Saints escape with improbable 37-31 overtime comeback win over Bucs

Typing up a postgame recap after surviving that 4 quarters + bonus of crazy football is brutal. This game had it all. Ineptitude on offense, defense and special teams by the Saints. Clutch plays on offense, defense and special teams, too. More than anything you can thank the Bucs for constantly shooting themselves in the foot with penalties, though I’m sure the home crowd had something to do with that. This team is still a mess but at this point I think we all realize that. Because of this we need to enjoy these wins any way they come this season. The Saints are 2-3 and head into the bye week. They are one game behind the 3-2 Panthers, and tied for second place with the 2-3 Falcons. Below are my bullets on the game:

• There might be something to the talking heads insisting that Drew Brees has lost the deep ball. Numerous times he took shots downfield and more often than not the arm strength was just lacking.
• Speaking of Brees, so inexplicably poor decisions by him to put Tampa back in this game. His recent habit of unloading the ball as he’s getting tackled led to two interceptions and a few other close calls. That’s got to stop. Give him credit, though, he kept coming back and the offense never gave up.
• Pierre Thomas was a beast whenever he saw the ball, which was nowhere near enough.
• The Saints finally have an interception, courtesy of Patrick Robinson. Yes you read that correctly. And he actually had a good game. Corey White has since assumed the role of the Saints’ DB that gets burned at will.
• Lots of injuries in this one. Jimmy Graham (shoulder), Jonathan Goodwin (knee, didn’t look too serious), Ramon Humber (ankle) all left the game. A lot of others got banged up and returned. Good thing the bye week is here.
• Khiry Robinson had some fantastic runs in that overtime session. None bigger than the game winner, an 18 yard score.
• The Bucs ran for 66 yards at 3.1 yards per carry. Say what you will about the defense, run support deserves an A. The return of John Jenkins helped a bit with that effort. David Hawthorne’s return gave a very underrated help too.
• Junior Galette and Cam Jordan were both once again underwhelming. But give Junior credit for the lone sack creating a safety and giving the Saints a shot to come back.
• Shayne Graham drilled a 44 yarder to tie the game at 31 late. Deserves a ton of credit for a clutch make there.
• Marques Colston continues to have a train wreck season. He was very fortunate not to get called for a fumble on the Saints’ final drive in regulation, I thought it was.
• The offense is forcing the ball to Brandin Cooks a lot but the results haven’t been great.
• Ben Watson and Josh Hill both made a lot of plays in Graham’s absence. They’re obviously not the same players but their contributions helped the passing game.
• Vincent Jackson had 8 catches for 144 yards, does he ever not crush the Saints?
• At 13-0 it seemed like this game was over. Then Brees’ second interception, a pick six, made it 13-24. It felt over again going the other way. And at 20-31 in the 4th quarter it felt really over. Seriously, how did the Saints manage to pull this off?
• I imagine Lovie Smith will tell you exactly how they won in the postgame press conference. The Bucs had 15 penalties. Yikes.

A win is a win, folks. Especially when we’ve been going through this kind of season so far. Hopefully the Saints can get healthy, enjoy the bye week, and get ready to head to Detroit in two weeks. That will be a tough one for the defense on the road, but a chance for the Saints to get back to .500.