Saints top Bears to take top spot in NFC South

CHICAGO (AP) - Drew Brees threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns Monday night as the New Orleans Saints beat the Chicago Bears 31-15 to grab the NFC South lead.

The Saints (6-8) moved into first place ahead of Carolina (5-8-1) and Atlanta (5-9) and came away with the win after dropping four of their last five games. They also rebounded from a 41-10 loss to the Panthers.

Brees, shaky last week, was spectacular this time.

He completed 29-of-36 passes and reached the 4,000-yard mark for the ninth straight year. He threw two touchdown passes to Josh Hill and another to Marques Colston.

Pierre Thomas had five catches for 83 yards. David Hawthorne had three of New Orleans' seven sacks and the Saints intercepted three of Jay Cutler's passes to bring his NFL-leading turnover total to 24.

Chicago's offense struggled in the first three quarters, prompting a couple rounds of boos from the crowd on a rainy night at Soldier Field.

The Bears dropped to 5-9.