Saints vs. Buccaneers: 5 Things We Learned About the Saints in Their 26-20 Loss

Every week in the NFL is a new week. I know there were many people who were guaranteeing the Saints would crush the Bucs Sunday after Tampa's embarrassing loss at San Francisco a week ago. 

Those same people failed to remember the Saints' common struggles against Tampa Bay under Raheem Morris and Josh Freeman. 

Plus there a number of totally unforeseen circumstances that came up, which no one could have possibly predicted—such as Sean Payton, the head coach, leaving the game with an injury. 

You can't make stuff like that up. 

1. Saints Struggle with Energy on the Road

For most of Sunday's game, the Saints seemed to be floating on clouds, as if there were no worries in the world. In the first half, that cost them dearly, as the Bucs exploded to a 20-7 lead at one point. 

When they finally found some of the ever-elusive energy in the second half, it ended up being too little too late. The defense had already surrendered too many points to feel confident in their ability, and the offense was playing catch up on a defense that is built to play with a lead. 

In the past, the Saints have tended to struggle with energy at home—especially in the noon-time starts. This year, it appears they are struggling with energy and concentration when they go into a stadium that doesn't have any of it on their end. 

The Saints next road game is in St. Louis, so that shouldn't be much of a problem, but in every other road game the rest of this season, the energy should be high coming from the home crowd. The Saints need to figure out a way to play well from the whistle on the road, if they want to be as good as they're capable of becoming. 

2. Saints Have Lost the Big Play Element to Their Defense

In what is probably directly related to the lack of energy, the Saints struggled Sunday to make anything happen defensively. 

They couldn't get a sack, an interception, a fumble, anything. Giving up 26 points isn't horrible given the Bucs were bound to bounce back from last week's atrocious offensive showing. But giving up 26 points is a number greater than what the Saints could afford to give up when you factor in their lack of big plays. 

Much has been said about the Saints opportunistic ways in 2009, and their struggles to replicate that last year and early this year. 

This year's unit is much more talented and should be a better defense than that 2009 squad, but they will not be until they start getting teams off the field—something that is always helped and aided by creating sacks and turnovers. 

It doesn't appear to be so much of a scheme thing as it is the players simply not executing. Hopefully, playing a lousy team on Sunday night next week will help this little problem. 

3. Saints Offense Simply Not the Same Without Sean Payton

If anyone doubted the affect of Sean Payton on the Saints' offense, I think they now have elicit proof of his value.

Sure the Saints scored more points when he was not calling plays, but I think we all know that was due more to the Saints' urgency in trying to comeback to win.

And it's hard to blame a coach for maybe not calling his best game when he's got a fresh knee brace wrapped around his left knee while lying on the player's bench, literally hundreds of feet removed from the action—instead of the usual 30 yards (or so).

One could point to Payton's refusal to give up play-calling duties right at the moment the hit occurred, but I believe Payton was trying to set an example of toughness for his team. I think it worked momentarily, but unfortunately, Payton got to a point where the adrenaline was gone, and he couldn't fight it anymore and think straight at the same time.

They always say a team takes on the personality of its coach. I think clearly the Saints showed that. Unfortunately, on this day, both just had too much to overcome. 

4. The Running Game Is Virtually Non-Existent

Sure Mark Ingram scored one of the Saints two touchdowns on a 12-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. But the overall numbers prove my point. Seventy yards on 20 carries—a 3.5 yard average. Even worse, is that 21 of the yards came from quarterback Drew Brees on scramble plays. 

If you take those out, which for the sake of this argument is very appropriate, the Saints had 49 yards on 17 carries. That is less than three yards per carry. And that is egregious. 

Nobody questions the Saints talent, ability to execute, ability to game plan, or anything else that may seem to go with those concepts. But clearly, the Saints running game must be in question. 

When you possess three running backs the caliber of Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas, less than fifty yards rushing in any game is unacceptable. I care not what the circumstances dictate. 

It is gut-check time for the Saints in a lot of areas of their football team. To me, area No. 1 is the running game. There is no excuse for the lack of execution in that area of the game. I expect Sean Payton and the offensive staff to be seeking answers and holding people accountable in that phase of the game this week. 

And I expect next week's game plan to include a heavy dose of what the Jets like to call "ground and pound." It must develop for the Saints to improve and become a championship-level football team. 

5. Drew Brees Needs Some Help

If there seems like a theme in all of this, it's because there is. All five things we learned about this Saints team Sunday are directly related to one another. Sean Payton loves to talk about playing complementary football. 

That means the offense must support the defense which supports the special teams and vice-versa, etc. In other words, they feed off each other to create momentum, which should lead to greater execution. 

Well that is simply not happening. The defense has been well below average, the running game has been atrocious, and the receivers are playing well, but not well enough. 

Though Drew Brees had three interceptions Sunday, one was a ball that should have been caught by Marques Colston, another was a ball that Brees tried to fit in that he probably shouldn't have thrown, and the final one was a last ditch desperation throw on fourth-and-goal that he had to throw and hope something positive might come of it. 

In 2010, much was made of Drew Brees' high interception total, and many rightly claimed that it was due to a lack of a running game and a defense that was giving up too many points. 

Well, 2011 seems to have produced the same song and dance. 

Undoubtedly the Saints have higher hopes than a 12-4 wild card loser. But right now, that's almost exactly what the Saints look like. 

It's not too late, but the defense must help the offense by getting off the field. The running game must produce greater results, and the receivers must hold onto footballs that Drew accurately flings into their arms. 

It's not panic time, but it is time to step up. I think even the injured Sean Payton is going to get after it hard this week.