Saints hold on for 24-20 win over Bucs

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Saints fans partied near debris piles and leaning fences — the lingering evidence of Hurricane Gustav's path through New Orleans last week.

The Louisiana Superdome was in good shape, however, as was the team that calls the enduring and iconic stadium home.

Drew Brees passed for 343 yards and three touchdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, giving fans already jubilant about their team's quick return from Gustav a 24-20 season-opening triumph to celebrate as well.

"It was a great way to start the season off," Brees said. "Obviously, coming off a week where everyone was displaced from their homes here in New Orleans, and coming back and obviously having the fans back in full force — it was awesome."

Tampa Bay had a shot to win the brutally physical, back-and-forth contest until linebacker Scott Fujita intercepted Jeff Garcia's fourth-down pass, intended for Ike Hilliard, just inside the Saints 20-yard line with about 40 seconds to go.

"I lost track of where the linebacker was," Garcia said. "If I had to do it all over again I probably would have gone outside and given Antonio (Bryant) a shot."

Brees' scoring passes went for 39 yards to David Patten, 84 yards to Devery Henderson and 42 yards to Reggie Bush, with Bush's score putting the Saints in the lead for good in the fourth quarter.

Garcia was 24-of-41 for 221 yards, including a 2-yard TD pass to Hilliard, which gave the Bucs a brief 20-17 lead.

Tampa Bay's offense produced only one touchdown. The Bucs' defense got the other in the first quarter, when blitzing linebacker Barrett Ruud hit Brees as he threw, causing a fluttering pass that Phillip Buchanon intercepted and returned 26 yards.

"Credit to New Orleans, but we missed some routine plays we normally make," Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden said. "It was bad coaching and bad execution."

Bush, who vowed to come back strong from a down second season in which he never had a gain longer than 25 yards, had 112 yards receiving and 51 yards rushing. He did most of the work on the winning drive, starting with a 29-yard gain on a short reception over the middle.

His touchdown came on a third-down swing pass on which he juked Jermaine Phillips at the 25 and stiff-armed Buchanon at the 5 before diving for the pylon. Bush was close to stepping out of bounds, but Tampa Bay did not challenge the call.

Making the score even more gratifying for Bush was the fact Phillips had been in his face one play earlier.

"The play before he was talking trash and the next play he was on my highlight tape," Bush said.