The Saints won their 11th consecutive home game, extending their franchise record, and improved to 3-4 overall to move percentage points behind the Carolina Panthers (3-4-1) in the NFC South. The Saints and Panthers meet for the first time this year Thursday night in Charlotte.
The victory was the Saints' 12th straight home win in prime time dating back to the start of the 2010 season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the longest streak by any NFL team since the 1970 merger.
Sunday's game marked the 18th time since Sean Payton became head coach in 2006 that the Saints have scored 40 or more points, second in the NFL in that span behind only New England.
QB Drew Brees completed 27 of 32 passes for 311 yards, three touchdowns and a passer rating of 139.4. It is the 20th time in Brees' Saints career he has had a passer rating of at least 130 - all of them wins.
Brees passed for 300-plus yards for the fourth consecutive game, the 77th time in nine seasons as a Saint and the 83rd time in his career, second only to Peyton Manning's 87.
Brees has thrown multiple touchdown passes in 116 games, fifth-most in NFL history. He has 61 games with three or more touchdown passes, fourth-most in league history.
Brees made his 134th start and appearance as a Saint, moving him into a 17th-place tie on the club's all-time games played list with quarterback Archie Manning and tight end John Tice.
With his first completion of the night for five yards, Brees became only the fourth NFL player to have 53,000 career passing yards, joining Brett Favre (71,838), Peyton Manning (67,098) and Dan Marino (61,361). Brees' career total now stands at 53,308 yards.
RB Mark Ingram had career-highs of 24 rushes for 172 yards, including a season-long 28-yard run and a 21-yard fourth-quarter touchdown. It is the second 100-yard game of Ingram's career, and coincidentally, both have come on Sunday Night Football. Last year against Dallas, Ingram had 145 yards on 14 rushes.
Ingram's yardage total ties for the seventh-best in franchise history and is the most by a Saints running back since Deuce McAllister rushed for 184 yards on 19 carries at Philadelphia on Nov. 23, 2003.
TE Jimmy Graham's third-quarter touchdown reception was his 45th career TD catch from Brees. The duo now ranks tied for third in NFL history for quarterback/tight end combinations.
WR Brandin Cooks' 4-yard run on a jet sweep in the first quarter was his first career rushing touchdown. Cooks, at 21 years and 31 days old, is the youngest player in franchise history to score a rushing touchdown and the first wide receiver to score a rushing touchdown since Robert Meachem scored on a 20-yard end around at Detroit on Dec. 21, 2008.
WR Marques Colston appeared in his 124th NFL game, tying him for 24th in Saints history with former teammate Devery Henderson (2004-12). Colston had four receptions to increase his club-record career total to 632, passing Pro Football Hall of Famer Raymond Berry to move into 55th place in NFL history.
FB Erik Lorig, seeing his first action this season, had his first reception as a Saint in the third quarter. He also had the first two carries of his five-year NFL career in the fourth quarter.
G Jahri Evans played in and started his 133rd career game, putting him in a tie for 20th on the club's all-time games played list with linebacker Sam Mills.
The Saints have scored a touchdown in 136 consecutive regular-season games, tied for the third-longest streak in NFL history with the Indianapolis Colts (2003-11). 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 scored on their four first-half possessions (one touchdown, three field goals) for the second time this season. It also scored on all four first-half possessions in the season opener at Atlanta (2 TD, 2 FG).
DE Cameron Jordan had a pair of sacks, including one on a third-and-goal situation in the first quarter. Jordan now has three sacks this season and 24.5 in his career.
LB David Hawthorne had a pair of huge third-quarter plays: an interception on third-and-goal on Green Bay's first possession of the second half, and a tackle on fourth-and-1 at the Packer 41.
Hawthorne's interception was his first in 32 games as a Saint, and it was the first interception by a Saints linebacker in the last 19 regular-season games, since Will Herring in Week 4 of the 2013 season vs. Miami.
CB Corey White's fourth-quarter interception was his first of the season and the third of his career.
OLB Kasim Edebali's fourth-quarter sack was the first of his career.
K Shayne Graham scored 14 points to increase his career total to 1,175. Graham moved past Neil Rackers into 37th on the NFL's career scoring list.
While P Thomas Morstead was busy kicking off, sending all eight of his boots for touchbacks, he did not punt. In fact, neither team punted in the game, marking only the third time in NFL history there has been a game with no punts. Neither the Packers nor the Bears punted in a game at Chicago last month, and the 49ers and Bills played a punt-less game in 1992. The last time the Saints did not punt in a game was in 2008 at Detroit.
