The New Orleans Saints improved to 2-3 with their 10th consecutive victory at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, extending their franchise record for consecutive home wins. New Orleans has a bye next week before returning to action Oct. 19 on the road against the Detroit Lions.
The Saints lead the series with Tampa Bay 28-17 after their fourth consecutive victory over the Buccaneers. This was the third meeting in series history to go to overtime; the Saints have won two of the three.
New Orleans is now 11-13 all-time in regular-season overtime games, including 1-1 this season. The Saints snapped a three-game regular-season overtime losing streak at home, dating to a 2003 win over Atlanta. The last home overtime win was the 31-28 victory over Minnesota in the 2009 NFC championship game.
The Saints rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to win. The last time the Saints trailed by 10 or more points in the fourth quarter and came back to win was a 33-30 overtime victory at Washington in 2009.
The Saints gained a season-high 511 total yards on Sunday - 371 passing and 140 rushing. New Orleans outgained Tampa Bay 511-314.
QB Drew Brees completed 35 of 57 passes for 371 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He engineered his 24th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime since coming to New Orleans, tied for the second-most in the NFL in that span.
With a first quarter eight-yard completion to RB Travaris Cadet, Brees reached 40,000 career passing yards in his 132nd game as a Saint, the quickest an NFL player has reached 40,000 yards with a single team. Previously, Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins, 153 games) was the quickest to reach 40,000 passing yards with a team.
Brees completed 30 or more passes for the 41st time in his career and also reached the 350-yard passing mark for the 41st time in his career. Both are the most in NFL history.
Brees now has 114 games with multiple touchdown passes, fifth-most in NFL history, including 89 as a Saint.
Brees appeared in his 132nd game as a Saint, moving him out of a tie for 20th on the club's all-time list with Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle William Roaf and into sole possession of 20th.
RB Khiry Robinson had career highs of 21 carries for 89 yards, including the game-ending 18-yard touchdown run in overtime.
RB Pierre Thomas' 15-yard touchdown reception to give New Orleans a 13-0 lead was the 40th touchdown of his career, moving him into sole possession of seventh place on the club's all-time list ahead of wide receiver Lance Moore.
Thomas had 112 yards from scrimmage with four carries for 35 yards and eight receptions for 77 yards. He now has 6,060 career total yards from scrimmage and became the sixth player in franchise history to surpass the 6,000 mark.
Thomas became the first running back in club history to reach the 300 reception mark for his career. Thomas now has 304 career catches.
Thomas' 27-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave him a rushing and receiving touchdown in one game for the fourth time in his career and the first time since last year's home game against Dallas.
Cadet finished with three receptions for 19 yards including a third quarter 5-yard touchdown grab. Cadet also returned three kickoffs for 76 yards.
WR Marques Colston played in the 122nd game of his NFL career, tying him for 25th in club record books with former running back and current Saints Director of Player Development Fred McAfee.
Colston had three receptions for 63 yards. His 36-yard catch in the first quarter was his 67th career reception of at least 25 yards, extending his franchise record.
WR Brandin Cooks had a career-high nine receptions for 56 yards. Cooks has 32 catches through the first five games of his rookie season, trailing only Reggie Bush (34) and Anquan Boldin (33) for the most receptions in the first five games of a rookie campaign.
G Jahri Evans played in the 131st game of his career today (all starts), putting him in a tie on the club's all-time games played list for 21st with Roaf.
The New Orleans defense sacked Tampa Bay quarterback Mike Glennon once, but it was a key play as OLB Junior Galette sacked Glennon in the end zone for a safety. It was the first safety scored by the Saints since 2010 at San Francisco.
CB Patrick Robinson had a second quarter interception, the eighth of his career and his first since a pick vs. San Francisco on November 25, 2012. It was New Orleans' first interception of the season.
ILB Curtis Lofton started the 100th game of his career today and finished with five tackles.
