NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A little embarrassment provided a lot of motivation for Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.
One week after a humbling loss at previously winless St. Louis, New Orleans maintained its hold on the NFC South lead with a balanced attack and hard-hitting defense in a 27-16 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
“Obviously, a disappointing loss last week — we wanted to right a lot of the wrongs from that game,” Brees said. “But really, you don’t need to say much more than, hey, divisional opponent, at home, a critical point in the season, a team that we just played a few weeks ago and lost to. … A lot of reasons why we needed to win this game anything.”
New Orleans led 24-6 after Thomas’ touchdown in the third quarter.
Tampa Bay then converted two fourth downs during a 15-play, 73-yard drive that took 7:03 off the clock, but had to settle for Connor Barth’s third field goal of the game to make it 24-9 after Freeman threw a pair of incompletions from inside the Saints 10.
Winslow’s 5-yard touchdown catch later pulled the Bucs to 24-16. Brees then responded by marching the Saints 63 yards in an 11-play drive that ate 4:16 off the clock. He converted a key third-and-4 play with a 20-yard scramble, setting up John Kasay’s 34-yard field goal with 1:17 left.
With the victory, New Orleans remained a half-game ahead of Atlanta (5-3) in the NFC South. The Saints visit the Falcons next week.
Tampa Bay dropped into third place with its third loss in four games.
“We played average at times today,” said Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber, who watched the Bucs settle for a field goal after his interception on the Saints 33-yard line. “You generally get what you deserve in this game. We don’t deserve to be top of the division right now. We aren’t playing like
Brees, Saints run past division rival Buccaneers, 27-16
November 5, 2011