Khiry Robinson scored from 18 yards out to cap a furious New Orleans Saints comeback in a 37-31 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Our takeaways:
- The Saints overcame three Drew Brees turnovers, including a pick-six and an earlier interception that led directly to a Bucs touchdown. The normally explosive New Orleans offense has been in a malaise all season, as Brees has struggled to connect on passes beyond 20 yards.
- Pierre Thomas saved Brees and Rob Ryan's porous defense, totaling 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 12 touches. The best screen-pass back of his era ran with authority and was especially hard to bring down on Sunday.
- For the second consecutive game, Mike Glennon started off slowly, failing to move the chains for the first quarter and a half. Much like last week, he caught fire in the second half. The difference Sunday was that he was sacked for a safety and went five-and-out on two key fourth-quarter drives, allowing the Saints back in the game. All things considered, he has shown enough to merit keeping the starting job once Josh McCown's thumb is healthy.
- The Saints lost All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham to a shoulder injury in the second quarter. He never returned to the field after undergoing X-rays just before halftime. Coach Sean Payton did not provide an update on Graham's status during the post-game presser. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported that the team believes his shoulder is sprained but is not serious.
- The Bucs had the two best players on the field in wideout Vincent Jackson and linebacker Lavonte David. A week after Keenan Lewis stifled Dez Bryant, Jackson got the better of the matchup on Sunday. David was a beast, racking up 14 tackles, including two for a loss.
- Payton got rookie Brandin Cooks more involved this week, but big plays were noticeably absent on his 11 offensive touches for 71 yards.
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