Josh Hill and Marques Colston caught touchdown passes while Pierre Thomas added a rushing score for the Saints (1-2). Brees completed his first nine passes and finished 27-of-35.

Already shorthanded on offense without star running back Adrian Peterson, the Vikings (1-2) lost quarterback Matt Cassel to a toe injury in the first quarter. Rookie Teddy Bridgewater took over and went 12-of-20 for 150 yards in his NFL debut, adding 27 yards on the ground.

The Saints met little resistance on their first two possessions, going 80 and 82 yards - with Thomas' 1-yard plunge and Brees' 34-yard strike to Hill capping the drives for a 13-0 lead. Minnesota's defense settled in after that, but the Vikings had to settle for field goals all day.

Blair Walsh connected from 25, 30 and 40 yards to pull the Vikings within 13-9, but an unnecessary roughness penalty against Minnesota's Captain Munnerlyn on the last play of the third quarter kept alive a Saints drive that spanned 90 yards and ended with Brees' 18-yard TD pass to Colston. New Orleans put together another lengthy drive to seal it, grinding the final 6:58 off the clock.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Brees and Colston have hooked up for 64 TDs, surpassing Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry for seventh-most in NFL history. … RB Matt Asiata led Minnesota with 35 yards on 12 carries as the Vikings were limited to 59 yards on 22 attempts on the ground. … RB Khiry Robinson led New Orleans with 69 yards on 18 carries, taking over the bulk of the workload from Mark Ingram (fractured hand).