NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense finally made some big plays.
Simeon Rice registered three sacks as the Buccaneers harassed Aaron Brooks and shut down Deuce McAllister en route to a 14-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Led by Rice - a speed-rushing defensive end - the Buccaneers made life miserable the entire afternoon for Brooks, who fumbled four times, losing three.
"We needed that," said Rice, who leads the NFL with 15 sacks. "Those are simple reminders of what we can do when we put our hearts in it."
The Bucs also had little trouble with McAllister, who had his string of consecutive 100-yard games stopped at nine. He was limited to 69 yards on 22 carries.
"It's a great accomplishment based on how well he's been running and what kind of back he is," said Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden.
Brad Johnson threw two touchdown passes for Tampa Bay (6-7), which has slim playoff hopes.
It was a damaging loss for the Saints (6-7), who squandered a chance to move over .500 for the first time this season. They had won the previous three meetings with Tampa Bay.
After Brooks tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, the Saints looked poised to build on the lead late in the second quarter when Brooks drilled a pass to Joe Horn, who was wide open at the goal line with But Horn, who had nine catches for 118 yards, dropped the ball.
Horn's drop was the turning point as Rice sacked Brooks, who fumbled, on the next play. Jermaine Phillips recovered and returned the ball 20 yards to the Saints 37.
Two plays later, Johnson tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ken Dilger, tying the game at 7-7 with 1:25 left in the half.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Bucs' special teams made a big play as David Gibson blocked Tom Tupa's punt. Ronde Barber picked up the ball and returned it 20 yards to the New Orleans 1. On the next play, Johnson found Warren Sapp open in the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Bucs the lead for good. It was the second TD of the season for Sapp, the Bucs' talkative defensive tackle.
"In a minute forty, we had a dropped touchdown, two fumbles, a blocked punt, two penalties, and missed tackles for a touchdown," said Saints coach Jim Haslett. "Twenty-eight minutes before that we played pretty good football."
In the second half, the Saints had two drives stall in Bucs territory when Brooks lost fumbles. The second fumble came inside the Bucs 10 with under nine minutes remaining in the contest.
