Drew Brees passed Dan Marino on the NFL's all-time career touchdown passing list to help his side to a 24-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their NFC South showdown this evening, ending a four-match losing streak in the process.

The veteran quarterback made a bright start to the match by completing 19 of his first 22 pass attempts, with two of those seeing him leapfrog Marino in the standings with his 420th and 421st scoring passes.

Marques Colston was the man on the end of both of them from a combined distance of four yards, leaving Brees behind only Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Tom Brady in the all-time list.

The struggling Saints did not have things all their own way in the first half, however, with Doug Martin jinking his way into the endzone from 14 yards to halve the deficit after Colston's brace.

New Orleans were forced to settle for a field goal from their next trip to the redzone, and the Buccaneers responded with a quick drive upfield to claw those three points back in the dying embers of the first half.

Sean Payton's side regained control of the contest towards the end of the third quarter, however, as Tim Hightower powered over from three yards for his first touchdown since 2011 following an injury-plagued spell.

Tampa Bay refused to throw in the towel, and they hauled themselves right back into the game with just over a third gone of the final quarter when Jameis Winston threw his first touchdown pass of the night to Adam Humphries from six yards.

They couldn't find another score in the remaining time, however, as the Saints picked up just their second away win of the campaign to move 5-8 for the season, while the Buccaneers drop to 6-7.