(Sports Network) - Jay Cutler threw for 264 yards and two scores, as the Denver Broncos survived a spirited comeback bid from the New Orleans Saints, 34-32, from Invesco Field at Mile High. Cutler connected on 21-of-34 pass attempts and was intercepted once while Brandon Marshall caught six balls for a game-high 155 yards and a score.

Selvin Young ran for 65 yards on 11 carries while Michael Pittman found the end zone once for the Broncos (3-0), who were coming off a controversial 39-38 win over San Diego last Sunday.

"I told our players, bottom line, you have to find a way to win," Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan said. "I thought offensively we moved the ball very well. We had a couple of situations where we turned the football over. Defensively, we made some plays that we had to."

Drew Brees racked up 421 yards passing, hitting on 39-of-48 attempts with a touchdown and Reggie Bush rushed for a touchdown and caught another. Bush had 73 yards rushing, caught 11 passes for 75 yards and finished with 163 all- purpose yards.

Pierre Thomas found the end zone twice for the Saints (1-2), who were coming off a disappointing 29-24 loss to the Redskins (web|news) last Sunday after a season- opening 24-20 win over the division-rival Buccaneers.

Following a 10-yard touchdown run by Thomas with 10 minutes remaining, the Saints recovered a Tony Scheffler fumble deep in their own territory and embarked on a final drive with 5 1/2 minutes left to play, trailing 34-32.

Brees carved his way to the Denver 25 with completions of 23 and 15 yards to Devery Henderson and Lance Moore, respectively, before the drive stalled.

Martin Gramatica lined up for the go-ahead, 43-yard field goal just after the two-minute warning but he pushed it out to the right and it never hooked back in, allowing Denver to kill all but eight seconds from the clock. New Orleans had time for two plays but gained only four yards from their own 20.

"Obviously it's a tough loss. We had a chance and opportunity and it's disappointing," Saints head coach Sean Payton said. "We got to battle back here and prep some of the mistakes that hurt us in this game and move on."

The Broncos started the scoring barrage with a touchdown on their first possession of the game, a 10-play, 45-yard drive capped by a one-yard Nate Jackson reception.

Gramatica answered with a 43-yard field goal on New Orleans' ensuing drive with a little over two minutes left in the quarter but Cutler led Denver back downfield in just 1:40 and connected with Marshall on a 35-yard touchdown to go up 14-3 with one stanza in the books.

Bush lost a fumble on the Saints' next possession and Nate Webster scooped it up and ran it back 34 yards for a touchdown, pushing Denver's lead to 21-3.

New Orleans came back, though, with a 10-play, 80-yard drive and Thomas found the end zone through the middle from five yards out with just over nine minutes left in the second quarter.

A Mike McKenzie interception on the Broncos' next play from scrimmage allowed the Saints to score again just 2 1/2 minutes later when Bush went off left guard for a 23-yard touchdown.

Matt Prater kicked a 27-yard field goal on Denver's next turn with the ball and the Saints' moved the ball to the Denver one-yard line with under a minute left in the half. A 2nd-and-1 went for no gain and Brees fumbled on 3rd-and-1 but fullback Mike Karney fell on the ball giving them one more shot. They went for it on 4th-and-1 rather than kick the field goal but Thomas was stuffed at the goal line with 27 seconds remaining.

"You've got to score. We had it second and goal from the one on three straight plays. We couldn't punch it in," Brees said.

New Orleans did come away with points, though, when Andre Hall was stopped in the end zone for a safety that cut the deficit to 24-19.

The Saints got the ball back and quickly moved the ball to the Denver 33 but Gramatica missed a 51-yard boot wide left as time expired.

Both offenses kept at it in the second half as Denver put together a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive on its second possession of the second half and Pittman found a hole on the left side for a two-yard score.

"We have to make every possession count for us. We feel like we can score every time," Cutler said of the offensive effort.

New Orleans answered immediately with a 74-yard reception by Robert Meachem to set up a six-yard toss to Bush in the right flat and he scampered in to pull the Saints within five with seven minutes remaining in the third.

Prater hit again, this time from 34 yards, to close out the third with Denver up 34-26.

Game Notes

Denver leads the all-time series with New Orleans, 7-2, and has won each of the last two meetings. The Broncos were 34-13 road winners when the clubs last met, in 2004. The Saints won the most recent meeting between the clubs in the Mile High City, a 30-28 triumph in 2004. Denver is 4-1 against the Saints at home all-time, with previous wins coming in 1974, 1979, and 1985...Denver wide receiver Darrell Jackson was inactive for the second straight week while the Saints were without running back Aaron Stecker and cornerback Aaron Glenn...The Saints racked up 502 yards of offense to Denver's 369...Saints cornerback Randall Gay left the game with a hamstring injury and tackle Jammal Brown exited with a groin injury. Neither player returned...Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey had eight catches for 75 yards while Moore with seven catches for 78 yards.



Copyright 2008 The Sports Network
All rights reserved