METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints’ offense has struggled at times when opposing teams try to double-team All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham, electing to try to take him out of the game by whatever means necessary.

When Graham was blanketed early in Sunday’s crucial game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, it looked like it was going to be one of those days as the Saints netted 42 total yards and two first downs on their first three possessions.

“On our first play, (Steelers safety Will Allen) jammed me at the line and (safety Troy) Polamalu broke on me, so I knew I was going to get a lot of attention,” said a smiling Graham. “They were undercutting all my routes, and then they had someone over the top a lot.

“But this is a team and Drew (Brees) is going to throw it to the open guy. It’s been like that all year, especially when we get in the red zone. There are a lot of eyes and hands on me.”

The problem for the Steelers was that they couldn’t keep close tabs on everyone, which resulted in a 35-32 road win for the Saints (5-7) in a game the Saints had to have to end a three-game losing streak and retain a share of the NFC South lead going into the final quarter of the season.

Graham, who had 65 receptions for 670 yards and nine touchdowns going into the game, came out of it with the same totals as he didn’t get his hands on a pass from Brees. The surprising thing was he wasn’t even targeted.

That opened things up on the outside for fellow tight end Benjamin Watson, wide receivers Kenny Stills, Nick Toon and Marques Colston, and fullback Erik Lorig. Each had touchdown catches from Brees, with all coming in the final three quarters after the Steelers took a 6-0 lead.

It was the second time this season that Graham did not have a reception in a game. He was targeted twice, however, in a 24-23 loss to the Detroit Lions on Oct. 19 when he was nursing a sprained right shoulder.

But his frustration from that loss gave way to the joy of the win against Pittsburgh that the Saints needed, especially when the Atlanta Falcons secured a 29-18 victory over the Arizona Cardinals about 3 1/2 hours later, enabling the Falcons to pull back into a tie for the South lead.

Saints coach Sean Payton and Brees, who threw just 27 passes and completed 19, said they don’t go into a game with the idea they’re not going to target Graham.

“Somebody said after the game that Jimmy didn’t have a catch,” Brees said. “I had to think because it sounded crazy to me. He is such a big part of the plan and he’s always targeted.”

REPORT CARD VS. STEELERS

PASSING OFFENSE: A — The only thing the Saints could have done better was get the ball to tight end Jimmy Graham, but they really didn’t need to try to force something against the Steelers when Drew Brees was sharp. Brees hit on 19 of 27 passes for 257 yards and five touchdowns, the ninth time in his career he’s had that many TDs. He was sacked just once and had a passer rating of 140.0. His longest pass of the day went to Kenny Stills for a 69-yard touchdown. Stills had five receptions for a career-high 162 yards with catches of 44, 21, 18 and 10 yards to go with his 69-yard score. Nick Toon, Marques Colston, Benjamin Watson and fullback Erik Lorig also had TD catches, although no one other than Stills had more than 17 receiving yards.

RUSHING OFFENSE: A — After a couple of tough games, the Saints got back on track against the Steelers. Despite a slow start in which he had just 9 yards on two carries in the opening quarter, Mark Ingram got going and finished the game with 122 yards and a 5.3 average on 23 carries. Pierre Thomas had 21 yards on three attempts with a long of 13. Thomas’ 13-yard run was followed by back-to-back runs of 20 and 12 yards by Ingram that led to their first touchdown of the game and erased an early 6-0 lead for the Steelers. Ingram also had a 31-yard blast in the fourth quarter that set up the touchdown that gave the Saints a 35-16 lead with a little more than 10 minutes to play. For the game, the Saints averaged 5.5 yards per carry with 143 yards on 26 carries.

PASS DEFENSE: C — The grade isn’t better only because the Saints gave up touchdown drives of 95 and 98 yards in the final six minutes. With the Saints not willing to give up the quick-strike long ball, Ben Roethlisberger marched his team down the field twice, completing 12 of 16 attempts for 155 yards had a pair of touchdown passes and two-point conversions that made the score look more respectable. He finished 32 of 58 for 435 yards and two TDs, but was only 20-of-42 for 280 yards with two interceptions prior to the two last-gasp drives. Running back Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Heath Miller had eight catches each, with Bell piling up 159 yards. Brown had 97 yards and Miller 82.

RUSH DEFENSE: B-plus — The Saints get credit for not giving in to the Steelers in the early going. Bell had 71 rushing yards on 12 carries in the first quarter with runs of 12, 16 and 18 yards before the Saints tightened up and held him to 11 yards in the second quarter. Bell, who seemed that he would gain 100 yards in the first half alone, finished the game with 95 yards and a 4.5 average on 21 carries with a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter. As a team, the Steelers had 103 yards and a 4.5 average on 23 attempts.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B-minus — Thomas Morstead averaged 48.5 gross yards and 46.0 net yards on six punts with a long of 55. He also had two punts downed at the Steelers’ 2 and 5 in the final quarter and had three touchbacks among his six kickoffs. Shayne Graham booted all five of his extra points and the Saints averaged 25.0 yards on three kickoff returns. The Steelers averaged 7.5 yards on two punt returns and 29.0 yards on two kickoffs with a long of 41.

COACHING: A — Sean Payton didn’t have any answers for his team’s three-game losing streak, but he did for Sunday’s important game with the Steelers. Having to travel to Pittsburgh on a short week following a Monday night game with a holiday thrown in, when the Steelers were well-rested coming off their bye, Payton lightened the load and gave his player more rest time than they would normally get. The result was a fresh team that came on strong — especially offensively — after a slow start.