The win was the only thing that went according to plan for the Saints

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Saints did virtually nothing according to plan Sunday.

They didn’t plan to have early breakdowns in all three phases and fall behind the San Francisco 49ers 10-0.

They didn’t plan to play the second half without Drew Brees after he suffered fractured ribs and a collapsed lung in the second quarter.

They didn’t plan to have another half dozen key players miss time because of additional injuries.

About the only thing that went according to plan was that they came away with a victory – handling the depleted defending NFC champions 27-13 in front of nearly 6,000 fans in the Superdome.

It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t pretty, but it was significant.

It was the Saints’ sixth consecutive victory and gave the NFC South leaders a 7-2 record.

It was perhaps most significant precisely because so little went according to plan.

Sean Payton had to adjust his offensive plan twice – once when Jameis Winston replaced Brees to start the second half and again in the fourth quarter when he determined that Taysom Hill’s running would be more effective than Winston’s passing in preserving a lead.

It worked out primarily because no matter who was playing quarterback they were able to hand and pass the football to Alvin Kamara, who scored all three touchdowns.

It worked out because Dennis Allen’s defense produced interceptions by Malcolm Jenkins and Patrick Robinson, made two pivotal second-quarter stops that helped turn the game in a different direction and allowed just three points in the final 44:56.

It worked because even though wide receiver Marquez Callaway wasn’t able to make any of the Saints’ 14 pass receptions, he was able to secure the football on two punts that the 49ers mishandled, leading to 10 points.

It worked because all three phases put a poor start behind them and outperformed their counterparts on a well-prepared and gritty opponent.

The game started with the short-handed 49ers offense driving 75 yards in 13 plays to a touchdown.

Then the Saints offense went three and out.

The defense responded with a three and out of its own, but that was wasted when Deonte Harris fumbled the ensuing punt and the 49ers recovered at the Saints 49.

Bad defense, bad offense, bad special teams.

But the Saints didn’t allow the game to get away from them. In the wake of Harris’ fumble the 49ers reached the Saints’ three-yard line.

Then Malcolm Brown and newcomer Kwon Alexander dropped Jerick McKinnon for a two-yard loss and Demario Davis sacked Nick Mullens to force a field goal.

The 10-0 deficit at the outset of the second quarter didn’t feel nearly as badly as 14-0 would have.

Then Callaway made his first fumble recovery and Kamara made his first touchdown to tie the score.

The 49ers were trying to take the lead shortly before halftime when they reached the Saints 41. But on third-and-one the Saints pass rush forced an incompletion and on fourth down David Onyemata and Jenkins stopped McKinnon for a two-yard loss.

Moments later, Brees, who apparently was injured on the previous serious, gutted it out long enough to toss a three-yard touchdown to Kamara give the Saints a lead they would never lose.

It was a weird game.

Periodically seemingly good stuff for the Saints didn’t turn out as well as it appeared to be headed, but even that worked out in the end.

For instance, Harris bounced back from his fumble to make a 75-yard kickoff return, setting the Saints up at the 49ers’ 25-yard line.

But after three plays, the Saints were six yards farther away from the end zone than they started. Nonetheless Wil Lutz kicked a 49-yard field goal to get them their first points and left them down just 10-3 after slightly more than a quarter of bad football.

Winston’s best drive had the Saints playing a first-and-goal at the four to start the fourth quarter. He was sacked twice, losing 12 yards, but a facemask penalty against the Niners on a third-down completion to Harris gave the Saints a new set of downs at the six.

Three more plays netted one yard, but Lutz’s 23-yard field goal gave the Saints a little breathing room with a 20-10 lead with 12:15 remaining.

The lead would grow to 27-10 when Kamara added a one-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

Ultimately, eight Saints were injured at some point during the game.

Some returned, some didn’t.

None immediately seemed to be long-term issues, though Brees was scheduled for an MRI on his rib.

It was just a week earlier that seemingly everything went according to plan for the Saints in a 38-3 throttling of TampaBay that put New Orleans on track for a fourth consecutive NFC South title.

It was arguably as good of an all-around performance as the Saints have had since Payton and Brees arrived in 2006.

It’s easier when nearly everything goes the way you plan.

But it can be just as impressive when the outcome is about the only thing that goes according to plan.