Saints end 6-game slump, 21-19

Aaron Brooks threw three TD passes against the Jets.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New Orleans Saints returned "home" and got back in the win column.
Aaron Brooks threw three touchdown passes, and New Orleans broke a six-game losing streak with a 21-19 win over the New York Jets Sunday night. It was a return trip to Giants Stadium for the Saints, who lost their "home" opener at the stadium earlier this season, but fared better this time around as the visiting team.
"I told them we are 1-1 at home," coach Jim Haslett said. "It's a better feeling tonight."
The Saints (3-8) were forced to play in East Rutherford on Sept. 19 against the New York Giants after Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area and ruined the Superdome. The Saints lost that game 27-10, and receiver Joe Horn later said the NFL was making a "mockery" of the team.
"We have been faced with so much adversity that we are always playing away basically," Brooks said. "We are not in the Superdome, so it is another place we have to go and play at to get another victory."
Held on for win
The Saints had to sweat through this one at the end because the Jets (2-9) had a chance to win. But Mike Nugent, who kicked a career-high four field goals, came up short on a 53-yard attempt with 15 seconds remaining.
"We still almost let it slip away, but we didn't -- and almost doesn't count," Horn said. "I wish and hope for those 45-minute games where we score 35 and they score 13. Every week is a nailbiter to the end, and our team is better than that."
When the ball left his foot, Nugent thought he had just kicked the winning field goal.
"I thought it was going to go," Nugent said. "It kept sailing and sailing and then at the last second, it just didn't get the last few feet."
Brooks on target
Brooks, who finished 17-of-23 for 181 yards, put the Saints in position for the win with his third touchdown of the night -- a 30-yard pass to Devery Henderson that gave New Orleans a 21-19 lead with 8:32 to go.
"It's huge anytime you get a victory, regardless of how it comes," safety Dwight Smith said. "We passed a test and hopefully we'll build from here."
Brooks Bollinger was 19-of-28 for a career-high 251 yards and a touchdown, one of the few positives in the Jets' sixth straight loss.
"It's just disappointing," Bollinger said. "You just want a win so bad, obviously since I've been starting I haven't won one, so I really wanted to help us win a game. To come up short again, it's tough."
Also, Curtis Martin became the fourth NFL player to rush for 14,000 yards, reaching the mark with a 23-yard run in the first quarter. He joined Emmitt Smith (18,355), Walter Payton (16,726) and Barry Sanders (15,269) as the only players to reach the milestone.
"As a professional, you would trade all the milestones for a win," said Martin, who had 91 yards. "It really doesn't matter if we are going to the playoffs or not, 3-8 would have meant everything to me tonight."