National Football League

STILL SCARY GOOD

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

foxsports

The Saints come to Tampa Bay on Sunday having turned the ball over nine times over their past three games, including three interceptions by Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees, above, during Sunday's loss at Arizona.

New Orleans is without injured RBs Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas. But Bucs LBBarrett Ruud said the Saints still have one of the premier offenses in the league behind coach Sean Payton.

"It's as good of an offense as there is in football," Ruud said. "They still execute as well as anybody. I heard a saying the other day that good teams have tendencies because their plays keep working so they keep running them.

"If you can lock in, there's a chance to make some plays. But at the same time, if you don't execute up to their level, they're still going to put a lot of points on the board. What's nice is they've kept the same system since Sean Payton got there in 2006. It's always fun to play the Saints because you play them twice a year and you get familiar with them."

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Quotable

"I'm like an elephant."

Payton, above, when told Bucs coach Raheem Morris hoped he had forgotten about Tampa Bay's overtime win in New Orleans in December

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All square

December's win by Tampa Bay evened the series at four since Payton became coach of the Saints:

Date..................Result

Dec. 27, 2009....20-17 Bucs*

Nov. 22, 2009....38-7 Saints

Nov. 30, 2008....23-20 Bucs

Sept. 7, 2008.....24-20 Saints