Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger put up Hall of Fame numbers, but future Hall of Fame Saints quarterback Drew Brees delivered one more drive.
Brees took the Saints 46 yards in 10 plays over the final minutes for the final touchdown, converting a fourth-and-2 and a third-and-20 before finding wide receiver Michael Thomas on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 1:25 left. And the defense held for a 31-28 win over the Steelers on Sunday afternoon at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The victory clinched the NFC No. 1 seed and home Dome advantage in the playoffs for the Saints (13-2) with a meaningless game to play at home next week against Carolina. Pittsburgh dropped to 8-6-1.
"That's why I'm so glad we got the win," said Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore. "We can have two bye weeks now. It's a long season. We need that."
The Saints will get some much deserved rest and relaxation. Their starters will get light work during practice in the upcoming week and in the game against the Panthers. Some, like Brees, will likely not play. Then there will be an open week for the Wild Card playoffs on the weekend of Jan. 5-6 before the Saints take the field in their NFC Divisional round playoff game on Jan. 12 or 13.
The NFC and AFC championship games are on Jan. 20 with the Super Bowl in the domed Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Feb. 3.
"The road goes through New Orleans," said Brees, who completed 27 of 39 passes for 326 yards and the winning touchdown. "Obviously, we love playing for the Who Dat Nation."
The Saints have the No. 1 seed in the NFC Playoffs for the first time since the 2009 season when it went on to win the NFC title with two Superdome wins before winning Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.
"Listen, it's hard to secure the No. 1 seed," Brees said. "We can step back now and assess where we're at."
For a moment it looked like the Saints may have to wait until next week to clinch, after Brees threw incomplete to Thomas on fourth-and-2 from the Steelers' 26 with under two minutes to go. But pass interference was called on cornerback Joe Haden for a first down at the Steelers' 21.
Saints right tackle Ryan Ramczyk was then guilty of holding on the next play, and the Saints soon faced a third-and-20 from the Steelers' 32-yard line. Brees found newly activated wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. for 25 yards to the 7 with 1:33 to go.
Ginn, who has been out since the first month of the season with a knee injury, caught five passes for 74 yards.
"Ted's a big time player," Brees said. "It was designed to go to Ted. It's big having Ted Ginn back. He gives us great diversity. Obviously, that was a huge catch on third-and-20."
Brees found Thomas for a 5-yard completion, then hit him in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown and 31-28 lead with 1:25 to go. Thomas was originally ruled down at the 1-yard line, but a review obviously showed he had both feet just inside the goal line for the score before his momentum carried him out. He finished with 11 catches for 109 yards.
But it wasn't over. Roethlisberger had one more chance. He converted a fourth-and-15 pass with a review to wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Steeler 39 with 1:02 left. He got Pittsburgh a first down at the Saints' 42 with 41 seconds left and completed his last pass to Juju Smith-Schuster for eight yards to New Orleans' 34, but Smith-Schuster fumbled after a hit by tackle Sheldon Rankins. Linebacker Demario Davis recovered for the Saints, and it was over.
"Man, we just stepped up to the challenge," Saints safety Vonn Bell said. "We stopped them. That was huge to grab the home field advantage."
Roethlisberger finished 33-of-50 for 380 yards and three touchdowns. Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan got away with some silly comments last week that Roethlisberger was less of a future Hall of Famer than the Giants' Eli Manning.
Roethlisberger did have his Steelers leading, 28-24, early in the fourth quarter.
Roethlisberger hit wide receiver Brown on a 20-yard touchdown with 1:02 to go in the third quarter to put the Steelers up for the first time at 28-24 since a 3-0 advantage in the first quarter. Before that, Roethlisberger finished a 75-yard drive in nine plays with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Brown to cut the Saints' lead to 24-21 with 4:42 left in the third.
The Saints drove 50 yards in four plays, using 38 seconds, to take a 17-14 lead at halftime on a 43-yard field goal by Wil Lutz at :02 remaining in the second quarter. Then New Orleans drove 75 yards in 11 plays with the second half kickoff to take a 24-14 lead with 9:13 to go in the third quarter.
Brees found running back Alvin Kamara for a 31-yard completion to the Pittsburgh 25-yard line to set up the field goal. Then Kamara scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter after sparking the drive with a 42-yard catch and run. Kamara finished 105 yards - 82 on four catches and 23 rushing on seven rushes with two touchdowns.
The Steelers tied the game, 14-14, with 40 seconds to go in the second quarter on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to running back Jaylen Samuels and with a two-point conversion pass from Roethlisberger to wide receiver Eli Rogers. A pass interference call against Saints cornerback Eli Apple set the Steelers up for the score at the 2-yard line. Pittsburgh drove 97 yards in 15 plays over 6:04 for the touchdown.
The Saints offense appeared to be back on track from the start. New Orleans, which had struggled to score in their previous three games early, drove 75 yards in eight plays for one touchdown and 75 yards in six plays for the other. Brees completed 6 of his first 9 passes for 90 yards. He finished 12 of 16 in the first half for 151 yards.
Kamara's 8-yard run with 10:22 to go before halftime put New Orleans up 14-6. Running back Mark Ingram's 1-yard touchdown run gave the Saints a 7-3 lead with 2:57 left in the first quarter. Ingram finished with 35 yards on 11 carries.
Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead with 5:37 to go in the first quarter on a 49-yard field goal by Chris Boswell. The Steelers cut the Saints lead to 7-6 on a 30-yard field goal by Boswell early in the second quarter.
The Saints lost starting left tackle Terron Armstead in the first half as he apparently aggravated his pectoral injury. He returned in the third quarter, but did not play in the fourth after starting and playing for the first time since first injuring the pectoral at Cincinnati on Nov. 11.
A rotation that included LSU rookie Will Clapp helped replace him as Andrus Peat played guard and tackle.
With time to heal, maybe Armstead could be closer to his best for the playoffs.
"There's a benefit to being the No. 1 seed," Brees said. "It's a little bit of a 30,000-foot view. We're going to take full advantage."
They did last time.