Saints vs. Buccaneers: Winners and Losers

Winners

Drew Brees

Well this is getting kind of repetitive. Brees had a phenomenal game against the Bucs. He continued his touchdown record, making it 49 games in a row with a touchdown pass. He also threw for a 73% completion percentage, 377 yards, and four touchdowns. His only blemish is an interception that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Right now Brees is playing better than ever.

Joe Morgan

Joe Morgan's third catch as an NFL receiver was also his second touchdown. Joe is not in on many plays but when he is, the defense will definitely have to respect him as a deep threat now. How he was able to stay off the ground and flip a guy over his head on that play I will never know. Morgan finished with one catch for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Lance Moore

Moore is probably the most underrated receiver in the NFL right now. He quietly caught 9 passes for 121 yards, six of them for a first down on third down.

Marques Colston

Yet another Saints receiver making the "Winners" list this week. Colston isn't showing signs of his foot injury at all. He had 7 receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown. Did anybody even realize that Jimmy Graham wasn't playing?

Malcolm Jenkins

Jenkins made what could have been the play of the game when he ran down Vincent Jackson and stopped him on the two yard line. The Saints defense would then stop the Bucs on four straight plays to completely take control of the momentum. Jenkins finished with 9 total tackles.

The Offense

The stubborn way of the Saints that we have come to love oh so much came through once again. The Saints won this game off of pure offense (pure passing if you will). The Saints gained 377 yards through the air and 81 yards on the ground. They also had 100 percent for both goal-to-go and red zone efficiency, and had a 60 percent third down conversion rating.

Aaron Kromer

Aaron Kromer was able to finish his stint as interim head coach for the Saints on a two game winning streak. I was pretty harsh on the guy at first, but I commend him for being able to get two huge wins for the team. If either of the past two games were lost, the Saints' season would be over.

Losers

The Defense

Once again the Saints defense tried to lose the game. They allowed the Bucs to get within a touchdown with about four minutes remaining. With a little over a minute, the Bucs took the ball into the Saints red zone and gave the entire Who Dat Nation a scare. Thank God for the illegal touching rule or this game would have went into overtime with all of the momentum in the Buccaneers favor. But like they are supposed to, they made a few stops and allowed the offense to win the game. The Saints defense surrendered 513 total yards to the Tampa Bay offense, and 7.5 yards per play. On a positive note, they did hold the Bucs to just 33% on third down.