For the second time in as many weeks, the New Orleans Saints offense looked lethargic on Sunday afternoon inside Raymond James Stadium in a 16-11 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers would strike first after a slow start to the first quarter with a field goal from Ricky Aguayo to take an early lead.
After the Bucs forced a three-and-out, the lead was increased to 10-0 with a lengthy drive that ended with Doug Martin walking into the endzone on the second play of the second quarter. Drew Brees picked up where he left off last week in Detroit with another interception thanks to a tip from former LSU Tiger Kwon Alexander and was caught by rookie Vernon Hargreaves. That interception resulted in another three points off the foot of Aguayo.
Just as it seemed like the Saints luck wasn’t going to turn around, it began to late in the first half. On the next drive the Saints would march down the field and get on the board thanks to a field goal to cut the lead to 10 points. On the ensuing kickoff, the ball would hit Huff’s helmet before going out of bounds to put the ball at the one-yard line. The Bucs would be stopped in the endzone for a safety to cut it down to 13-5.
In the final minutes of the half, the Saints would get to the one yard line but after a false start that was followed two plays later by a sack of Brees led to this team settling for three points.
Both teams would exchange field goals early on in the second half. The Saints would get one more chance after the two minutes warning to keep their season alive, but the third pick thrown by Brees would be the death knell.
The Saints (5-8) will travel to the west coast to take on the Arizona Cardinals (5-7-1) with kickoff set for 3:05 pm.
-Clint Domingue