NEWS

New Orleans Saints fall to Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Michael Tortorich

New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham catches a touchdown pass in front of Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber.

NEW ORLEANS - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won't be in that number when the playoffs begin, but the New Orleans Saints will.

Tampa Bay (10-6) claimed a 23-13 win over New Orleans (11-5) Sunday in the Louisiana Superdome.

While it was the last game of the season for the Buccaneers, the Saints will meet the NFC West champion in the opening round of the playoffs Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

In the final regular season game, Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman led the way on a 21-for-26, 255-yard passing day with a pair of touchdowns.

"Certainly we came out today to win the game," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "We had some guys out. We didn’t play our best and didn’t have some things going our way either. We did some stupid things that would bite us in the playoffs."

New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush gets by Tampa Bay Buccaneers defenders.