saint5221

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/...rooks001.shtml

There are some more quotes from Brooks i'll post later, you guy's will love em. I listened to these quotes they were not said with contrition but a tone of defiance.


By LES EAST
Special to The Advocate

NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks took the blame for his team's 14-7 loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday in the Superdome.

The outcome of a 60-minute football game can be tied to several plays and players, but it's hard not to focus on Brooks' three lost fumbles.

"This is a team game, but you guys (reporters) are going to say your side whether it's justified or not," Brooks said. "It's my job to take the blame. I should have protected the ball better and if I had, we would have had a better chance to win the game.

"This is what I'm here for, to shoulder the blame for all the players who didn't do well. I'll take the blame for something we didn't get accomplished. This is my team. I'm supposed to lead it to victory."

Brooks appeared on his way to putting the Saints in a strong position to get a victory before a series of mistakes derailed them. Leading 7-0 late in the second quarter, he threw a perfect pass to Joe Horn for what should have been a touchdown, but Horn dropped the ball.

"I had already counted it," Brooks said. "But it didn't happen and things went the other way. I'm sure Joe would like to have that one back, just like I'd like to have mine back."

On the next play, the ball slipped out of Brooks' hand as he attempted to throw a pass and Tampa recovered and ran the ball to the New Orleans 37. Two plays later the score was tied.

Moments later a blocked punt led to another Bucs touchdown, which provided the winning margin.

"That was disastrous," Brooks said. "That might have been the starting point of the spiraling effect. A lot of things went bad. Over the course of any football game you're going to have highs and lows. It's up to us to manage those highs and lows."

Late in the third quarter, the Saints had a third-and-8 at the Tampa Bay 44. Brooks scrambled away from the pass rush and gained 4 yards before being hit by linebacker Derrick Brooks and fumbling again. Former LSU defensive tackle recovered for the Bucs at their 30.

New Orleans was on the verge of tying the score early in the fourth quarter, playing a first-and-goal at the Bucs' 6. Brooks was sacked again, fumbled again, and Tampa Bay recovered again. Overall, Brooks had four fumbles and lost three.

"I'm disappointed in the fumbles," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "That's what cost us the game. Our defense hung in there and we should have won the game. I thought the defense played at a high level the whole game and the turnovers on offense really hurt us."

Brooks' overall statistics weren't bad as he completed 20-of-30 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown and endured seven sacks for 36 yards in losses.

"I felt like Aaron kept fighting and I never felt like he wilted," offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy said. "It's unfortunate, but you can't turn the ball over, especially when you're in scoring position. Aaron's got to hold on to the ball."

Brooks, who now has fumbled 13 times and lost 10 in 13 games this season, said he and other quarterbacks have had more trouble holding on to the football as the NFL has required the use of new balls selected by the game officials and not by the home team. He didn't use that as an excuse for the fumbles, though.

"The first one just slipped out of my hand," Brooks said. "It's difficult, but it's part of the game. On the second one, Derrick Brooks made a good play. The other one we had a chance to score and I lost it again.

"Each time I was just trying to be the playmaker that I am. I was trying to make plays. I was trying to make something happen, but I lost that battle."

And as a result, the Saints lost the war to the Buccaneers.