Bucs Defense Can’t stop Brees, Bucs Lose 24-20

The New Orleans Saints fans celebrated their homecoming after hurricane Gustav forced many from the city with big plays and an important win at the expense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs Defense was consistant the majority of the afternoon, however, it was 3 big TD passes from Drew Brees that lead to the 24-20 loss. Brees hit David Patton for a 39 yard TD early in the first quarter but the Bucs D retaliated on the Saints next possession by returning a Brees interception for a TD. The pass was intercepted by Phillip Buchanon but the credit should go to Barrett Ruud for hitting Brees as he threw the ball. Brees who ended the game going 23 of 32 for 343 yards also had a TD pass to Devery Henderson that went for 84 yards as Rhonde Barber fell down on the play and a screen pass to Reggie Bush that he took for a 42 yd TD pass. Reggie Bush ran for 51 yards on 15 carries but again excelled in the passing game catching a team high 8 catches for 112 yards. Jeff Garcia finished the game 24-41 for 221 yards and had a TD pass to Ike Hilliard of 2 yards. It was the only offensive TD for the Bucs. The rushing attack seemed to be working as Erneast Graham rushed for 91 yards on 10 carries and the veteran Joey Galloway had 6 catches for 56 yards. The thing about this game was I wondered why the Bucs didn't run the ball more or involve their running backs more in the passing game since the Saints obviously had a difficult time stopping Graham and the game remained close. That's Jon Gruden's west coast offense though. Garcia is a product of the system but he needs to make better decisions with the football and improve his accuracy as well. There are alot of elusive running backs in the league and if the Bucs Defense continues to play with the same level of sloppyness it will end up a long season.