TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Drew Brees threw for one touchdown and ran another Sunday to help the New Orleans Saints rally from an 11-point halftime deficit to clinch their second straight NFC South title with a 28-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brees shrugged off a pair of turnovers to throw a 1-yard TD pass to Zach Line, then scored on a 1-yard sneak as the Saints (11-2) avenged a season-opening loss to Bucs (5-8) and also rebounded from a defeat last week at Dallas.
New Orleans' defense did its part after allowing two first-half TDs, too, sacking Jameis Winston four times and limiting the NFL's No. 1-ranked offense to 81 yards in the second half -- most of that on the final drive of the game.
Brees completed 24 of 31 passes for 201 yards and one interception. Michael Thomas had 11 receptions for 98 yards.
A week after being held to a season-low 176 yards total offense in a 13-10 loss to Dallas that ended a 10-game winning streak, the Saints started slowly again.
Winston threw a pair of TD passes to Cameron Brate, the latter a 1-yarder set up by Adarius Taylor's interception to put the Bucs up 14-3 at halftime. The fourth-year pro also threw an 11-yarder to Brate on the opening drive of the game.
The game turned in the third quarter when Brees weathered losing a fumble at his own 27 and later took advantage of the Saints blocking a punt to set up his TD pass to Line, along with Alvin Kamara's 2-point conversion that trimmed Tampa Bay's lead to 14-11.
In addition to missing a 40-yard field goal after Jason Pierre-Paul recovered Brees' fumble, Cairo Santos also had a 46-yard attempt deflect off the right upright in the first quarter for Tampa Bay, which finished with 279 yards -- more than 160 below its league-leading season average.
Brees' TD run put the Saints ahead early in the fourth quarter. Mark Ingram scored on a 17-yard run to make it 25-14.
Winston finished 18 of 38 for 213 yards, two touchdowns and one interception -- an end-zone throw picked off by Marshon Lattimore with 1 second remaining.
Associated Press
