Kansas City, MO -- (Sports Network) - Pierre Thomas racked up 144 total yards and a TD with 88 rushing and 56 receiving on four grabs as the New Orleans Saints survived a spirited effort from the Kansas City Chiefs with a 30-20 win at Arrowhead Stadium.

Drew Brees, the league's top passer, had a pedestrian performance by his standards, throwing for 266 yards on 25-of-36 attempts with a TD and interception. Brees had passed for 320 yards or more, including 422 last week, in seven of the Saints' first nine games this season.

Lance Moore caught eight passes for 102 yards and a score while Deuce McAllister also rushed for a touchdown.

The Saints (5-5) were coming off a disappointing division loss to the Atlanta Falcons last week, dropping New Orleans firmly into last place in the NFC South, where they still reside despite the victory.

"It was an important win. I thought we had a good balance today with the run and the pass. I thought we did a good job of tackling and came up with a stop when we needed to," Saints head coach Sean Payton said. "It was good to get a win on the road and get to .500."

Saints running back Reggie Bush was inactive again as he continues to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery. Bush hurt the knee in a loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 7, and he has not played since.

Tyler Thigpen put together another encouraging performance despite the Chiefs' second consecutive close loss, hitting on 19-of-38 pass attempts for 235 yards with a pair of TD passes to Dwayne Bowe, who finished with seven grabs for 53 yards.

Former Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson was back in the fold following a four-game suspension and rushed for 67 yards on 19 carries.

Tony Gonzalez made five receptions for 39 yards before leaving with an undisclosed injury suffered during a third-quarter goal-line series for Kansas City (1-9), which has lost five straight and 18 of its last 19 dating back to last year.

"What killed us was when we got in the red zone we didn't score. We got down their twice and had to settle for field goals," Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards said. "They've got a good offense and took advantage of good field position. You got to give them credit -- they made the plays when they had to and we didn't."

There is a measure of enthusiasm in Kansas City, though, after its second-year quarterback was instrumental in keeping the game close throughout on the heels of a 20-19 near-miss against San Diego last Sunday, as Thigpen's two-point conversion toss with 24 seconds left fell incomplete.

In a game that pitted the league's No. 1 offense against its worst ranked defense in the Chiefs, KC trailed by only three at halftime.

However, they started the second half with a three-and-out and New Orleans needed just two plays to push its lead to 10. Brees hit Moore along the right sideline for a 47-yard TD just over a minute in for a 20-10 game.

Thigpen came back to lead the Chiefs on an impressive 13-play, 72-yard effort but three tries from the New Orleans' three proved unsuccessful and Conor Barth struck a 21-yard field goal between the uprights.

The Saints, though, countered with seven on their next series. Brees carved his way into Chiefs territory before Thomas ripped off runs of 16 and 21 yards, the latter of which set up his own one-yard TD plunge for a 27-13 affair with 3:15 left in the third.

The Chiefs embarked on another successful drive and opened the fourth quarter with a 32-yard scramble by Thigpen on 4th-and-3 from the Saints' 38. Two plays later, Thigpen tossed a fade to the back left corner of the end zone and Bowe leaped and came down with a five-yard score to pull back within seven.

Both teams were forced to punt on their next series but New Orleans took nearly 6 1/2 minutes off the clock on its next turn with a 12-play drive and Garrett Hartley was true from 35 yards to make it a two-score game with 3 1/2 minutes to play.

The clock became moot, though, as Thigpen was picked off on 4th-and-10 from his own 33 moments later and the Saints kneeled down to run out the clock after converting on a 3rd-and-5.

Following Brees' interception on New Orleans' second series of the game, Thigpen led a drive from the Saints' 47 and tossed what would be the first of two jump balls to Bowe for a six-yard score and an early 7-0 lead.

Courtney Roby returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards into Chiefs territory but New Orleans faltered in the red zone and settled for a 30-yard boot from Hartley in the waning moments of the first.

A three-and-out by KC gave the ball right back to Brees and company and McAllister polished off a short drive by leaping over a pile of players for a one-yard score to make it a 10-7 affair early in the second.

The Chiefs came back with an epic drive that spanned over half the quarter but after 14 plays and 78 yards, Barth had to kick a 20-yard field goal when the Chiefs couldn't convert on three tries starting with 1st-and-goal from the one with 3 1/2 minutes showing on the clock.

New Orleans used the rest of the clock to drive 62 yards and Hartley split the uprights from 23 yards for a 13-10 game at the half.

Game Notes

The Saints took a 5-4 lead in the all-time series with the win...The Saints are now 3-1 at Arrowhead Stadium all-time, winning there previously in 1976 and 1991...Kansas City has now scored 90 points in four games since Thigpen has become the full-time starter. This after struggling early in the season, with the Chiefs averaging just 12.5 points over their first six contests...The Saints edged the Chiefs in total net yards 369-330.