NEW ORLEANS - Man, it’s hard to remember the last time the Bucs had to work so hard to take a 10-7 lead into halftime.

They really moved the ball well on that last drive, but prior to that it was one long struggle.

The biggest struggle, of course, was the offensive line’s struggle to keep the Saints pass rushers out of Jeff Garcia’s face. Garcia took a beating in that half. So did rookie Dexter Jackson. Not sure if anyone noticed but Ike Hilliard was back for that last punt return. This after Jo-Lonn Dunbar recorded the hit of the day (so far), nailing Jackson for no gain at the Bucs 35.

This was a half that started out being dominated by the Saints offense and wound up being dominated by the Bucs defense. After giving up that quick score on the first series of the game, the Bucs bounced back to not only get a defensive touchdown of their own but shut down the Saints, limiting them to 110 yards the final 26 minutes.

Drew Brees and Reggie Bush were arguably the two best players on the field at the start of this game but by the time the first half ended the two best players were clearly Barrett Ruud and Tanard Jackson.

One injury of note: Bucs WR Maurice Stovall is questionable for the rest of the game with a sore shoulder.