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Tampa, Fla. -- The New Orleans Saints' 16-14 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday was far from an aesthetic masterpiece. The Saints won ugly, as the saying goes. But few victories in the Sean Payton/Drew Brees era have been more satisfying.

They Saints are not supposed to win games on the road against a divisional opponent when they play as poorly as they did in the second half at soggy Raymond James Stadium.

And, yet, somehow the Saints did. They won in spite of themselves, overcoming injuries, dubious play calling and shoddy red-zone offense to post their second consecutive dramatic win against an NFC South division opponent.

They are one Falcons dropped pass and one Buccaneers first down away from being 0-2. Yet, instead, here they are, one of just three unbeaten teams in the NFC after two weeks of the season.

"Wins like this are vital," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "No matter what you've done in the past, you've got to kind of prove it to yourself that this team can overcome those types of odds, circumstances on the road, in the division.

"Our team got better today. There's still a lot we have to work on. There's still a lot we can improve upon. When you can find a way to win with everything that happened today, especially there at the end, it's significant."

And its rare. It's only the third time in the Payton era that the Saints scored so few points and still managed to win. It's only the fourth time they've won when Brees had a passer rating below 70. His ugly 67.5 passer efficiency rating was about half what it normally is. He entered the game having topped the 100.0 mark in four consecutive games dating to last season.

The Saints haven't won a game when Brees played this inefficiently since 2009, when they rallied in the second half to beat Miami at Sun Life Stadium.

Coincidentally, Brees said the game reminded him of the miraculous 33-30 road win at Washington in 2009, when a similar set of fortuitous events played out in the Saints' favor down the stretch.

Maybe that's why Payton twice used the word "fortunate" to describe this outcome. He knew his team had stolen one. He knows his team must improve its execution in several areas if it hopes to keep winning. He knew the Saints didn't play well. But they did play hard and smart, especially compared to the Bucs, who committed two turnovers and 10 penalties for 118 yards.

Read more: A win, however ugly, all that matters for New Orleans Saints | NOLA.com

NonieT

I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day of the week!

Danno

I wish they'd stop saying this. We're also 2 inches on a Jimmy Graham reception from having won the Tamp game by two scores.

And I think yesterday showed that you give Drew a minute and a couple time outs and getting a FG is no problem. If Steven Jackson makes that catch, the Saints have 49 seconds and two timeouts to kick a FG.

RaginCajun83

The game was ugly, boy that post game coverage was uglier

vpheughan

Winners make their own luck and losers make excuses and sight statistics. I remember when we were "No team has ever lost it's final 3 games and won the Superbowl." What transpired in Tampa yesterday couldn't have happened to more deserving coach. I don't like Greg Schiano, I don't think his players do either.

Mardigras9

Agreed, a win is win no matter how ugly.
Agree with Danno, really shouldn't have even been close in the first place.

Crusader

Good teams find a way to win ugly game. That's what separates them from the rest.

TheOak

Duncan is an ass.... I suppose his write up after the Super Bows was "one FG away from being Super Bowl losers".

saintfan

homerj07

We won & we won last week. I have always heard that football was a game of inches. That has been especially true the last 2 weeks