London gets show

WEMBLEY, England — After last year’s low-scoring mudfest, the NFL was hoping for some offensive fireworks this time at Wembley Stadium.

New Orleans and San Diego delivered.

Drew Brees went 30-for-41 for 339 yards and three touchdown passes against his former team to lead the Saints to a 37-32 win over the Chargers, putting New Orleans back at .500 and dropping San Diego to 3-5.

The Saints (4-4) held off a late comeback by the Chargers, who came from 37-20 down early in the fourth quarter and were driving for the tying touchdown when linebacker Jonathan Vilma picked off a pass by Philip Rivers with just over a minute to go. Brees took a safety in the final seconds to complete the scoring.

Last year, the New York Giants slogged to a 13-10 win over the Miami Dolphins in London on a rain-soaked field. This time, 83,226 fans at England’s showcase venue witnessed high-scoring, offensive football at its best — with a furious finish to boot.

The game turned into a shootout between Brees and Rivers, his former backup in San Diego, as both teams had more than 400 yards of offense.

Brees, who played his first five seasons for the Chargers before signing as a free agent with New Orleans before the 2006 season, faced his former teammates for the first time.

“This game was not about me proving a point or proving anybody wrong or saying they shouldn’t have let me go,” Brees said. “We beat a very good team today that needed a victory as badly as we did.”

The Saints bounced back from last week’s loss to the Panthers and coped just fine without star back Reggie Bush, who underwent surgery on his injured left knee earlier this week.

San Diego’s defense never found a way to contain Brees. Coming into the game leading the NFL with 2,224 yards passing, Brees exploited the Chargers’ vulnerable secondary.

“We really just opened up the playbook today and called all the things we feel good about,” he said.

But Rivers came up with big numbers too, completing 25 of 40 attempts for 341 yards and three touchdowns to bring his season total to 19 TDs. But while Brees went without an interception, Rivers’ one pick on a late drive proved crucial.

“The whole experience was a lot of fun, except the outcome of the game,” Rivers said.

The Chargers also got a big game from LaDainian Tomlinson, who shrugged off a recent toe injury to rush for 105 yards on 19 carries and catch a touchdown pass. It was only his second 100-yard effort in 12 games.

But it was Brees’ performance that Tomlinson wanted to talk about.

“I was sitting on the sideline watching him working his magic, and I kept on just thinking, ‘When is he going to miss one?’ ” Tomlinson said.