I know, I know...we surrendered 511 yards of total offense and 37 points but the Bucs were forcing a ton of hurries on Drew Brees - this includes six hits and three interceptions. Prior to this game, we had forced a total of seven passes defended - In this game alone we had 11 pass breakups. Jimmy Graham had Mark Barron on him all day and held him to very meager numbers.I counted three pass-breakups from Verner and two other near-interceptions.I don't think we played poorly - I just think the problem is conditioning and its getting better each game. Conditioning really comes into play when you have a short week, and we looked completely gassed against Atlanta...like we did in Overtime yesterday.The Defense was on the field for 86 plays....and they were just worn out by overtime. Even on that last drive, I could see our defense in position to make plays, but just could not make the tackle or close fast enough. The Saints coaches saw this and just ran the ball on us instead of depending on Drew Brees, and we struggled. Think of it...even in this scenario and with the refs making questionable calls, they had held the Saints and forced a punt that was wiped out by a phantom penalty.From a schedule standpoint, this was Tampa Bay's 3rd straight road game, and I get why we were so worn down. Even in the glory days of the Cover 2 Defense, if the defense was on the field for over 60 plays, they used to wear down and we would see breakdowns. The key to this defense is longer drives by the Offense keeping the defense off the field.I'm hoping the trend continues next week and we have a stronger defensive effort at home.BTW - the turning point for me was another bad snap by the center - this time it cost us a safety a few plays later and gave the Saints life. This is the third straight game where we've seen this lead to a turnover or points. This is really inexcusable.
