 45 passes for 420 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and a passer rating of 118.5. It is Brees' 11th career 400-yard passing game, which ranks third in NFL history behind Peyton Manning (14) and Dan Marino (13).
Brees completed 30 or more passes for the 43rd time in his career, extending his own NFL record. In addition, it was his 14th game of at least 35 completions - twice as many as any other quarterback in league history.
Brees appeared in his 138th game as a Saint, moving into a tie with C John Hill for 15th place on the club's all-time games played list.
Brees' 26-yard touchdown pass to WR Marques Colston late in the second quarter marked the 65th TD pass from Brees to Colston, moving them into a sixth-place tie in NFL history with Jim Kelly and Andre Reed on the list of most prolific quarterback-receiver combinations.
TE Jimmy Graham's two touchdown receptions were the 49th and 50th of his career, tying him with Joe Horn for second place on the Saints' all-time list. Graham's 50 total touchdowns rank tied for fourth (also with Horn) in team history.
By reaching 50 touchdown receptions, Graham joins Rob Gronkowski, Lance Alworth, Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, Andre Rison and Dez Bryant as the only players in NFL history to have at least 50 TD catches through five seasons. Bryant reached the mark Sunday night.
The Brees/Graham combination is the third quarterback/tight end tandem in NFL history to record 50 touchdowns, joining Philip Rivers/Antonio Gates and Tom Brady/Gronkowski.
WR Joseph Morgan's 67-yard end around on the second play from scrimmage is the longest rushing play by the Saints since RB Deuce McAllister went 71 yards in the final game of the 2004 season against Carolina.
WR Kenny Stills had a career-high eight receptions for 98 yards. Stills' previous career best was five catches.
TE Benjamin Watson made the 100th start of his NFL career.
G Jahri Evans appeared in the 137th game of his career, putting him in sole possession of17th place on the club's all-time games played list.
T Zach Strief appeared in his 120th career game, moving him into a tied for 27th on the club's all-time games played list with LB Vaughan Johnson.
The Saints have scored a touchdown in 140 consecutive regular-season games, the third-longest streak in NFL history. The Saints' streak began with the last game of the 2005 season. The Cleveland Browns (166, 1957-69) and San Diego Chargers (151, 2002-10) are the only teams with longer streaks.
The Saints continued to be productive in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half. In 11 games this season, the Saints have scored four touchdowns and kicked two field goals in the final 20 seconds of the second quarter.
ILB Curtis Lofton's solo tackle on the final play of the first quarter was the 1,000th of his career. Lofton, who finished the night with seven tackles, came into Monday night's game with 997 career tackles.
Lofton played in his 107th consecutive contest. He has never missed a game in his NFL career and his 107 straight games currently ranks tied for first among active NFL linebackers with Green Bay's Julius Peppers.
S Pierre Warren, who was signed by the Saints last week, made a tackle on his first play as a Saint and tied Lofton for the team lead with seven total stops. Warren later had a forced fumble and fumble recovery at the Saints 1-yard line in the second quarter.
