The New Orleans Saints beat the New York Giants 34-27 on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, snapping a 3-game losing streak. Here are three things we learned as the Saints improved to 2-4.

Off the mat

The Saints showed some fight, although they almost ruined it with what have been a titanic fourth quarter collapse. The Saints were in a bad place before Sunday. They had lost three straight home games. Things were so bad that owner Gayle Benson expressed her disappointment in the 1-4 start at a luncheon Tuesday. There was uncertainty if Kellen Moore and Mickey Loomis would survive if things didn’t get better. Both morale and execution was low and it was unclear if Moore could fix it. The Saints, despite falling into a 10-0 hole in the first half, showed the type of grit that had been missing the past three weeks. This felt like a must-win and they answered the call.

The Alvin of old

Alvin Kamara showed he still has something left in the tank. It’s understandable if you questioned that after his 10th season got off to such a rocky start.  Entering Sunday, he had  just 86 rushing yards and  41 receiving yards. On top of that, he’s dealt with a back injury that kept him out of some recent practices. He even had to go to the injury tent briefly in the first half Sunday. But he re-entered the game and showed glimpses of his old self with a magnificent 31-yard reception where he eluded tacklers like only he can.  On the play, he became the sixth player in NFL history to reach 5,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards.

On to France

The long flight to Paris would have felt even longer with four straight losses. Instead, they fixed some of the things that needed to be fixed. A team that wasn’t forcing many turnovers all of a sudden did (3 interceptions, 1 fumble). An offense that was ranked 29th in rushing all of a sudden found some success (176 rushing yards). Special teams stepped up, too. Daniel Carlson booting a 58-yard field goal that was followed by the Saints’ forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. That got the Saints going. The fact that this game came down to the final play after the Saints led by 24 is a bit concerning. But the desperate Saints will take a win any way they can get it.