The Saints will be without RB/PR Reggie Bush tomorrow against the Buccaneers.  The Saints won’t miss Bush too much as Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell will carry the load in the running game.  Devery Henderson, Darren Sharper or Pierre Thomas will return punts tomorrow.  The reason I don’t think the Saints will miss Bush too much is because he’s a overrated player.  He has carried the ball 55 times for 277 yards (5.0 ypc) with 5 TD runs and he has caught 29 passes for 207 yards (7.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Bush has been better this season offensively than he has been in some time but he’s still not someone the Saints can rely on.  Bush will be easy to replace on punt returns as he has returned 21 punts for only a paltry 80 yards (3.8 avg).

The Saints are sitting at 9-0 on the year and you would think that this week would be a laugher for them against the 1-8 Bucs.  It won’t be as easy as most people think it will.  The Saints are having big defensive issues as of late due to injuries so they will likely try to dominate this game on offense.  Drew Brees will likely have a lot of time to throw against a Bucs’ D that is lacking pass rushers.  That is bad news for the DBs of the Bucs in having to deal with Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Jeremy Shockey and Robert Meachem.  The Bucs are allowing 211.9 yards passing per game so the Saints will likely have a good day throwing the ball.  But, don’t think for a minute that Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and Mike Bell won’t get to have their fun too against a Bucs’ D that is allowing 167.3 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry.

The Bucs look like a different football team with rookie QB Josh Freeman under center.  The Bucs would still likely want to get a running game going in an effort to keep the Saints’ offense on the sideline.  That means that Cadillac Williams, Derrick Ward and Ernest Graham will have to run hard against a Saints’ D that is allowing 115.3 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  If the Bucs are effective running the ball that will open up some play action passing for Freeman against a Saints’ D that is allowing 227.7 yards passing per game. 

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 35, BUCCANEERS 27

The Saints have signed 32-year old CB Chris McAlister.  McAlister played in 6 games for the Ravens last season and he made 16 tackles, defensed 7 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  He has now played in 135 games in his NFL career and he has made 427 tackles, defensed 137 passes, forced 1 fumble and he has 26 interceptions (five of which he has returned for TDs).  The Saints hope that McAlister still has something left so that he can help cover for Tracy Porter’s injury.

The Saints will be without starting CB Tracy Porter for the next 4-8 weeks with a sprained MCL.  This will hurt the Saints’ D big time as Porter has been a playmaker this season.  He has played in 9 games for the Saints this season and he has 43 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 8 passes defensed and he has three interceptions (one of which he returned for a TD).  Rookie CB Malcolm Jenkins will replace Porter in the starting lineup.  Jenkins has played in 7 games for the Saints this season and he has 10 tackles and two forced fumbles.  Teams will be attacking Jenkins early and often in games so the Saints need him to step up.

The Saints weren’t expecting a fight in St. Louis but that is exactly what they got.  Drew Brees was so-so in this game as he completed 18 of 26 passes for 223 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 interceptions.  Reggie Bush had by far his best game of the year for the Saints as he carried the ball 6 times for 83 yards (13.8 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 15 yards (7.5 avg) with a TD grab.  Pierre Thomas pitched in with 37 yards rushing on 11 carries (3.4 ypc) today.  Devery Henderson led the way in the passing game for the Saints with 72 yards on 4 catches (18.0 avg).  Robert Meachem made a huge impact despite only touching the ball twice as he caught 1 pass for 27 yards and it went for a TD.  Meachem also carried the ball 1 time for 41 yards today.  The Saints finished up with 420 total yards on offense (203 rushing, 217 passing) in this game.

Roman Harper (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed) and Jonathan Vilma (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Saints on D in the game today.  The Rams finished up with 434 total yards on offense (141 rushing, 293 passing) in this game.  KR Courtney Roby also had a huge impact in this game for the Saints as he returned 3 kickoffs for 146 yards (48.7 avg) including 1 that he returned 97 yards for a TD.  The Saints are now 9-0 on the year.