National Football League

BURNED BY DEEP BALL

Published Oct. 18, 2010 10:15 p.m. ET

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For the second straight week, a Bucs opponent opened the game with a deep touchdown. And, again, 2008 first-round pick CB Aqib Talib was in on the play.

This time, Talib was beaten by Saints WR Lance Moore for one of the easiest 41-yard touchdowns you'll see. Moore ran by Talib down the sideline and hauled in a perfectly placed pass from QB Drew Brees.

It was the first of two long touchdown passes the Bucs yielded Sunday, with Brees finishing with 263 yards on 21-of-32 passing.

Talib has declined all interview requests in recent weeks, but coach Raheem Morris and others said there was a costly miscommunication on the first touchdown that left Talib believing he had downfield help.

There wasn't any.

"He thought he had some help there, and he didn't," CB Ronde Barber said.

On Brees' second touchdown pass, a 42-yarder to WR Robert Meachem, it appeared FS Cody Grimm froze when Brees looked toward a different receiver then delivered a laser between Grimm and Talib. Grimm was supposed to have deep coverage on that half of the field, with Talib responsible for the underneath coverage.

"We were in Cover 2, and they had a good play called against it," Grimm said. "Drew Brees just threw a good ball. I don't know exactly whose fault it is, but a lot of stuff goes into it."

Grimm responded later with his second interception in as many games, picking off a pass that was deflected in the open field by LB Quincy Black in the second quarter, ending a New Orleans threat.

But one of the lingering images from this game will be Brees going deep. And it has become a bit of a recurring theme, going back to the Week 3 loss to Pittsburgh.

"We've been a team this year that's given up (long) touchdowns," Barber said. "We have to stop. It's an Achilles' heel for us on defense. We've given up too many of those opportunities to other teams."

* * *

No way to slow Brees

The Bucs' lack of a pass rush was the best thing that could happen to QB Drew Brees.

While the Saints offense had been shaky in recent weeks, it was downright prolific Sunday, and Brees was the reason why.

Bucs defenders marveled at the Super Bowl MVP's prowess and timing, leaving some at a loss in their effort to slow him.

"He picked us apart," SS Sean Jones said.

Especially when he had enough time to sit in the pocket and scan the field.

"Give a lot of credit to Brees," CB Ronde Barber said. "We didn't give him a lot of pressure. He had time to sit back and find who he wanted. That's losing football for us right now."

* * *

Not so perfect now

Bucs K Connor Barth's bid for a perfect season came to a clunky end Sunday. After hitting all his attempts in preseason and going 6-for-6 in the regular season, Barth bounced two field goal attempts (from 40 and 47 yards) off the right upright against the Saints.

* * *

Hayward's special tribute

Bucs LB Adam Hayward recorded a tribute to his late mother at halftime to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which the NFL firmly backs.

Hayward, who offered teary-eyed recollections in the video showed on the stadium's big screen, has taken an active role in raising awareness of breast cancer, working as a spokesman for the Suncoast affiliate of the Susan G. Komen charity.

The NFL's efforts, which include players wearing pink accents on uniforms (several Bucs wore pink shoes and/or gloves Sunday), are quite meaningful to Hayward.

"It's awesome to see," he said. "And it's cool that we can be role models for this. It's a great thing to see."

* * *

Quick hits

- Not that it mattered much, but Bucs RB Cadillac Williams was responsible for the team's only turnover, losing a fumble at the Bucs 46 on their first possession of the second half. The Saints took advantage of the short field, driving for their third touchdown and a 24-0 lead.

- Bucs CB Ronde Barber started in his 172nd consecutive game, surpassing Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau for the most consecutive starts by a cornerback in NFL history.

- The Buccaneers were 6-for-15 (40 percent) on third down, the fifth consecutive game they have converted at least 40 percent of their third-down attempts. The team was 2-for-3 (67 percent) on fourth downs.

* * *

Third down a Saints charm

Any team that converts 75 percent of its third downs is having a good day. The Saints were able to say that after their shellacking of the Bucs. They converted 9 of 12 third downs that kept drives alive and allowed the offense to gather steam. The Saints scored two of their four touchdowns on third downs, and the Bucs defense continually showed an inability to get off the field at key moments. It was almost enough to make defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake look prophetic. "Jimmy Lake made a point (last) week that to beat these guys you have to win on third down," CB Ronde Barber said. "They ended up going 75 percent. It's hard to get them off the field. The way to beat the Saints is to run the football on offense to keep their offense off the field, and then get them off the field on third down. We didn't do either one of those."

* * *

New punter an improvement

Bucs P Robert Malone, signed last week to replace underperforming Australian Chris Bryan, had a solid debut, punting three times and averaging 45.7 yards. Each of Malone's punts gave the Saints starting field position at their 20-yard line or worse. Among his punts was a 54-yarder that got a nifty roll and was downed by Arrelious Benn at the New Orleans 6. Bryan, who was released, averaged 37.4 yards and placed seven of his 23 punts inside the 20.

* * *

Freeman-to-Williams (mis)connection

The Josh Freeman-to-Mike Williams connection has served the Bucs well in 2010, but against the Saints, they had major issues in their efforts to hook up.

While Williams, the rookie receiver from Syracuse, finished with four receptions for 45 yards, it was the receptions that didn't happen that seemed more memorable. Several times, Freeman and Williams failed to connect on what would have been big plays, often looking out of synch. With the Saints blitzing often on third down, the Bucs enjoyed single coverage on their outside receivers. They just couldn't make New Orleans pay.

"We just didn't hook up on them," Freeman said "On one of them, I tried to (change) the route, and obviously Mike didn't get (the call). I have to do a better job of communicating that. But I threw the go (route) ball on the first pass, and he ran a post (pattern). Stuff like that, we have to find a way to communicate and be on the same page.

"Mike still came up with a lot of big plays for us (Sunday). I anticipate on us being able to connect on a lot more of those from here on out."

Freeman did attempt another jump ball to Williams in the end zone - much like the one that tied the score in last week's game at Cincinnati - but this time the play was well covered, and the pass sailed out of bounds.

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