Trailing by 11 points early in the third period and twice in the final quarter, the New Orleans Saints’ 2014 season was on the brink of disaster Sunday afternoon in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

After carrying a 1-3 record into their NFC South matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Saints really couldn’t afford another disappointing setback. While another loss wouldn’t have necessarily ruined their season, it surely would have ruined the bye week they were about to head into.

So when they needed it most, quarterback Drew Brees and a suddenly plucky defense saved the day — and possibly the entire season — with a wild 37-31 overtime victory over the Bucs.

The Bucs appeared ready to put a fork in the Saints early in the fourth quarter, leading 31-20 with 13:38 remaining after a third consecutive offensive touchdown, when the Saints woke up in a big way.

Pierre Thomas had a 27-yard TD run on the next drive, and while they failed on a two-point conversion, they got the two points anyway with a safety on a sack of Mike Glennon by linebacker Junior Galette, then capped a frantic fourth quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Shayne Graham.

That set up a one-drive overtime that ended with Khiry Robinson’s 18-yard TD run on which he bowled over two defenders at the 5-yard line, which could in the long run keep the Saints in the NFC playoff race.

It didn’t come a moment too soon, as far as many Saints were concerned.

“We wanted to have a win going into the bye week to put our hopes and spirits up,” said Thomas, who scored two touchdowns on a 15-yard screen pass from Brees and a bruising 27-yard run in that all-important final quarter. “That’s what we did.”

REPORT CARD VS. BUCCANEERS

PASSING OFFENSE: C — The questions about the arm strength of quarterback Drew Brees will continue after he served up three interceptions — one of which was returned for a touchdown — against the Bucs. Brees hit on 35 of 57 pass attempts for 371 yards and two TDs, but the picks and a 70.1 passer rating marred the afternoon. Still, the Saints survived when Brees led his team back from an 11-point deficit three times in the second half. He tossed TDs of 15 and 5 yards to Pierre Thomas and Travaris Cadet, respectively, and connected with Brandin Cooks nine times for 56 yards. Thomas caught eight balls for 77 yards, while tight ends Benjamin Watson (5-43) and Josh Hill (3-53) combined for eight catches and 96 yards to make up for the loss of All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham, who left in the first half with a sprained right shoulder. Wide receiver Marques Colston caught three passes for 63 yards.

RUSHING OFFENSE: B — The Saints pounded the Bucs defense, especially in the second half, for 140 yards and a 4.8 average on 29 rushing attempts with second-year pro Khiry Robinson doing the most damage. Robinson picked up 89 yards on 21 carries and scored the game-winning touchdown on an 18-yard blast in overtime. He was handed the ball on the last four plays of the contest and produced 31 yards, emphatically ending it when he plowed through two Bucs defenders at the 5-yard line on his way to the end zone. Pierre Thomas averaged 8.8 yards a carry with 35 yards and a 27-yard TD on three attempts and

Brandin Cooks had two carries for 15 yards.

PASS DEFENSE: B-plus — After being picked apart by Tony Romo a week earlier, the Saints were able to hold things together despite the loss of free safety Jairus Byrd to a knee injury in practice late in the week. They held Mike Glennon to 19 of 32 passing for 249 yards, getting to him for a sack that went for a safety in the fourth quarter and an interception by cornerback Patrick Robinson — the first of the season for the Saints defense. Glennon did throw TDs of 9 yards to Robert Herron and 20 yards to Louis Murphy and finished with a passer rating of 91.8. Wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who’s had some big games against the Saints, caught eight passes for 144 yards with a long of 34 yards and averaged 18.0 yards per reception.

RUSH DEFENSE: B — Battered and bruised in their previous game, the Saints did a solid job against the Bucs’ 1-2 punch of Doug Martin and Bobby Rainey. They limited the Bucs to just 66 yards and a 3.1 average on 21 attempts with Martin getting 45 yards on 14 carries. Rainey netted 21 yards on six attempts as the Saints did a decent job of tackling after being hammered by DeMarco Murray in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Martin had runs of 11 and 16 yards, the latter on the final play of regulation when the Saints were guarding against a deep pass, but otherwise was bottled up and held to minimal gains.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Shayne Graham got back on track with field goals of 30, 29 and 44 yards, the last of which tied the game at 31-31 with 2:30 to play in the final quarter and sent the game into overtime. Thomas Morstead punted twice for a 48.5 gross average with a long of 60 yards. The Saints averaged 22.0 yards on three kickoff returns with a 29-yarder by Cadet, but were poor on kick coverage as the Bucs had one punt return for 11 yards and averaged 25.0 yards on three kickoff returns with a long of 28 by Solomon Patton.

COACHING: A — In a game the Saints had to have thanks to a 1-3 start, Sean Payton had to dig deep to keep things together after falling behind by 11 points three times in the second half — once early in the third period and twice in the fourth quarter — against the upstart Bucs. He lost Jimmy Graham and starting center Jonathan Goodwin to injuries in the first half and was without injured free safety Jairus Byrd from the start, but still managed to steer his team to the win going into its bye week.