49ers vs. Saints: Live Score and Analysis for San Francisco

Things could not have gotten much worse than they did when the San Francisco 49ers suffered an embarrassing and underwhelming 13-10 loss to the St. Louis Rams one week ago.

Now at 4-4, the 49ers take to the road to face another 4-4 team—the New Orleans Saints. 

San Francisco's recent woes called into question a number of things. Did an underachieving 49ers offense lose its identity, as questioned by running back Frank Gore via CSN Bay Area? Is the once-questioned rift between head coach Jim Harbaugh and the locker room deeper than initially thought?

Who knows.

In reality, this San Francisco team was in need of a win in the most desperate of ways. Almost all hopes for a successful 2014 season fell upon victory in Week 10.

Facing the 49ers was a Saints team that, after stumbling out of the gate to a 1-3 record, has turned things around as of late. Over their last two matchups, the Saints outscored opponents 72-33. New Orleans entered the fray with a 3-0 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

These are numbers the 49ers would have to overcome if they wanted to right the ship in the second half of the season.

The Saints received the opening kickoff, yet Drew Brees was intercepted by Antoine Bethea. This put San Francisco in excellent field position, where running back Frank Gore started off the scoring with a four-yard rush to put the 49ers on top early.

Not wanting to be left out of the 49ers' running game, rookie Carlos Hyde was able to tack on another touchdown run later in the quarter—a nine-yard rush on a power-toss play.

The Saints were able to drive late in the first quarter, thanks to a few tough catches from Brees' receiving corps. But the 49ers defense clamped down, forcing the Saints to settle for a field goal just before the end of the first quarter.

But the Saints answered back in the second—a 31-yard touchdown pass from Brees to rookie Brandin Cooks, that closed the gap. Yet Colin Kaepernick subsequently found Anquan Boldin on the 49ers' subsequent drive.

The Saints found themselves driving late in the first half, following a Kaepernick fumble. But Brees was picked off by cornerback Chris Culliver in the waning seconds of the second quarter.

Yet New Orleans was able to close the gap in the third. After evading a would-be sack on an all-out blitz, Brees hooked up with a waiting Jimmy Graham to close the gap to four points. Brees found Graham again just inside the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter.

This score gave the Saints their first lead of the game.

But the 49ers were able to march back into New Orleans' territory, where a Phil Dawson field goal tied things up with just under one minute remaining in regulation.

After a would-be Graham touchdown was nullified by offensive-pass interference, both teams found themselves in overtime.

The turning point in the overtime period proved to be an Ahmad Brooks sack of Brees, that forced a fumble. Unlike last year, the play was not nullified by a flag. Rookie Chris Borland was able to jump on the fumble, which set up a game-winning field goal from Dawson.

San Francisco now moves back above the .500 mark and, perhaps, saved its season at this crucial turning point. The 49ers can now start the preparations for the New York Giants after a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest.

FINAL: 49ers 27, Saints 24 (OT)

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.

Peter Panacy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Be sure to check out his entire archive for 49ers news, insight and analysis.

Follow him @PeterPanacy on Twitter.