NEW ORLEANS -- Under pressure all day, and unable to deliver inside a hostile Superdome environment.
That was supposed to be the case for Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie quarterback Jameis Winston on Sunday. Instead, it was the stunning story of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees' day as the Saints lost 26-19 in a game they were supposed to dominate and fell to 0-2.
The home crowd showered the Saints offense with boos multiple times as New Orleans dropped its sixth straight home game dating back to last year.
Brees admitted afterward that he was affected by shoulder soreness after an early hit. He appeared to get dinged on a second quarter sack-fumble, but he was hit so many times on Sunday that it was difficult to pinpoint the specific one that hurt worst.
It wasn't hard to tell that the shoulder bothered Brees on his ugliest throw of the day -- an interception in the third quarter that came on a badly underthrown deep ball intended for receiver Brandin Cooks.
"I think it's a touchdown if I just throw it out there. I underthrew it," said a dejected Brees, who gave a little laugh before breaking down the play. "It should've been a touchdown."
Brees eventually settled in and threw his first touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. But he ran out of time while trying to rally the Saints in the final two minutes.
Brees' biggest problem was pass protection. He was hit relentlessly throughout the game and fumbled twice while being sacked in the first half (both recovered by the Saints). He was also off-target while being hit or hurried on several other throws. He finished 24-of-38 for 255 yards with one touchdown and the interception.
When Brees started to move the offense a bit during the second half, receiver Willie Snead and running back Mark Ingram each lost fumbles and Zach Hocker missed a 42-yard field goal attempt and had an extra point blocked as the Saints blew repeated opportunities to get back into the game.
"Extremely costly," Brees said of the turnovers. "We put our defense in a tough spot and just kind of halted our momentum right when we started to get something going.
"Just no real rhythm was ever found."
The offense has now failed to materialize for two straight weeks after the Saints revamped the roster this offseason. They have serious problems on both sides of the ball. And their once-dominant home-field advantage inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome has disintegrated.
"When you have a game like today, you get frustrated as a head coach, you're frustrated as a play-caller, you're frustrated in a lot of areas," Saints coach Sean Payton said.
The Saints certainly didn't turn the place into a hostile environment for Winston, who was making his first career road start. Winston finally lost a fumble when he was sacked in the fourth quarter. But that was his only turnover as he completed 14 of 21 passes for 207 yards with one touchdown pass and one touchdown run. He was sacked three times, twice in the fourth quarter.
Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, who had one of those sacks, said he was proud of the defense for coming up big to give team a chance late in the game. But said they have to reach a point where they "don't have to come up big" late. He said just like last week at Arizona, the Saints need to play better earlier in games and create some momentum.
