NEW ORLEANS — Josh Freeman and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can at least take pride in more than doubling last season’s win total and beating the defending NFL champs on their turf.
Freeman passed for two touchdowns and the Buccaneers defeated the New Orleans Saints 23-13 on Sunday, but were eliminated from the playoffs when Green Bay beat Chicago to clinch the final NFC postseason berth.
“It’s rough,” Freeman said as he awaited results of later games that ultimately doomed the Bucs (10-6) to an earlier vacation than they wanted. “We had a good team this year. You hate to say goodbye right now.”
Freeman passed for 255 yards Sunday, including a 2-yard scoring strike to rookie Dezmon Briscoe in the back of the end zone, and an 18-yard TD to rookie Mike Williams on fourth-and-short late in the third quarter.
Connor Barth hit three field goals, the third from 48 yards to give the Bucs a two-score lead with 4:01 left.
“These young guys are stepping up. Some of these guys I barely even know,” Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris said. “They play fast, they play hard, they play consistent and they play for each other.”
Even though the Bucs missed the playoffs, Freeman said, winning 10 games was “a great accomplishment and is something we can build upon.”
Reggie Bush had 70 yards rushing and 55 yards receiving for the Saints (11-5), who were locked into the fifth playoff seed in the NFC by Atlanta’s 31-10 win over Carolina and pulled several starters in the fourth quarter.
“We did the right thing, the smart thing. And that’s part of the reason why some guys didn’t play today when they probably could have,” said New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who left the game with the Saints down by only one touchdown. “You’re thinking about, ‘How can we put ourselves in the best position to succeed this next week?’ “
Freeman, who led the Bucs to a stunning upset in New Orleans as a rookie late last season, completed 81 percent of his passes (21-of-26) and was not intercepted. He finished the game with a quarterback rating of 133.2.
The Buccaneers wound up with a seven-victory improvement over their 3-13 record in 2009.
Brees was 22-of-38 for 196 yards. He was intercepted once, fumbled on a sack and threw one touchdown pass to rookie tight end Jimmy Graham.
