Defense and Brees come up big again

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees delivered accurate, aggressive throws downfield in tense moments, when conventional wisdom might have urged a more conservative play.

New Orleans’ defense came up with a fourth-down stop and rookie Marshon Lattimore’s interception on its final two series.

Kicker Wil Lutz hit from 45 and 49 yards in the second half, hitting the longer kick inside the final two minutes.

Frequent clutch performances in all phases allowed the surging Saints once again to overcome some mistakes and win their fifth straight, 20-12 over the Chicago on Sunday.

“This was encouraging because I think in the past, there’s been very little room for error,” said Brees, who completed 23 of 28 passes for 299 yards without an interception against a Chiago defense that ranked sixth against the pass. “While it’s frustrating that I don’t feel like we’re playing our best football — really, anywhere near our best football — we’re still finding ways to win.”

Running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara each ran for touchdowns for New Orleans (5-2). Ingram finished with 99 yards from scrimmage, including 75 on the ground, but his two late fumbles kept the Bears (3-5) in the game into the final minutes.

“I was terrible. I let my teammates down, put us in a bad position,” Ingram said. “The game was only close because I sucked.”

Kamara had 76 yards from scrimmage: 48 receiving, including his 34-yard, backshoulder catch along the sideline in the fourth quarter.

The Saints were threatening to score both times the Bears stripped the ball from Ingram.

“We found a way to make it interesting,” New Orleans head coach Sean Payton said. “To turn the ball over like we did, you don’t deserve to win games like that.”