NEW ORLEANS -- For a quarterback who tops out at barely 5-foot-11, Drew Brees has been remarkably bulletproof in his 15-year NFL career by the way he stands tall among defenders who are bigger, stronger and faster.

But in the New Orleans Saints' gutty 38-27 victory Sunday over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at the Superdome, Brees showed once again that tough things come in small packages.

Playing despite a torn plantar fascia in his right foot, Brees completed 25 of 36 passes for 412 yards and three touchdowns. It was the 13th 400-yard performance of his career -- tying him with Dan Marino, one shy of Peyton Manning's all-time NFL record.

And he did it basically with one foot tied behind his back.

"You're so focused on the game, it's locked in and laser focus," said Brees, who played with a creative tape job to limit the stress on the arch of his foot. "Obviously, you want to instill confidence in the guys around you. Once you get between the lines, you flip the switch and it's all about competing at the highest level, executing the play, making sure we're playing with great tempo and trying to create rhythm. That's all I was focused on."

Brees' laser focus was not lost on Saints coach Sean Payton.

"I thought he was real sharp with the location of his passes," Payton said of Brees, who completed scoring passes of 17 yards to tight end Michael Hoomanawanui, 71 yards to receiver Brandin Cooks and 44 yards to running back Travaris Cadet. "He took a good portion of the (practice) reps on Friday, and at that point, we felt he was going to be able to go. I thought the balance we had helped."

The Saints raced to a 24-0 lead and never looked back. Running back Tim Hightower, a feel-good, comeback story, rushed for 122 yards and two scores. Since returning to the league after devastating knee injuries, Hightower posted his first 100-yard performance since 2010 when he was playing for the Arizona Cardinals.

Brees did not practice until Friday, and there was a question even a few hours before kickoff about whether or not he would play. But Brees hardly looked fazed.

Brees led the Saints (6-9) on touchdown drives of 80, 98, 80 and 88 yards, and the Saints dominated the Jaguars by rolling up 537 yards in total offense -- the most ever allowed in three seasons under Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley -- and 29 first downs.

The Saints converted 8 of 13 third downs and punted only once until the final 28 seconds. The Saints scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and got a 37-yard field by Kai Forbath late in the second quarter to take a 24-point lead.

Brees likened his physical limitations to someone who has lost one of his five senses.

"Maybe the only thing I can draw a parallel to is having one sense taken away from you," Brees said. "It's like the other senses are heightened. Someone who can't see, your hearing and your sense of smell get deeper. All of sudden, everything else becomes heightened. It's not that you change the way you play the game, but it makes things much more defined and precise."

After Jacksonville cut the deficit to 24-13 on Blake Bortles' touchdown passes of 2 yards to Marqise Lee and 6 yards to Allen Hurns, Breese responded with the 44-yard strike to Cadet on a circle route and then led the Saints on an 88-yard march, capped by Hightower's 5-yard burst up the middle.

Brees completed 14-of-22 passes for 251 yards and two scores in the first half. The 71-yard touchdown pass to Cooks capped a 98-yard drive on which the Saints overcame two holding penalties and a first-and-30.

Bortles, who completed 27 of 35 passes for 368 yards and four scores -- with most of the damage coming in the second half when the game was out of reach -- gushed over Brees' performance.

"I thought he was unbelievable," Bortles said. "I think that's what everyone has come to expect from Drew. He's a great quarterback who has played at a very high level for a very long time, and he had another great game today."

Bradley bemoaned Cooks' 71-yard touchdown, which came on second-and 21.

"When you are playing against an offense like this with that kind of precision, you have to be on the details," Bradley said. "There cannot be lapses in communication."

NOTES: With five catches for 123 yards, WR Brandin Cooks became the first Saints wide receiver since Marques Colston (1,154) and Lance Moore (1,041) to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Cooks has 1,116 yards going into the final week. ... With his 71-yard TD pass to Cooks, Drew Brees joined Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers as the only NFL quarterbacks to have 16 career passes of at least 70 yards. ... The Saints defense set an ugly record by allowing four more passing TDs for an NFL-record 43 this season. That broke the record of 40 allowed by the 1963 Denver Broncos, who finished 2-11-1.