Saints win third straight

Drew Brees passed for 336 yards and hit Marques Colston with three of his four touchdown throws in the Saints’ third consecutive win, a 31-10 victory over the 49ers in San Francisco.

It was the fifth straight loss for the 49ers.

Reggie Bush had 113 total yards for the Saints, who jumped to a 24-point halftime lead with a steady offensive effort including catches by nine receivers and four scoring drives longer than 72 yards. Brees was on target, going 31 of 39 and avoiding any sacks for the fourth consecutive game.

Bush, who had his NFL breakout game with four TDs against the 49ers last year, had 64 yards on 10 carries and added seven catches for 49 yards. Terrance Copper also caught a TD pass, and David Patten had five catches for 109 yards.

Alex Smith went 22 of 43 for 190 yards with several noticeably bad throws and Frank Gore twisted his ankle again in the second half, finishing with just 41 yards rushing.

San Francisco needed an 80-yard drive with the game already decided to surpass 200 yards of offense.

Jaguars 24, Buccaneers 23: At Tampa, Fla., backup quarterback Quinn Gray threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Matt Jones that put the Jaguars ahead for good with 11:37 to go as Jacksonville defeated the Buccaneers.

Gray completed 7 of 16 passes for 100 yards, without an interception. One of his biggest plays came in the third quarter when he fumbled in his own end zone, but recovered and crawled out to the 1-yard line to avoid a safety.

Jeff Garcia finished with three interceptions for Tampa Bay.

Bills 13, Jets 3: At East Rutherford, N.J., J.P. Losman came on in relief of an injured Trent Edwards and connected with Lee Evans on an 85-yard touchdown pass with 3:38 remaining to lead Buffalo over New York.

With the Bills on the Jets 15 and leading 6-3, Losman threw a long pass to Evans down the right sideline. Rookie cornerback Darrelle Revis appeared to get his hands on the ball, but Evans wrestled it away and streaked down the sideline untouched for a touchdown.

Eagles 23, Vikings 16: At Minneapolis, Donovan McNabb threw for 333 yards and a touchdown and showed plenty of the mobility he appeared to have lost after last year’s major knee surgery in Philadelphia’s victory over Minnesota.

McNabb took advantage of the league’s worst pass defense, completing 23 of 36 passes and buying plenty of time with his legs to get his Eagles back on track.

Adrian Peterson gained 70 yards on 20 carries for the Vikings, but was bottled up for most of the day.

Browns 27, Rams 20: At St. Louis, Derek Anderson threw three touchdown passes, two to Braylon Edwards, and the Browns erased an early 14-point deficit for their first road win.

Browns safety Sean Jones stopped Brian Leonard for no gain on 4th-and-1 from the 16 in the final two minutes and Leigh Bodden picked off Marc Bulger at the Cleveland 28 with 38 seconds left.

Steven Jackson’s return from a groin injury briefly energized the Rams, who scored on their first two possessions, but he left again due to lower back tightness in the second quarter.

Titans 13, Raiders 9: At Nashville, Tenn., LenDale White ran for a career-high 133 yards, Rob Bironas added two field goals and Chris Henry scored a touchdown to lead the Titans to the win over Oakland.

The Titans, starting a three-game homestand, saw their defense carry most of the load. Tennessee came up with five sacks and two turnovers, the last an interception by Chris Hope with 2:35 left.

Lions 16, Bears 7: At Chicago, Jon Kitna passed for 268 yards, Kevin Jones ran for 105 yards and a touchdown, and the Lions showed they’re serious contenders in the NFC by beating the Bears for the second time this season.

Detroit is 5-2 for the first time since 2000 and making a strong bid for its first playoff appearance since 1999. The Lions have endured six straight seasons with at least 10 losses and won just three games last year, coach Rod Marinelli’s first.

Steelers 24, Bengals 13: At Cincinnati, Hines Ward caught a pair of touchdown passes and the Steelers solidified their hold on first place in the AFC North and pushed the last-place Bengals to the precipice.

Ben Roethlisberger was 19 of 26 for 230 yards for Pittsburgh.

Kenny Watson’s fumble at Pittsburgh’s 16-yard line with 3:16 left ended the Bengals’ chances of an improbable comeback.