The Saints are rolling, yet making little progress in the powerful NFC South.

New Orleans won its third straight game Sunday, beating Seattle 34-16 as Drew Brees became the Saints’ all-time completions leader, throwing for four touchdowns. The victory lifted the defending Super Bowl champions to 7-3.

All that’s worth is a tie for the runner-up spot in the division with Tampa Bay, which handed the 49ers their first home shutout since 1977.

Both teams trail Atlanta (8-2), which won its fourth in a row, 34-17 at St. Louis.

“Today we played at times as well as we’ve played all season,” Brees said. “That gets you excited because you feel like, man, we’re knocking at the door.”

All three NFC South teams might storm through that door into the postseason.

“These guys are playing great,” Bucs coach Raheem Morris said. “I told you guys, stats are for losers. We don’t deal with that. We deal with playing hard, playing fast, playing smart and playing consistent.”

Saints 34, Seahawks 16

At New Orleans, Brees was 29 of 42 for 382 yards and completed his 1,850th pass as a Saint to break a record held by Archie Manning since 1982. Brees hit Marques Colston and Robert Meachem twice each for TDs.

“We are on the cusp,” Brees said. “We had some weapons last year, but I think we have some guys emerging now that we really have a lot of places that we can spread this ball around.”

Falcons 34, Rams 17

At St. Louis, Matt Ryan threw two touchdown passes and directed an offense so dominant that three St. Louis defenders left with cramps.

Sam Bradford also had a pair of touchdown passes and set an NFL rookie record with 169 consecutive passes without an interception before William Moore picked off a shovel pass to end the Rams’ four-game home winning streak.

The Rams fell to 4-6.

Buccaneers 21, 49ers 0

Josh Freeman threw for two touchdowns as Tampa Bay got its first win at Candlestick Park since 1980 and only second ever, breaking an eight-game losing streak in San Francisco and dropping the Niners to 3-7.

Patriots 31, Colts 28

The teams met for the eighth straight season, and Tom Brady guided the Patriots to a 31-14 lead before four-time MVP Manning led a spirited comeback. But Manning was intercepted in the final moments for the third time, by James Sanders at the New England 6.

Brady not only beat Manning, the only other quarterback of the last decade in his class, but tied another QB icon for an NFL mark. Brady has won 25 straight regular-season home starts, equaling Brett Favre’s record when he was with Green Bay.

Jets 30, Texans 27

Santonio Holmes caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez with 10 seconds left. After New York blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Jets trailed 27-23 with less than a minute left. But Sanchez completed two passes to LaDainian Tomlinson and then had a pretty 42-yard pass to Braylon Edwards with 16 seconds remaining.

On the next play, Sanchez found Holmes streaking into the left corner of the end zone for the winning score.

Eagles 27, Giants 17

At Philadelphia, LeSean McCoy ran 50 yards for the go-ahead score on a fourth-and-1 late in the fourth quarter.

Michael Vick looked a little more ordinary after a spectacular performance in a 59-28 win over Washington, but he led the Eagles (7-3) to a comeback win.

Ravens 37, Panthers 13

Joe Flacco threw for 301 yards and a touchdown, and Baltimore’s defense returned consecutive interceptions for TDs in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens (7-3) rattled Carolina’s new quarterback, Brian St. Pierre, to break open a surprisingly close game. With Baltimore leading 23-13, Ed Reed picked off St. Pierre, then pitched it to Dawan Landry for a touchdown.

Packers 31, Vikings 3

At Minneapolis, the Brett Favre vs. his old team saga apparently ended — do we ever know with Favre? Aaron Rodgers threw for 301 yards, with three of his four touchdown passes to Greg Jennings.

Chiefs 31, Cardinals 13

At Kansas City, Dwayne Bowe caught two touchdown passes, giving him a team-record six straight games with at least one score, and Kansas City (6-4) remained unbeaten at home.

Jaguars 24, Browns 20

At Jacksonville, Maurice Jones-Drew followed a 75-yard reception with a 1-yard touchdown dive with 1:16 left as the Jaguars overcame six turnovers.

Redskins 19, Titans 16

Graham Gano kicked a 48-yard field goal with 8:17 left in overtime at Nashville.

Titans quarterback Vince Young left the game with an injured thumb on his throwing hand.

Cowboys 35, Lions 19

Bryan McCann grabbed a batted-down punt and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown, Miles Austin had two short touchdown catches and 38-year-old Jon Kitna had a career-best 29-yard TD run for Dallas (3-7).

Bills 49, Bengals 31

At Cincinnati, Ryan Fitzpatrick matched his career high with four touchdown passes during Buffalo’s biggest comeback in 13 years.