NEW ORLEANS -- To put it bluntly, Drew Brees almost threw away the New Orleans Saints' season on Sunday.

His two interceptions in the second and third quarters of Sunday's 37-31 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the result of horrible decisions, plain and simple. He was getting hit as he threw, and he tried to force passes that weren't worth the risk. The second one was returned 33 yards for a touchdown and led to a rare moment where coach Sean Payton chewed out Brees on the sideline.

"First of all, it shouldn't happen," admitted Brees, who added a third interception on a third-and-long shot late in regulation that he felt was more worth the risk. "The first two certainly shouldn't happen, even though the second one, you get your arm hit. Just know the situation, know when and where to take chances. ... That gave them 14 points. That shifted momentum at a point in the game where I thought we had it firmly grasped."

But let's be honest. Those kinds of plays have always been part of Brees' makeup, stemming from his Brett Favre-like quality of always feeling like he can make something happen out of nothing.

And, oh by the way, Brees did wind up helping the Saints (2-3) make something out of nothing Sunday as they rallied from a 31-20 deficit in the fourth quarter.

The Saints leaned heavily on their running backs down the stretch -- both rushing the ball and passing to them. And Brees finished strong for the most part, finishing with 371 yards on 35-of-57 passing with two touchdowns and the three interceptions.

"I think most importantly is the way we responded," Brees said. "For me, I'm going to stay aggressive. I'm going to stay positive and just know the opportunities are going to come."

Brees has hardly been the Saints' biggest problem this season. Far from it.

In fact, he was downright sharp in the first four games, despite a handful of missed opportunities in New Orleans' 1-3 start. He led the NFL in completion percentage among full-time starters. And I understood why Brees seemed flummoxed earlier this week when asked about the "panicked mob's" concern that his arm strength has regressed.

But there was no denying that Brees struggled to get the ball down the field Sunday when he did take those deep shots.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Brees has completed just 7 of 18 passes thrown 20 yards or more in the air this season, with one touchdown and now one interception. He was 2-for-6 on such throws Sunday, including the late pick that was underthrown for receiver Robert Meachem.

I'm not quite ready to buy in to the arm-strength theory just yet. It wasn't an issue when I broke down the tape through the first four weeks. But something is definitely lacking -- whether the coverage is frustrating Brees or he's rusty from simply not taking enough of those shots to get into a rhythm.

"I think some of the plays that maybe you're familiar with seeing ... we dialed those up, but the coverage is just not giving us those," Brees said. "I would say there's some go routes that I can do a better job throwing. And I think that's just practice and time on task and just kind of getting the feel for that again. But we haven't taken a lot of those shots, and part of that is on me.

"You certainly want to pose that threat to opposing defenses with, 'Man, those guys can run by you. They can beat you with the underneath passing game. They can run the football. They can do a lot of things that we have to be ready for.' So, yeah, that [deep-ball] element has to come back."

If the Saints are going to dig themselves out of this rut they're in, they can't just lean on Drew Brees looking kinda, sorta like Drew Brees this season.

They need him to find a phone booth during the bye week. They need Superman.