Teddy Bridgewater powers Saints to win over Buccaneers

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw for more than 300 yards and had four touchdown tosses to lead the New Orleans Saints to a division win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Bridgewater completed 26 of 34 passes for 314 yards in the 31-24 victory Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Saints star wide receiver Michael Thomas erupted for 182 yards and two scores on 11 catches in the win.

New Orleans (4-1) sacked Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston six times, with Marcus Davenport recording two quarterback takedowns.

"It was a great overall team effort," Bridgewater told reporters. "I feel like I have the easy job. All I have to do is throw the ball to Michael Thomas, Jared Cook, Tedd Ginn, Austin Carr, Alvin Kamara ... find a way to get the ball to those guys and they will make plays for us.

"[Sunday] was one of those days. Everything was clicking."

The Saints took a 3-0 lead on a Wil Lutz field goal before Winston answered with a 26-yard touchdown toss to Chris Godwin. New Orleans retook the lead when Bridgewater found Thomas with a 14-yard touchdown throw at the start of the second quarter.

Matt Gay hit a 42-yard field goal on the Buccaneers' next drive. Bridgewater gave the Saints a 17-10 lead when he found Jared Cook for a 9-yard touchdown just before halftime. The Saints pushed their lead to 24-10 when Bridgewater hit Tedd Ginn for a 33-yard score to open the second half. Peyton Barber had a 2-yard rushing touchdown on the Buccaneers' next drive.

Bridgewater led the Saints on a 13-play, 91-yard scoring drive to start the fourth quarter, ending the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Thomas and giving New Orleans a 31-17 lead. Winston hit Godwin on a 26-yard touchdown throw with 19 seconds remaining, but the Buccaneers could not recover an onside kick and fell short in their comeback effort.

Godwin had 125 yards and two scores on seven catches in the loss. Sheldon Rankins, Malcolm Brown, Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson each recorded a sack for the Saints.

"When you play quarterback in this league, I know the attention to detail is significant," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I know [Bridgewater] pays close attention to that.

"It's hard in this league to win if you don't have talent at that position."

The Buccaneers (2-3) host the Carolina Panthers at 9:30 a.m. EDT Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The Saints face the Jacksonville Jaguars at 1 p.m. Sunday at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.