TAMPA, Fla. -- A few thoughts on the New Orleans Saints' 23-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium:

What it means: It was a mostly meaningless win for the Saints (7-9). In fact, it will actually hurt their draft position by a few notches and helped guarantee the No. 1 overall draft pick for the division rival Buccaneers (2-14).

But since the Saints went all-in to win this one, they at least got to finish with pride by rallying from a 20-7 deficit in the fourth quarter.

And they did it with a dominant defensive effort in the second half -- perhaps a last-ditch effort to save defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s job after players have so passionately backed him all season.

The Saints shut out the Bucs in the second half and capped the victory with back-to-back sacks by Cameron Jordan and then Junior Galette for a safety in the final minutes.

Stock watch: Quarterback Drew Brees ended his season in the same inconsistent style that defined his entire year. He threw three interceptions early in the game -- twice trying to force the ball downfield into traffic on third-and-long. But he finished with a go-ahead TD pass to Marques Colston with less than two minutes remaining.

Brees finished with 281 passing yards, leaving him at 4,952 passing yards for the season -- just short of his fifth career 5,000-yard season. He finished the frustrating year with 33 TD passes and 17 interceptions.

Milestone watch: By finishing 7-9, the Saints tied for their worst record in the Sean Payton-Brees era (they also went 7-9 in 2007 and 2012, the year Payton was suspended).

Brees fell short of the 5,000-yard threshold, and running back Mark Ingram fell 37 yards short of his first 1,000-yard season by rushing for 57 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Galette had one sack to give him 10 on the season but fell two short of the 12 he needed to kick in $6.5 million in future incentive bonuses.

Game ball: The Saints’ finale did at least help me settle on the winner of my overall season team MVP. I went with cornerback Keenan Lewis, whose second interception of the season helped spark the fourth-quarter comeback. Lewis was the best thing about New Orleans’ woeful defense all season long, routinely matching up against No. 1 receivers and shutting down the likes of Dez Bryant, Jordy Nelson, Alshon Jeffery and Kelvin Benjamin. They need more guys like him.

Heading into Sunday's game, I was leaning slightly toward Brees, who did some of the best and worst things for the Saints all year. And I briefly considered Ingram and receiver Kenny Stills, who quietly snuck up close to a 1,000-yard season and came up clutch in some late-season wins. Stills, however, left Sunday’s finale with an apparent leg injury, which will be worth monitoring going forward.