NEW ORLEANS (AP) -Drew Brees threw two touchdown passes to Lance Moore and the New Orleans Saints led the Green Bay Packers 24-21 at halftime on Monday night.
Brees was 13 of 16 for 194 yards, surpassing the average that Green Bay gives up in a game. The Packers entered with the NFL’s No. 3 pass defense, but Brees completed 13 in a row after misfiring on his first attempt as he continued his assault on the NFL single-season passing record.
Moore had four catches for 101 yards, and tight end Jeremy Shockey, who has had an injury-plagued season, added four grabs for 43 yards.
ping the Packers, who converted 8 of 10 third downs and ran 39 plays to New Orleans’ 23. Ryan Grant ran 16 times for 64 yards and caught three passes for 19 yards. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers rebounded from a slow start to complete nine of his last 10 passes.
Greg Jennings led the Packers with four catches for 44 yards.
In a back-and-forth half, New Orleans went ahead for the last time on Garrett Hartley’s 30-yard field goal with 2 seconds left, getting a huge boost from Courtney Roby’s 62-yard kickoff return to the Green Bay 32. The Saints looked like the might score a fourth touchdown when they had first-and-goal at the 7, but a false-start penalty and two consecutive Brees incomplete passes forced them to settle for the field goal.
Moore’s second scoring reception, a 14-yarder in which he caught the ball at the 8, leaped at the 2 and put the ball over the goal line before his knee hit, gave the Saints a 21-14 lead with 8:19 left in the half.
Green Bay responded with a 14-play, 83-yard drive to tie the score at 21, with Rodgers capping it on a 10-yard scramble to the end zone on third-and-6.
Trailing 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, the Packers tied it on a 7-yard scoring toss from Rodgers to Jennings.
rst quarter on Monday night.
One play after Green Bay went ahead, Moore caught a short pass in the right flat, juked safety Atari Bigby and found a seam down the middle of the field. Cornerback Al Harris didn’t catch him until just before he crossed the goal line.
The Saints then forced a quick three-and-out and drove 41 yards in five plays after Derrick Frost shanked a punt 24 yards. Thomas caught two passes for 25 yards and scored untouched on a huge hole on second-and-1 from the Packers’ 4.
The Packers used a 27-yard punt return by Will Blackmon and some strong running by Grant to score first. After the teams traded three-and-outs, Blackmon caught a short kick from Glenn Pakulak on the bounce and raced to the New Orleans 37. Grant gained 36 yards on four consecutive plays, including a 17-yard run, before fullback John Kuhn dove over the top for a 1-yard touchdown.
It was the first rushing touchdown for Kuhn in his three-year career and only his eighth carry.
The Packers (5-5) needed to win to keep pace with Chicago and Minnesota atop the NFC North, while New Orleans (5-5), in last place in the NFC South, needed to win just to maintain hope of making a run to sneak into the postseason.
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