NEW ORLEANS — The moment Garrett Hartley’s foot drove through the ball, the Louisiana Superdome crowd erupted and Saints owner Tom Benson raised his arms in triumph.
The presumption was these Saints, in this magical season, were going to pull out another victory in the clutch.
Not so fast.
Hartley’s 37-yarder hooked to the left, and those who’d allowed themselves to celebrate prematurely were sent home soon after in stunned silence.
Carnell Williams rushed for 129 yards and a score and Connor Barth kicked a 47-yard field goal in overtime, lifting Tampa Bay to a 20-17 upset Sunday that, for the time being, prevented New Orleans from securing home field throughout the NFC playoffs.
“It’s hard to explain,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. “We started off fast, then after that there was a big lull.”
New Orleans was heavily favored and could have guaranteed itself home games throughout the NFC playoffs with a victory, but instead dropped a second consecutive game at home after opening the season 13-0.
If Minnesota wins its final two games, starting tonight in Chicago, then the Saints will have to win in Carolina next Sunday to wrap up the first No. 1 NFC playoff seeding in franchise history.
“The fact is we need to play better,” Brees said. “I don’t feel like we’ve played our best football in a while, and there’s definitely some things that need to be corrected.
“You always find out more about a team when you start facing adversity. This is just yet another one of those situations that I feel we have the right character, the right type of leadership to bounce back from and help us become stronger going into the playoffs.”
Williams had a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and Michael Spurlock’s 77-yard punt return tied it, completing a comeback from 17 points down in the first half.
The Saints had a chance to win in the final seconds of regulation, but Hartley missed a 37-yard field goal. Tampa Bay (3-12) then won the coin toss to open overtime and scored soon after.
Although the Saints jumped out to a 17-0 lead and appeared en route to an easy victory, the Buccaneers kept playing hard and were the better team in the second half.
Spurlock’s game-tying score came after the Bucs had squandered two other scoring chances, once on Tracy Porter’s interception in the end zone and once on a failed fourth-and-short from the New Orleans 19.
New Orleans, shut out throughout the second half, finally drove into field-goal range in the final seconds, but Hartley hooked his kick badly to the left.
Tampa Bay’s defense continued to show improvement since Brees was held to 258 yards passing and one touchdown. The Saints rushed for 124 yards but gained only 28 yards on the ground in the second half, when leading rusher Pierre Thomas sat out with bruised ribs.
Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman was 21 of 31 for 271 yards. He did not throw a touchdown pass and was intercepted twice, but he made a pivotal play in overtime when he scrambled for a first down on third-and-6, sustaining the winning drive.
Sports, Pages 16 on 12/28/2009