New Orleans Saints Win with the Big Play

One of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ biggest strengths over the years has been their ability to stop the big play. In their first game of the 2008 season, it became their biggest weakness.

The New Orleans Saints scored three touchdowns on Sunday, averaging 55 yards per score. Drew Brees started and ended the scoring with a 39-yard TD pass to David Patten in the first quarter and a game winning 42-yard pass to Reggie Bush in the fourth. But the biggest play came near the end of the third quarter, when Brees hit Devery Henderson for an 84-yard touchdown.

We can’t really fault the Bucs for the biggest of the big plays. Ronde Barber was with Henderson step for step, but he tripped just before Henderson caught the ball. From there, few people in the NFL are going to catch the speedy receiver. That play was just completely unlucky. But the other two long scores raise a few concerns. On the first touchdown, Patten got behind the defense – something’s that’s not supposed to happen against the Tampa 2. Hopefully it was just a case of it being the first few minutes of the first game of a new season and a receiver won’t be missed like that again. The last play is exactly what the Bucs needed to stop. Reggie Bush only ever needs a small chance to turn something into a big play. But perhaps the "pulling your hair out" moment came when sure tackler Jermaine Phillips completely missed Bush. Reggie did make a move inside to avoid the tackle, but Phillips hardly gave it much effort.

With the exception of those big plays, the Bucs’ defense actually looked like it was supposed to. And the fact that Tampa Bay only lost by four despite those plays, gives Bucs’ fans some hope for the season. I have a feeling Monte Kiffin’s group will learn from this game and be ready for next week.