What looked like a lackluster matchup coming in turned out to be a wildly exciting NFC South showdown in Tampa, which included the freak spectacle of a 95-yard catch that didn’t lead to any points.
It appeared the rout was on after the Bucs took an early 14-0 lead, aided by a Ronde Barber interception. However, the Saints battled back and scored 28 first-half points to eventually take a 14-point lead of their own. Tampa answered and, with some late-game heroics, managed to get to first-and-goal with less than 20 seconds left and down seven. However, the effort ultimately came up short as an illegal touching penalty wiped away the game-tying touchdown pass to Mike Williams on the final play.
Both teams gained valuable takeaways from the game. The Buccaneers showed for the second straight game they are capable of moving the ball on offense and putting up points — though they need better secondary play. And the Saints have momentum for the first time this season, but at 2-4 there’s still a long way to go, and the momentum won’t last long if the porous defense doesn’t improve.
New Orleans — Three Performances of Note
Drew Brees, M.D.
Coming out of a bye week, Drew Brees (+6.4) put his early-season slump behind him for good with a performance, particularly in the first half, that can best be described as surgical. Even without the injured Jimmy Graham, Brees dissected the Tampa Bay defense, completing 27 passes for 377 yards and four touchdowns, with a season best 10.2 YPA and a 79.4% adjusted completion percentage. He was especially effective on the deep ball, and masterfully manipulated the Buccaneer secondary with pump fakes on multiple occasions. He completed 11 of 13 passes further than 10 yards in the air, including three of four on balls over 20 yards in the air — among them a spectacular 47-yard touchdown to Joe Morgan, though he made his receiver unnecessarily come back to the under-thrown ball.
It’s scary to think that, despite how well Brees played, he could have been even sharper. Along with the touchdown, he under-threw an additional pass when Morgan again got behind the defense and could have walked into the end zone.
Third and Moore
As good as Brees was passing the ball, he wouldn’t have done it without the stellar play of his receivers — none of whom were better, or came up bigger, than Lance Moore (+4.6). He was one of the few Saint receivers to not end up with a touchdown, but he did everything else, and led the team with nine catches for 121 yards. When the Saints needed a big play to keep a drive alive, Moore was the player to deliver with eight of his receptions producing first downs and six such plays coming on third-down. One of his biggest came on a third-and-10 at 12:38 in the second quarter, when he wasn’t initially open but adeptly found a hole in the coverage and moved into position for his QB to get him the ball, which of course Brees did.
His best work on the day came when he lined up in the slot. Running 9 of his 27 pass routes from inside, Moore gained an impressive 9.22 yards per route run, caught all five balls thrown his way and took advantage of the less-than-stellar play of slot CB Brandon McDonald. McDonald wasn’t the only defender to get beaten though, as the Saint caught at least two passes against three different Tampa Bay DBs on the day.
Vilma’s Return
If Roger Goodell has his way, the Saints’ defensive captain won’t be back for long, but he certainly had a solid debut after missing the entire offseason and spending the first six weeks on PUP. Limited to the Saints’ nickel packages, Jonathan Vilma played just 19 snaps, but made enough of an impact to receive one of the few positive grades on the defense, coming in at +1.0. One of those impact plays came on his second snap of the game at 8:41 of the first quarter, when his pressure forced a poor throw from Freeman that resulted in an interception by safety Roman Harper, though the play was inexplicably upheld as an incompletion.
And while we haven’t been enthralled with Vilma’s play in the run game in recent years — whether it’s his inability to shed blocks, his penchant for getting dragged for extra yards by the ball carrier or flat out missing tackles (this was on display as he whiffed on an attempted tackle of Doug Martin) — he’s been respectable in coverage and almost came away with an interception on an excellent read and pass deflection early in the game. His play was also key in the momentous third-quarter goal-line stand by the Saints.
Vilma won’t single-handedly turn around a defense whose problems go much, much deeper than linebacker, but if he is able to overturn his year-long suspension he brings a presence and intensity that can drive a team to make just enough plays to win — plays like that game-changing goal-line stand.
Tampa Bay — Three Performances of Note
Eric Wrong
In a game in which little defense was played, Eric Wright was one of the worst offenders. Coming off a strong showing, albeit defending Brady Quinn and the Chiefs, Wright took a big step back with his worst performance to this point in the season. Targeted nine times, he allowed seven receptions for 147 yards and a TD. Twice, including on the touchdown, he was victimized by Brees pump fakes and allowed receivers to get behind him for big plays — and he badly missed a tackle that allowed Morgan to reach the end zone. Adding insult to injury, Wright was spectacularly flipped into the air on the ‘attempt’ to bring Morgan down. Not even a pair of pass break ups for the second straight game could salvage the day for the Tampa Bay cornerback. Brees had a near-perfect passer rating of 155.8 when throwing at Wright.
Pass Rush Problems
While stalling on the goal line on offense and untimely penalties may have been factors in the Bucs’ defeat, the real problem was allowing 28 first half points, including 21 in the second quarter. The pass rush was nonexistent for Tampa as they managed just three pressures on Brees, and got to him on just 12.7% of drop-backs. Third down after third down, the Bucs chose to send just three or four rushers to no effect, giving Brees plenty of time to exploit the secondary and find the open man, which was often Moore. And despite continually getting picked apart with seven or eight defenders in coverage, they didn’t adjust, and blitzed just seven times all game. Given how well they got penetration in the run game, it was baffling to see the same group barely gain an inch rushing the passer.
With Michael Bennett producing his worst performance of the season as a rusher, Gerald McCoy (+4.0) was the lone bright spot on the line, and he continued his outstanding season with a strong showing as a pass rusher and against the run. He victimized Jahri Evans for two of the defense’s three pressures and, on the opposite side, routinely handled Ben Grubbs (-2.4 run blocking) in the run game.
Big-Time Target
And you thought a healthy Vincent Jackson (+3.5) was good. Despite nursing an injured calf, Jackson torched a beleaguered New Orleans secondary for 206 yards and a touchdown on seven catches, numbers that equate to a league-leading 5.02 yards per route run for the game. The play of the day came at 6:39 in the third quarter with Tampa Bay backed up close to the goal line when Josh Freeman hit his receiver in stride down the left sideline for a 95-yard gain. Though a healthy Jackson likely walks into the end zone on the play, he still had enough speed to get behind Patrick Robinson and nearly take the ball to the house. Also credit Freeman, who had a rating of 130.6 when targeting Jackson and threw for a career-high 420 yards in the game, for taking advantage of an unprepared Saints defense and making a perfect throw. When the ball was snapped, multiple Saints defenders were not set, including Curtis Lofton who was giving signals to Harper and had his back completely turned to the ball. This may have contributed to the terrible angle that Harper (-3.3) took on the play, as he failed to get back to a proper depth at the snap.
Game Notes
— Through six games, Harper and Malcolm Jenkins have played every defensive snap, while Robinson has played all but five snaps. Given how how poorly the defense has played, it might be time for the Saints to rotate the DBs from time to time.
— On 19 touches, Doug Martin forced 11 missed tackles and gained 94 of his 122 yards from scrimmage after contact.
— With five against the Saints, Rookie Lavonte David now has 25 stops on the season. Only three 4-3 outside linebackers have more.
Game Ball
Drew Brees put up the big numbers, but the Saints offense looks different with Lance Moore catching passes and coming up big when needed.
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