Quarterback Drew Brees had one of his worst performances as a Saint with a stunningly poor effort in the second half against the Buccaneers on Sunday in Tampa, Fla. He threw three interceptions in the final 20 minutes -- and nearly a fourth, which was called back because of an unrelated penalty. But it wasn't just Brees who faltered. The entire offense was woeful from the start. The Saints ran for 44 yards -- only 4 of them in the first half. Running back Reggie Bush was so rusty in his return that he got benched in the fourth quarter. The Saints failed repeatedly on short-yardage attempts early in the game, with runs, passes and an ill-advised end-around attempt. They (tight end Jeremy Shockey and lineman Jammal Brown, Carl Nicks and Jon Stinchcomb were among the offenders) also repeatedly killed drives with penalties .

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You can't ask for much more than this from the Saints' defense. Sure, they gave up two big touchdowns in the third quarter -- including a relapse by cornerback Jason David, who let receiver Antonio Bryant break free for a 39-yard touchdown catch. But those were the only successful drives for Tampa Bay's offense. The Saints went into shut-down mode over the final 23 minutes, forcing four consecutive punts, then holding the Buccaneers to a field goal after they took over late inside the red zone. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma was outstanding, forcing two fumbles, one of which the Buccaneers recovered. Also, the Saints put heavy pressure on Jeff Garcia, sacking him four times.

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Rookie kicker Garrett Hartley was clutch, drilling two long field goals in difficult weather conditions. He proved that he belongs in the NFL, and he's now 8-of-8 on field-goal attempts. Punter Glenn Pakulak also was decent in the swirling winds, though he had a couple of clunkers among his five punts. The coverage units, however, were awful, allowing return man Clifton Smith to gain 82 yards on five punt returns (including a long gain of 42 yards) and 76 yards on three kickoff returns (including a long of 34). Saints cornerback Leigh Torrence added a 15-yard face-mask penalty at the end of Smith's kickoff return to start the second half, allowing Tampa Bay a short field for its first touchdown drive.

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Sean Payton made some questionable play calls in short-yardage situations in the first quarter, going with an empty backfield on third-and-1, an end-around on fourth-and-1 and a wide toss to Bush on another third-and-1. Payton completely ignored the running game until the third quarter, but it's hard to hang this loss on his decisions. The Saints had plenty of opportunities to win, and it was poor execution that did them in -- by Brees in the second half, by Bush in the first half, by the players committing penalties on offense and by the poor special teams coverage units. . . . The defensive game plan deserves a lot of credit. Aside from two short-field touchdown drives, Tampa Bay was unable to generate anything on offense.

Compiled by Mike Triplett