The New Orleans Saints avoided a season sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and preserved their NFC South lead with a 27-16 home victory Sunday at the Superdome.

Drew Brees didn't waste much time extending his streak of consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass to 36, which matches Brett Favre for the second-longest streak in NFL history. He also has completed 20 or more passes in an NFL-record 29 consecutive games for the Saints (6-3).

Brees didn't have a scoring strike until there were six seconds left in last week's 31-21 loss to St. Louis, but he hit Lance Moore for a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter Sunday. He then connected with Darren Sproles for a 24-yard score in the second quarter.

The Saints maintained their half-game lead over Atlanta, a 31-7 winner at Indianapolis on Sunday, heading into next weekend's division showdown at the Georgia Dome.

Tampa Bay's Kellen Winslow had four catches for 29 yards and a touchdown to extend his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch to 84.

The Bucs (4-4) had won in their past two trips to New Orleans, getting big games from quarterback Josh Freeman. Freeman passed for 249 yards and a touchdown Sunday.

Saints cornerback Tracy Porter left the game on a stretcher after suffering an apparent neck injury on the first play of the game. Porter passed neurological tests from the Saints' trainers, but he was taken to the hospital for further examination.