Whew.  (deep breath)
Let me see if I can control my nervous laughter and sighs of relief long
enough to finish this game summary.

The Saints needed to win this game badly, and the team did just that (win
badly).  Well, they weren't plagued by last week's mistakes (no turnovers,
good special teams), but it wasn't pretty.  It was a historically appropriate
performance for this "throwback" weekend.  The offense couldn't score, and
the last Tampa Bay drive (except for the fact that they didn't score) was
vintage Saints.

The Saints held the Bucs to only one first down on the opening possession of
the game, allowing the offense to start the day at the NO 31 with just three
minutes gone.  Purdue alum Jim Everett started the game (looking at home in
his Boilermaker-like throwback uniform) despite being listed as "questionable"
due to a hip pointer.  He completed a swing pass to Brad Muster on the first
play for a 6 yard gain.  This Saints used this play again and again (with a
decent amount of success) throughout the game (perhaps Mora thought this was
a "throw to the back" weekend).  Three runs by Derek Brown, a swing to Brown,
and a short completion to Quinn Early moved the Saints inside the TB 30.
However, a missed pass interference call and a holding penalty forced the
team to settle for a 43 yard FG.

A great hit by Ernest Dixon on the kickoff forced the Bucs to start at their
own 18, and on the next play Vince Buck recovered a Tampa Bay fumble at the
25 to give the offense great field position.  Unfortunately, the drive stalled
when Everett threw behind Wesley Walls near the Buccaneer goal line, and
Morten came on to boot a 31 yarder with 4:16 remaining in the first quarter.

After Andersen forced a touchback with a long kick, the defense once again
didn't allow a first down- Carl Lee made a heads-up play by not being fooled
on a play-action deep pass on 3rd and inches.  A fair catch at the NO 40 gave
us good field position, but the offense could only reach the other 40 before
punting it back as the first quarter ended.

Tampa Bay's offense got in gear by letting Rhett run the ball seven times in a
row for 26 yards.  A weak pass rush then allowed Erickson to pick up two
consecutive 3rd down conversions (completions to Hawkins and Harris).  He
got the next first down himself with a 17 yard scramble to the 7 yard line.
Two plays later he completed the eleven minute drive with a 10 yard TD pass to
Harris.  The PAT made the score 7-6 Bucs with 4:01 left in the half.

The Saints couldn't manage to reach midfield on the next possession, but they
put Tampa Bay in a hole when Dixon made another good play to tackle the Buc
punt returner at his own 14.  After Wayne Martin stopped a Buccaneer runner
for no gain and then forced an incompletion by getting in the QB's face, the
Saints won a field position victory by taking a fair catch at their own 44.
Everett immediately hit Walls for a 30 yard gain down the middle, but three
subsequent incomplete passes forced the team to settle for a 43 yard FG just
before the end of the half.

Whew.  OK, I got through the first half, but I've got to take a breather now.
During the game my mind was thrown back to the first Saints game I specifically
remember attending- a 14-33 loss to the Bucs in the Dome (Tampa Bay's first
win).  Archie Manning threw multiple interceptions, and a miserable time was
had by all (all except the wildly cheering Buc fans sitting up by the roof).
A QB named Manning was completing throws to guys wearing orange and white
again this weekend, but this wasn't part of the NFL's special event- Archie's
son Peyton was tossing passes to his Tennessee teammates.

As the second half was about to begin, the Superdome was filled with excited
people awaiting the upcoming action.  However, they were there to see the
Farm Aid concert- the Saints were in Tampa.  Wade Wilson came in at QB (and
played the rest of the game) to replace Everett, who was sidelined with a groin
injury.  The team flirted with the idea of crossing the 50, but a punt ensued.
A sack by Darion Conner produced a Tampa punt after only three plays, and the
offense started to move again.  Derrick Ned caught a swing pass and juked a
defender to pick up 12 yards, and Early ran a crossing pattern to get another
dozen.  However, the drive stalled at the TB 35 when a 4th down slant-in pass
went uncaught.

Armstrong dragged a couple of defenders to the NO 31 after catching a pass,
but the Saints dodged a bullet when a Buc receiver dropped a pass deep in
Saints territory.  A delay of game penalty moved the Bucs back a little, and
Wayne Martin popped the ball loose from the QB (TB recovered) on 3rd down.
The Buccaneers lined up in formation to kick a 52 yard FG, but instead pooch
punted the ball to the NO 14.

Runs and catches by Ned and Brown moved the team near midfield again, but it
it was time for another chapter in the second half field position war, and
Tommy Barnhardt punted once more.  The Bucs hurt themselves with a late hit
penalty on the runback which moved the ball to the TB 17.

A 3rd down completion to Wilson moved TB to their own 33, but on the next play
Conner ran around the outside untouched to get Erickson for an 8 yard loss.
Another 3rd down completion (to Copeland) kept Tampa's drive alive, and an
offsides call against Renaldo Turnbull moved the ball near to midfield.  Once
again, the defense managed to keep the Baysters out of FG range thanks to Frank
Warren's coverage sack four plays later.  Yet another fair catch (Tyrone
Hughes didn't return a punt all day) put the ball at the NO 12 with 5:51
remaining in the game.

At this point the Saints needed a long, time-consuming drive for a TD, but
instead they got three plays for 2 yards with an offsides penalty thrown in
for good measure.  At this point the Saints needed a long punt and good
coverage, and they got it, putting TB at their own 34.  Unfortunately, Joel
Smeenge was downfield early.  The next punt attempt was not nearly as
successful, going only to the NO 44.

After two short runs and an incomplete pass, the Buccaneers went for it on
4th down at the NO 39.  The pass (long enough for the 1st down) hit the
receiver in the hands, but a somewhat poor throw and so-so coverage by
Tyrone Legette were enough to cause the ball to fall to the ground incomplete.

The Saints had possession of the ball with 2:24 remaining.  If you think they
ran out the clock with a long drive, you don't know the Saints very well.
A run, a short completion, and an incompletion (along with two Tampa timeouts)
allowed the Bucs to get the ball back with 1:55 remaining at their own 23.
After a 13 yard pass to Green, things looked good for the Saints after a TB
holding penalty, two incompletions, and another sack by Conner.  Once again,
if you think there was no possible way Tampa could convert on 4th & 27, you
haven't seen enough Saints games.  The defense put a man in front of and 
behind Green, but he caught a 29 yard pass anyway when Legette slipped while
making his break on the ball.  Oh, man.

A ten yard pass to Hawkins put the Bucs on the verge of FG range, but two plays
later a screen pass was stopped in bounds for a five yard loss, forcing the
timeout-less Bucs to spike the ball to stop the clock with seven ticks
remaining.  On 4th down, Tampa received exactly what it needed- a pass
interference call.  The call on Legette at the 37 was somewhat questionable,
but the most exasperating thing was that a simple completion would've ended
the game (the pass was down the middle).  So, Tampa Bay lined up with one
second remaining to kick the potential game winning FG from 54 yards out.
Fortunately, the kick was far wide, and the game was over.

I guess you'd have to say the team looked better this week, but they're going
to have to improve some more to be competetive this year.  The most important
thing is that we got the win.  Losing this one would've been devastating.
We ran the ball fairly well, the defense was pretty good (except for the last
drive), and we didn't make too many bonehead plays.  After taking our required
beating next week at San Fran, hopefully we can start aiming for .500 again.
I think i'm going to lie down for a while now.


stats: Everett: 10-19-108
       Wilson: 9-12-68

       Brown: 16-31; 4-34 receiving
       Ned: 5-28; 5-38 receiving

       Early: 4-50
       Walls: 3-35
       Haynes: 2-13
       Muster: 1-6


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Frank Serpas III    serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu