Brees Saints rally to beat Buccaneers

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Brees Saints rally to beat Buccaneers

TAMPA, Fla. -- sent both and fans Glen Coffee Jersey home happy.The New Orleans quarterback did his part to ensure Tampa Bay picks first in next spring's NFL draft, shrugging off mistake after mistake to lead a second-half comeback to beat the Bucs 23-20 on Sunday.An announced crowd of 59,952 was a mixture of fans who had hoped their team would still have something to play for in the regular-season finale, along with Bucs faithful who watched the home team surprisingly build a 13-point halftime lead that held through the third quarter.By the end, New Orleans fans were cheering, while Tampa Bay backers hoping the Bucs will use the No. 1 overall pick on a potential franchise quarterback were relieved."Any time we play, our DNA needs to be we're playing to win," New Orleans coach said. "You just can't turn it on, turn it off some of the time. Obviously, the season hasn't been anything like we had hoped Kwon Alexander Jersey for, or our fans had hoped for, and yet I think it was important that we found a way to finish it on a good note."As promised, Bucs coach gave more playing time than usual to some of his younger players, particularly in the second half."With the lead if you play pretty good defense you should be able to hold onto that," Smith said. "They made a couple big plays at the end."Brees shrugged off three interceptions - two of them stopping promising third-quarter drives - to throw for 281 yards. His 36-yard touchdown pa s to gave the (7-9) their first lead with 1:57 remaining. Linebacker sacked for a safety that provided the final margin. rushed for a season-best 108 Lewis Kidd Jersey yards and rookie set a Tampa Bay record with his 12th touchdown reception for the Bucs (2-14), who went 0-8 at home and 0-6 against NFC South rivals."I don't think anybody tanked it. We played the guys we played to rotate guys in and give them a look," McCown said. "As far as players are concerned, the draft, that stuff is not relevant as far to how we're playing. We execute the plays that are called. We competed hard and that's the main thing. Got a chance to evaluate some younger guys as we build this thing." scored on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter, trimming New Orleans' deficit to 20-14. ' interception and return to the 50 led to Brees' TD pa s to Colston to make it 21-20.The were eliminated from playoff contention by last week's 30-14 lo s Alfredo Gutierrez Jersey to Atlanta, leaving the and to play for the NFC South title.Even though New Orleans had little to gain by playing Brees in the finale, Payton emphasized during the week that the were playing to win.Smith said the same, even though a victory might have hurt the team's draft position. The Bucs began the day tied for the worst record in the league with Tenne see, which dropped its finale to Indianapolis."Coming into the game we were going to get a good pick and nothing really changed," Smith said. "I know we're in a little better position. When you're down there that's one consolation, I gue s, from the season we've had."In building a 20-7 halftime lead, the Bucs outgained the league's No. 1 offense 248 yards to 118, including a whopping 148-89 advantage on the ground, where both Martin and rookie were effective.It flipped after halftime, with the rolling up 220 yards to Tampa Bay's 32.NOTES: Evans and caught pa ses on the first two plays of the game, making them the first tandem of Bucs receivers to top 1,000 yards in the same season. It's the fourth straight 1,000-yard season - third with Tampa Bay Tracy Walker Iii Jersey - for Jackson, who left the game later in the first quarter and did not return. ... Colston's TD reception was his 68th from Brees, giving them sole po se sion of fifth place on the all-time list for most TD pa s plays by a quarterback-wide receiver combination.Copyright 2014 by The A sociated Pre sRelive ' performance against the with
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