NEW ORLEANS -- The guy known as “Can’t Guard Mike” couldn’t be denied for the entire day.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas had two touchdown passes overturned by inches on instant replay Sunday. And the Saints' offense turned the ball over three times in a game that was threatening to go horribly awry for about two quarters. The offense had grown so sluggish and sloppy during the middle of Sunday’s 31-19 victory over the New York Jets (who came in as a 15½-point underdog) that the home fans started to boo during the third and fourth quarters.

So quarterback Drew Brees eventually just started firing away at Thomas.

A 17-yard pass on third-and-7. A 20-yard pass on the next play where he simply let Thomas go and fight for it at its highest point. A 9-yarder for another first down. Then a 4-yard slant for a touchdown that essentially put the Jets away.

"Enough became enough," Thomas said. "I mean, the team needed me. I had gotten them excited a couple times already when we thought I scored ... so it became a time where they needed me. And just enough was enough, and I had to go make plays and get us down there and put points on the board."

Thomas finished with nine catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. In the process, he became just the second receiver in NFL history with 90-plus catches in each of his first two seasons, joining Odell Beckham Jr.

When asked if he likes seeing Brees put that kind of trust in him, Thomas didn't even wait for the question to finish.

"I love it. I love it," Thomas said. "That’s what I want. That’s the situation I want to be in. That’s when I want to rise to the occasion."

"It was superb," Brees added. "Really that entire drive, I mean, you could see it in his eyes. He wanted the ball and he wanted to make the plays."

Thomas has 92 catches for 1,085 yards and five TDs this season. He is on pace to shatter the franchise record of 98 catches in a season, set by Marques Colston in 2007. And as I wrote earlier this week, he should become the first Saints receiver to make the Pro Bowl in the 12-year Brees-Sean Payton era.

A lot has been made of the Saints’ dynamic backfield duo of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram -- and justifiably so as they are threatening to become the first pair of running backs to each surpass 1,500 yards from scrimmage in a season. (Ingram and Kamara both scored TDs again in the first half Sunday before the Saints’ offense fell flat, then Ingram added a 50-yard exclamation point in the final minutes.)

But Thomas is every bit as much of a go-to guy.

And the big, physical, 6-foot-3, 212-pounder is absolutely the one Brees goes to when he needs to get the ball downfield -- whether Thomas is high-pointing the ball, shielding defenders or finding a pocket in zone defenses.

"Mike is a beast, man. He’s one of the best receivers in this league by far," Ingram said. "He catches everything. Making contested catches, run after catch. He’s just an animal, he’s a dog."

Thomas’ first two “touchdown” catches Sunday were huge plays (until they weren’t). The first was an apparent 7-yard TD catch when the Saints made the call to go for it on fourth-and-2 in the first quarter. Thomas eventually was ruled down on the half-yard line, setting up Ingram’s 1-yard TD run.

Then in the third quarter, Thomas appeared to catch a beautiful 32-yard deep ball from Brees before officials ruled that his toes barely touched out of bounds in the back of the end zone.

"You know, you want to score. You want to put points on the board. Especially when it’s like you do everything right and then one little itty bit gets in the way," Thomas said. "So it’s a little frustrating just being a competitor, being the type of player I am, me liking to score and add value to this team. But it is what it is. I got in there later when they needed me, and that’s a blessing."

Thomas was hardly the only standout for the Saints on Sunday in what could have been an easier win if Brees hadn't thrown an interception in the second quarter and receiver Brandon Coleman hadn't fumbled twice in the third and fourth quarters. Brees described the offense as "self-destructive" during that span.

But cornerback Marshon Lattimore fortified his case to be the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year while shadowing standout Jets receiver Robby Anderson for much of the day. He had at least two impressive pass breakups on third down (one in the end zone) and finished the game with an interception on the final play.

And veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan continued to show his versatility as both a pass-rusher and pass-rejecter with a whopping five batted passes (included a 2-point conversion attempt). Jordan now has the “triple-double” he has been pushing for this year -- double-digit totals in sacks, tackles for losses and pass defenses.

"I didn't feel like it was one of our better games. Nonetheless, we did what we had to do to win the game," Payton said. "We're gonna put on the film and we'll be disappointed. [Mental errors], penalties. I just thought it was sloppy."

Things won’t get any easier for the 10-4 Saints, though, as they prepare to host the rival Atlanta Falcons (8-5) in a critical NFC South rematch. The Saints can’t afford another sloppy performance like Sunday's.