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LANDOVER, MD. - Beneath all the smiles inside the New Orleans Saints' jovial locker room after their improbable 33-30 come-from-behind victory against the Washington Redskins on Sunday there was a bit of frustration.
Despite improving to 12-0 and matching their franchise record for wins in a season, the Saints' defensive backs were left to uncomfortably explain what happened to their pass defense against the Redskins at FedEx Field.
For the first time this season, New Orleans' secondary struggled mightily, as Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell torched the Saints, passing for 367 yards and three touchdowns.

It was the first time since Week 2 the Saints have allowed a quarterback to pass for more than 300 yards.

"We gave up more yardage and more plays than we are used to and should be doing, " New Orleans free safety Darren Sharper said. "We are banged up in the secondary. That's not an excuse, but we had some plays that we gave up.

"It's just simple stuff like when it comes to tackling and keeping them from getting yards after the catch, being in the right spot and knowing coverage. But I think a lot of that was on communication. We are working with a lot of new guys and got a little mixed up at times. We made it harder than we had to, but we found a way to get it done."
Almost from the outset, Campbell attacked the Saints' defensive backfield. With New Orleans' top three cornerbacks -- Jabari Greer (groin), Tracy Porter (knee) and Randall Gay (hamstring) -- out with injuries, Campbell used many quick drops and took his chances against the entire Saints secondary.

Campbell was especially effective going after rookie cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, who was routinely beaten on deep passes.
Jenkins yielded passing plays of 38 yards to Santana Moss, 29 yards to Devin Thomas and 44 yards to Antwaan Randle El. He also was flagged for a 32-yard pass interference penalty in the first quarter that set the Redskins up for their first score.

Also, Mike McKenzie, starting at left cornerback in place of Greer, was beaten by Thomas for a 40-yard catch.
"We kind of blew it ourselves with a lot of busted coverages, " Jenkins said. "Not even from just the corner position, just everywhere, we gave up some things that we were better than. That made it real hard on us."
Still, the group persevered -- and cornerback Chris McAlister came up with a huge play in overtime, forcing a fumble on a short pass to fullback Mike Sellers and recovering the ball to set the Saints up for a game-winning field goal.

Fujita has surgery: New Orleans starting strongside linebacker Scott Fujita missed the trip to Washington because of a staph infection that required an emergency operation.
Fujita, who is hoping to leave the hospital today, said the infection stemmed from a ruptured bursa in his knee. He said he has had bursitis before, which is common and went away quickly, but he said this one hurt more than usual.

"I'm feeling much better after the operation, " Fujita said via text message before Sunday's kickoff. "I can't even describe how bummed out I am, but I feel way better than I have in the last week."
It's not clear how long Fujita's recovery is expected to take.
Inactive list: Saints kicker John Carney, receiver Lance Moore, Gay, Porter, Greer, linebacker Marvin Mitchell, Fujita and offensive guard Jamar Nesbit were inactive for the game.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar started at strongside linebacker in place of Fujita, but he left early in the game with an undisclosed injury. He was replaced by Troy Evans.

Welcome back: Kicker Garrett Hartley, who was active for the first time this season, handled the field goal and extra-point duties.
Hartley was suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL's substance policy. He returned to the team in time for the Oct. 18 game against the New York Giants at the Superdome but has been inactive each week.

Playing in his first regular-season game since last year's season-finale, Hartley was 4-for-5 on field-goal attempts, including the 18-yard game-winning kick in overtime. His only miss was a 58-yarder as time expired in regulation.

Also, Saints running back Reggie Bush played in his first game since bruising his knee on Nov. 15 at St. Louis.
Bush finished with one carry for no gain. He also caught four passes for 28 yards and had one punt return for a minus-2 yards.
He played sparingly in the second half, but he said he didn't re-injure himself.

"I didn't take any time off (during the game), " Bush said. "Coach took some time off (from using Bush), but it felt good to be back out there."
Early trend continues: The Redskins didn't take long to score, driving 94 yards in nine plays on their opening possession.
When Fred Davis put the Redskins ahead 7-0 on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Campbell, it was the fifth time in the past six games the Saints' defense has allowed their opponent to score on the foes' opening drive. The only opponent not to score on their opening drive of the past six games was the Rams.

The Atlanta Falcons drove 77 yards in eight plays before scoring, the Carolina Panthers went 75 yards in two plays, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 75 yards in 12 plays, and the New England Patriots went 80 yards in 14 plays.

Weather or not: For the first time since the 1995 season, the Saints won a game in which the game-time temperature was below 40 degrees.
The game-time temperature Sunday was 36 degrees.

The previous sub-40 win was on Dec. 24, 1995, a 12-0 win against the New York Jets in 33-degree weather at the Meadowlands, according to STATS.
"I think we got about as good of conditions as we can get this time of year, " Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "All the snow and moisture kind of dumped (Saturday), so we got a nice clear and sunny day. Yeah it was cool and crisp at times, but I thought we handled all those things well."

saintsfan1976

Tackling, coverage, speed... all the basics of football were shoddy yesterday. Man, I've gotta chalk it up to the short week on the road and injuries.

BUT.


We won. 12-0. Where y'at Cher???

Tobias-Reiper

Answers?

How about no Greer + no Porter + rookie starting x slippery wet field = not so great performance?

Boutte

Most of the big plays looked like blown coverages to me. That can happen when two of your corners have been on the team for two weeks and the other is a rookie projected as a safety. Add the short week and this is what you get. There's plenty of talent there .

neugey

Blitzes and pass rush rarely got to Campbell. It's not as bad as we think.

strato

When will we get Greer and Porter back?.....man we really need them for this playoff push...they need to get on the field...NOW!!!!!!!

Rugby Saint II

Yeah, what happened to our pass rush?

papz

We really need Greer back healthy... but definitely not rush him to re-aggravate anything. We have a nice cushion and look pretty good for home field advantage right now... so we can be a patient with him. I have to say Jenkins doesn't need to be logging in heavy minutes right now... he flat looks like a rookie out there. He was abused last week (lots of holds... some were called and most weren't), and this week he wasn't any better. He'll get there, but our top dogs are sorely missed.

bobad

Our secondary should be in court seeking damages against the D line for no pass rush.

the-commish

We need to make sure Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter are completely healthy before they come back. Maybe Greer will return for the Dallas game on Dec 19. Porter may not return until the playoffs.

As much as I would like both of these players out there and playing, we are close to getting HFA (depending on beating Atlanta at the GA Dome Sunday, and the Bengals beating the Vikes Sunday in Minny). If both of those happen, I will be on Cloud 9; or Cloud 13 as it were. If we can just get by through the Dallas game, we will be on our way.