Half-Time Report: Drew Brees fires New Orleans Saints ahead

The New Orleans Saints are on course for just their second away victory of the 2015 NFL season having taken a 17-10 lead into the halfway stage of their NFC South showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Raymond James Stadium this evening.

The visitors, who have lost their last four games heading into today's contest, made a good start in their quest to stop the rot when they took the lead on their first possession, Marques Colston collecting a three-yard pass from Drew Brees to open the scoring.

That brought Brees level with Dan Marino in the NFL's all-time career touchdown passes list, and he moved into fourth place in his own right with number 421 at the start of the second quarter, again combining with Colston for a short score. Only Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Tom Brady have now thrown more touchdown passes in NFL history than Brees.

Lovie Smith's side halved the deficit soon enough, however, as Doug Martin raced his way over the whitewash from 14 yards to finish off a 10-play, 80-yard drive.

Kai Forbath helped to keep the hosts at arm's length with a late field goal, but Connor Barth struck a kick of his own in the final seconds to ensure that the gap is only seven points at the break.