Saints (6-5) at Bucs (8-3) :WagerWeb Entertainment

Saints (6-5) at Bucs (8-3)

29 November 2008 123 views No Comment

Yes, the New Orleans Saints looked very impressive in Monday night’s blowout of the Packers, but the Saints need to prove they can win on the road if they are a playoff-caliber team, and Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay probably is a must win if they want to reach the postseason.

New Orleans is just 1-4 on the road and is a 4.5-point underdog on WagerWeb.com, but if it can keep some of what it did on Monday, the Saints will be in good shape. Drew Brees led the club to 51 points against Green Bay, throwing for 323 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the Saints’ second consecutive win – and the previous one did come on the road, albeit at bad Kansas City.

Brees is on pace to break Dan Marino’s NFL record for passing yards in a season and had a career-high 157.5 passer rating in Monday night’s win. He has also played great in six games against Tampa Bay, completing 68 percent of his passes for 1,487 yards and 12 touchdowns. This year on the road, Brees has thrown five touchdown passes and seven interceptions in five games.

Will New Orleans get RB Reggie Bush this week? Bush was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. Bush has missed the Saints’ last four games following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He says he will play.

“I’m definitely a go this week,” Bush said. “I know I said that last week, but it’s definitely a go this week. … I felt great. It’s the best it’s felt.”

Bush had 51 rushing yards and 112 receiving yards in the season opener against the Bucs.

Pierre Thomas has been solid since Bush has been rehabbing his knee, especially the last two weeks. When Bush makes it back to 100 percent, Saints coach Sean Payton said he could see Bush and Thomas being used similarly to the way Bush and Deuce McAllister were used in 2006.

In this year’s season opener, the Saints got 343 passing yards and three touchdowns from Brees and knocked off the Buccaneers, 24-20. But Tampa Bay, 5-0 at home, has lost just twice since then, thanks mostly to its defense.

That unit is third in the league in scoring (16.4 ppg) and fourth in total defense (288.9 ypg). The Bucs have allowed 417 total yards in their last two games, and forced three turnovers in last Sunday’s comeback win over the Lions.

Injury report: Saints

Out
RB Mike Karney (knee)

Questionable
RB Reggie Bush (knee)
DE Jeff Charleston (foot)