NEW ORLEANS — Fired up by a personal foul call on which he was slammed to the turf by cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, quarterback Drew Brees threw an 18-yard scoring pass to Marques Colston in the fourth quarter to wake up a stagnant offense and carry the New Orleans Saints to a 20-9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at the Mercedes Benz Superdome.

The victory, the Saints’ first after an 0-2 start, extended their home winning streak to a franchise-record nine games.

Brees completed 27 of 35 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns.

The Vikings (1-2) played most of the game without starting quarterback Matt Cassel, who injured his toe in the second quarter. Rookie Teddy Bridgewater came in and performed well under pressure, completing 12 of 20 for 150 yards.

The Saints took an early 13-0 lead following their first two possessions — on a 1-yard run by running back Pierre Thomas and a 34-yard Brees strike to tight end Josh Hill — but Minnesota clawed back within 13-9 on field goals of 25, 30 and 40 yards by Blair Walsh.

The game’s key play came with the Saints facing a third-and-14 from their own 31 early in the fourth quarter. Brees got heavy pressure from the corners, and Munnerlyn came clean for a blindside sack that would have forced a punt. But the officials ruled that Munnerlyn slammed Brees to the turf on the tackle and called Munnerlyn for a personal foul.

Brees was so incensed by the play that he got up from the turf and pushed safety Robert Blanton in the back after he felt Blanton was intentionally pinning him to the ground.

The 15-yard penalty gave the Saints an automatic first down at the 47, and seven plays later, Brees found wide receiver Colston on a seam route for the 18-yard scoring strike, putting the Saints up 20-9 with 12:22 left. That capped a 12-play, 90-yard drive.

The Saints ran out the final 6:54 after getting the ball back at their 16.

The Saints came out firing on their first two offensive series, putting together touchdown drives of 80 and 82 yards to take a quick 13-0 lead. Brees completed his first nine passes for 108 yards, and the Saints’ scores came on a 1-yard run by Thomas and a 34-yard seam catch by Hill. Shayne Graham’s extra point after the second touchdown was tipped by defensive end Everson Griffen and hooked left.

The Saints picked up 11 first downs on their first 18 plays, and when they led 13-0, they had outgained the Vikings 162-2.

Bridgewater got his first NFL snap after Cassel went down with a left toe injury on a tackle by linebacker Curtis Lofton following a third-down scramble early in the second quarter.

The rookie from Louisville took advantage of a blown defensive coverage to toss a shot swing pass to running back Matt Asiata that went for 41 yards to the New Orleans 19, setting up Walsh’s second field goal of the game, from 30 yards, to cut the halftime deficit to 13-6.

Cassel, who completed 5 of 10 passes for 53 yards before his injury, was carted off the field and did not return. Bridgewater completed 3 of 5 passes for 46 yards and ran three times for 26 yards, some on designed runs, in the first half.

NOTES: The Drew Brees-Marques Colston TD connection that gave New Orleans a 20-9 lead with 12:22 left was their 64th career scoring play, making them the seventh-most prolific duo in NFL history. … WR Colston’s score came after he was sandwiched at the 2-yard line by S Robert Blanton and S Harrison Smith. Blanton was the player Brees pushed from behind after he was sacked and the Vikings were called for a personal foul, which kept the TD drive alive.