National Football League
Tampa Bay 26, New Orleans 20
When: 4:15 PM ET, Sunday, October 16, 2011
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Temperature: 84°
Head Official: Jerome Boger
Attendance: 56590

Josh Freeman tossed a pair of touchdown passes and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers forced four turnovers to rebound from their worst setback in franchise history with a 26-20 home victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

To add injury to insult, New Orleans coach Sean Payton suffered an MCL tear and had a tibial plateau fracture on his team's first series after tight end Jimmy Graham collided with him following a sideline completion. Payton watched the remainder of the first half from the bench before staying in the locker room for the second half.

Drew Brees, who completed 29 of 45 passes for 383 yards, became the first player in NFL history to throw for at least 350 yards in four consecutive games. Prior to Sunday's contest, Brees had thrown for fewer than 300 yards in five straight games against Tampa Bay.

Brees, however, was intercepted by Quincy Black in the end zone with just over three minutes left as New Orleans (4-2) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.

With the victory, Tampa Bay (4-2) pulled into a tie atop the NFC South with the Saints while putting last week's 48-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in its rearview mirror.

Freeman connected on a 65-yard scoring strike to Arrelious Benn just 1:43 into the second quarter and capped the 17-point uprising with a 19-yard touchdown to second-year receiver Preston Parker.

With leading rusher LeGarrette Blount sidelined with a knee injury, Earnest Graham carried the ball 17 times for 109 yards.

Top Game Performances
Rushing
New Orleans   Tampa Bay
Mark Ingram Player Earnest Graham
9 Attempts 17
22 Yards 109
2.4 Avg Yards 6.4
1 Touchdowns 0
12 Long 34
Receiving
New Orleans   Tampa Bay
Jimmy Graham Player Arrelious Benn
7 Receptions 3
124 Yards 83
17.7 Avg Yards 27.7
0 Touchdowns 1
43 Long 65
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
New Orleans 453 70 383 2 2 0 0.0 0
Tampa Bay 420 117 303 2 4 3 0.0 1
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Chicago. The Buccaneers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
  • New Orleans will play their next game at home against Indianapolis. The Saints have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.