With the bounty news coming out this week and the Saints virtually out of the playoff race, their game against the Buccaneers on Sunday has been an afterthought at best.
The last time the Saints (5-8) played a regular-season game when they had no hope of playing past the end of the regular season was Dec. 21, 2008, when they faced the 0-14 Lions. New Orleans beat Detroit 42-7, and quarterback Drew Brees is looking for similar motivation this time.
After losing three in a row, winning still matters to him.
“The only way we can make that right is by going out here these last three weeks and really putting it together the way that we know how,” he said. “We want to end the season on a high note, feeling good about ourselves, feeling good about the future. We’ve got a great opportunity this week.”
Offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod agreed. The Bucs, who still have a shot at the playoffs if they win their last three, won’t get a free pass Sunday.
“You still have to go out, do your job and continue to get better,” he said. “At the end of the day we need to finish on a high note. All that kind of carries over into next year. It’s not a good feeling if things don’t end the way that you want. There’s no letdown. Our front office and the leaders on this team won’t let it happen.”
Kickoff coverage collapse: The Saints were fourth in the NFL in yards allowed per kickoff return entering their 52-27 loss to the Giants last Sunday. They plummeted to 24th after giving up four returns of more than 50 yards the Giants set a franchise record for kickoff return yards and the Saints set a club mark for kickoff return yards allowed.
“If you take that one single component out of the game, we win the game,” Saints kickoff specialist Thomas Morstead said. “It basically wiped out a whole season of just excellent work.”
The biggest problem was shoddy coverage, but Morstead failed to get his normal distance on kickoffs, producing only one touchback. He blamed the cold, windy conditions in East Rutherford, N.J.
“In general if it’s cold, the ball won’t travel as well,” he said. “And it was a little breezy. I felt like I kicked well. The first kickoff I felt like I would like to have back. It was in the middle of the field and we always kick into the deep right corner.”
Special teams coach Greg McMahon said his unit became undisciplined, unaware and with poor leverage, blaming himself for not coaching well enough. He was at a loss for the reason why.
“I felt like we played pretty dang good up to 12 games but in this league you’re as good as your last out,” he said. “The good thing is we play Sunday so we have an opportunity so we have an opportunity to rebound and show what we can do and that’s the great thing about it.”
Don’t abandon the run: The Saints did not run well against the Bucs on Oct. 21 while beating them 35-28, but they remained relatively balanced.
Tampa Bay allows an NFL-low 78.2 rushing yards, holding opponents to an NFL-low 3.3 yards per carry. New Orleans can beat the Bucs attacking their injury-depleted secondary, but the Saints don’t want to pass on almost every down.
In Tampa, the Saints threw 37 times and ran 26 times, finishing with 81 yards on the ground.
“They are stopping guys for negative gains and are bringing people all over the place,” Bushrod said. “That’s something we have to know. We can’t just go into the game thinking they are just going to stay stationary. We have to dissect that, and our running backs have to be patient, find the hole and squirt through for about four or five yards.”
The temptation to have Brees just wing it play after play left Bushrod shaking his head.
“I love balance,” he said. “We had a lot of good runs in that first game and we had some bad ones, but that’s what your going to get with a team like this. The good thing is we stuck with it. If we are going to win, we have to run.”
Injury update: Six Saints players missed practice on Thursday -- OT Zach Strief (ankle), OT Charles Brown (knee), RB Chris Ivory (hamstring), FB Jed Collins (ankle), CB Corey White (knee) and S Malcolm Jenkins (hamstring).
Follow Saints reporter Guerry Smith on Twitter @CBSSaints.
