49ers vs. Saints: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 Regular Season

All week long, outside forces speculated on the demise of the San Francisco 49ers. Jim Harbaugh's job status became a daily talking point, Greg Roman's play-calling was dissected and even former team legends questioned the direction of the franchise.

And all Harbaugh's 49ers did was shut out the distractions to reassert themselves in the NFC playoff race.

Ahmad Brooks forced a Drew Brees fumble, and Phil Dawson knocked down a 35-yard field goal in overtime to give San Francisco a critical 27-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Brees' fumble came on a strip-sack from Brooks, who knocked the ball forward and into the teeth of the 49ers defense. Rookie linebacker Chris Borland recovered the ball at the Saints 17-yard line, and Dawson knocked through a screwball on the first play of the next drive to cap off the win. 

The overtime period came after both quarterbacks led critical fourth-quarter drives, although one was far more conventional than the other. A two-yard Brees pass to Jimmy Graham culminated a 12-play, 80-yard drive that gave the Saints their first lead of the game with 1:52 remaining. It was the typically excellent drive you'd expect from someone of Brees' caliber.

Colin Kaepernick's two-minute drill was, well, let's just say far less straightforward. The 49ers' first three plays encompassed their foibles and shortcomings.

Two Anquan Boldin drops were followed by another drop from Michael Crabtree, setting up a 4th-and-10. Given all day to throw with the game on the line, Kaepernick scrambled outside the pocket and launched a ball more than 50 yards in the air that somehow landed in Crabtree's hands for a 51-yard gain.

Three straight Kaepernick incompletions set up a 45-yard Dawson field goal to tie the game at 24-24. San Francisco's defense was able to hold the Saints without a score for the final 44 seconds, thanks in large part to an offensive pass-interference call on a Graham Hail Mary reception.

The loss is New Orleans' first at home since Dec. 30, 2012, against the Carolina Panthers. The ensuing 11-game home winning streak was the longest in Saints history and made them a heavy favorite against a 49ers team that seemed teetering on the brink of implosion.

Coming into Week 10 having dropped two straight games, including an inexplicable home loss to the St. Louis Rams last week, many were rushing to write the 49ers off. Former quarterback Steve Young said they "looked broken". Former wide receiver Jerry Rice said he thinks Harbaugh is "gone" regardless of what happens the remainder of 2014.

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"We're at the halfway point, we're not where we want to be, and we certainly have to approach these games as single-game seasons," Harbaugh, who has deflected questions about his future, told reporters on Friday. "We have to be prepared for that, and as I said earlier, playing our best football is our goal, and winning."

Even if the speculation proves true, the 49ers looked like a team on a mission from the opening snap on Sunday. Antoine Bethea picked off Brees on New Orleans' opening possession, helping set up a four-yard Frank Gore touchdown to give the 49ers their first of two first-quarter scores.

Gore, who finished with 81 yards on 23 carries, scored for the first time since Week 2. The veteran back had been held to 107 yards over the last three weeks, with the 49ers' offensive line struggles and some questionable play-calling hurting his numbers. Football Outsiders had San Francisco 20th in rushing offense DVOA, a stark contrast to its third overall ranking in 2013.

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"It’s real frustrating. We’ve got so many weapons on the offensive side of the ball, the most we’ve ever had since I’ve been here," Gore told reporters on Wednesday of the 49ers' offensive struggles. "When you see things not clicking for us, you get, like, 'Wow.' Then you watch the film, it’s just one person here, or if this person would have gotten that block or if I would have did this."

The 49ers continued with their progression on the ground during their next drive, as Carlos Hyde scored from nine yards out to cap the strong first quarter. Hyde was a workhorse on the 49ers' lone offensive possession in overtime and finished with 36 yards on just four carries.

New Orleans, as it would throughout the game, bounced back with 10 straight points. A 40-yard Shayne Graham field goal and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Brees to Brandin Cooks closed the score to 14-10 and satisfied headline writers' need for a "Too Many Cooks" reference along the way. Cooks was the Saints' leading receiver on the day, finishing with 90 yards on five receptions.

The 49ers answered with a Kaepernick touchdown to Boldin, which made the score 21-10 heading into halftime.

That score would have to do the job for most of the second half. Both defenses came out of the break looking rejuvenated, with the Saints especially thwarting any attempts from the San Francisco offense. The 49ers managed just 28 yards of offense in the third quarter, going three-and-out on two of their three drives.

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New Orleans defensive coordinator Rob Ryan dialed up the pressure, taking advantage of poor pass protection and Kaepernick's penchant for holding on to the ball. The Saints brought Kaepernick down four times. That makes 18 times in the past three games. San Francisco had allowed more sacks than all but two teams (Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars) coming into this week.

While still not firing on all cylinders, the Saints offense steadily gained steam as the game went along. Brees and Mark Ingram picked up critical third downs on a drive that concluded with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham to bring New Orleans within four points in the third quarter. 

Ingram, oft-maligned during his first three NFL seasons, has become an indispensable piece of late. His 120 rushing yards gives him three straight 100-yard games for the first time in his career, and he's already set a career high with six rushing touchdowns this season. New Orleans has looked like a vastly superior team since Ingram returned to the lineup after the bye.

Brees had 292 yards and three touchdowns to go along with his three turnovers. It was just the second time all season that Brees had thrown multiple interceptions in a game. On the receiving end, Graham matched a season high with 10 receptions for 76 yards and two scores.

Unlike the 49ers, New Orleans' outlook is not so dire despite its 4-5 record. The Saints still have a half-game lead over the Panthers in the NFC South and hold the tiebreaker after defeating Carolina in Week 9. New Orleans will attempt to start a new home winning streak next week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

San Francisco, meanwhile, still has work to do. Harbaugh's team came into Sunday behind the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West and in a muck of teams vying for a wild-card spot. It'll be awfully interesting to see how this team responds when it visits the New York Giants next week.

Given the controversy heading into this game, though, the 49ers will just be happy to enjoy the relative silence that comes after a big win.  

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.