Chargers vs. Saints game recap: Late San Diego comeback falls short in 31-24 loss

A late comeback by the San Diego Chargers was unsuccessful, as Philip Rivers and the Bolts offense wasn't able to overcome the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees' four touchdown passes. In the end, the Saints picked up their first win on the season with a final score of 31-24.

Rivers was leading the Chargers on a comeback drive in the final two minutes of play, completing multiple big passes, but it was interspersed with sacks and penalties, setting them back time and time again. With 1:40 left in the game, the Chargers actually faced a second-and-37, and managed to turn it into a first down ... thanks to a New Orleans penalty, in which the defender was called for "illegal hands to the face."

Still, the Chargers weren't able to get things done. They took the ball over midfield and couldn't do much else, and a forced fumble on a third-and-10 with less than a minute to go sealed the deal for the Saints.

Brees broke the NFL record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass, passing Johnny Unitas with 48-straight games. He didn't stop with just the one touchdown pass (a 19-yard strike to Devery Henderson, who was wide open down the right sideline) though, tossing three other scoring strikes to Marques Colston in the second (19 yards), third (16 yards) and fourth (5 yards) quarters.

Fantasy studs and duds: Brees, as noted, threw four touchdowns strikes and clearly is always a solid fantasy option. Colston hauled in three touchdown passes, which definitely made some fantasy owners happy. None of the New Orleans running backs were anything special in this one though, with Sproles in particular only notching 9 yards off of five carries.

Injury report: Jimmy Graham suffered an ankle injury that looked nasty, but he returned to the game in the following quarter. Jabari Greer left the game late with a hip injury, which has been a problem with him in recent seasons. There were no significant injuries outside of those.

Did they cover? According to SB Nation's NFL odds page, if you took the over, you did well on this game. As for the spread, the Saints were favored to win by just three points by most of the oddsmakers, despite their lacking record, and they came through with a seven-point win.

What's next: The Chargers will be in primetime again, taking on the Denver Broncos on Monday, Oct. 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET, while the Saints will be taking their bye week for Week 6.