xan

It is officially Friday, so peel off the latex and give a sample of your nostradamin'.

Saints 31 Bucs 17

Brees opens up with a controled passing game to move the safeties out of the box. Deuce and Reggie gain short yardage on runs, but the off balance approach gets space for Colston and Bush in "pick your poison" under/over pass routes. After Deuce scores on this drive, Brees starts to open the game up with some deep throws, some successful, some not. Bush breaks 2 big plays this game, each over 25 yards. The offense scores 3 of the 5 possessions of the 1st half and lead 17-7 at the break. Brees throws a pick before the end of the half, but TB can't capitalize. TB's offense gets lucky with the Saints pressure on their 3rd drive, with Cadillac Williams busting through inside the guards for a 55 yard score. This drive will account for 75% of the total yards gained in the 1st half by the Bucs.

The Bucs begin the second half with a well deserved time consuming score to make it 17-14, but Brees and the offense start having fun and romp down the field in 4 plays with Horn making a diving catch at the goal line for a 24-14 lead. 3 consecutive 3-outs lead to the Saints with short field position. Bush gets his score with 10 minutes remaining in the 4th on a forced mismatch with a linebacker catching the ball 15 yards downfield and juking a safety's jockstrap into the Bay for the final 12 yards. The Saints D allows a meaningless fg with 4 minutes to play, and Deuce gets 40 yards in the final clock draining drive. The D holds the opposing offense to under 150 yards passing and 125 yards rushing for the game; 5 sacks and 1 turnover forced.

Special teams are better, but not a factor in this game.

Calvin: "I wish I was a Tiger."
Hobbes: "Common lament."