Saints see error of their ways

NEW ORLEANS - Reggie Bush had a record-setting night, but it wasn't enough to offset a series of blunders by the Saints.

After New Orleans defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-17 last week, despite committing 13 penalties, coach Sean Payton warned his team would pay a price if it continued at that rate.

On Monday night in the Super- dome, it did. The Saints committed nearly as many penalties (11 for 102 yards) in addition to a series of other blunders. The cost was a 30-27 loss to the opportunistic Vikings even though Bush set a Saints record with 176 punt return yards and tied an NFL record with two punt returns for touchdowns.

The biggest penalty was a 42-yard pass interference call on safety Kevin Kaesviharn against Bernard Berrian with 71 seconds left, setting up Ryan Longwell's 30-yard winning field goal.

"The disappointing thing is our turnovers and our penalties," Payton said, "and that starts with us. That starts with me. I've got to do a better job, same thing with our coaching staff. There are a lot of positive things, but they're overshadowed by the mistakes we made. Our defense, our yards on offense, and two great punt returns by Reggie Bush are overshadowed by that."

Another of the Saints' penalties helped stall a scoring threat that turned 180 degrees when Minnesota ran a blocked field-goal attempt back for a touchdown. Another penalty revived what appeared to be a stalled Vikings drive, which immediately produced a touchdown.

New Orleans also committed four turnovers and dropped a handful of passes.

"We've got to start playing smarter," quarterback Drew Brees said. "It was fun to watch those punt returns by Reggie. I'm sure the whole country enjoyed that. But the disappointing thing is we beat ourselves."

The Saints were trying to increase a 7-0 first-quarter lead when Bush appeared to convert a third down into a first-and-goal at the 5. But a holding penalty against fullback Mike Karney wiped out the gain, and a subsequent dropped pass by Robert Meachem led to a field-goal attempt.

Martin Gramatica, who was playing despite a groin injury, kicked a 46-yard attempt low, Kevin Williams blocked it, and Antoine Winfield grabbed the ball in midair and ran 59 yards for a tying touchdown.

After New Orleans took a 10-7 lead, Winfield sacked Brees, took the ball away and ran nine yards to the Saints 5-yard line. The drive appeared to stall when Gus Frerotte's third-down pass fell incomplete, but defensive end Will Smith was offside, giving Minnesota another chance.

The Vikings took advantage as Chester Taylor threw a 4-yard halfback touchdown pass to Visanthe Shiancoe.

On the ensuing possession, New Orleans reached the Minnesota 35, but Bush fumbled and Vikings safety Tyrell Johnson recovered.

Later in the quarter the Saints reached the Vikings 12 before wide receiver Lance Moore dropped a Brees pass and a diving Ben Leber caught the ball for a Vikings interception.

After Minnesota took a 20-10 lead, New Orleans was trying to get within one score during the third quarter when it self-destructed again. Facing a third-and-8 at the Saints 48, center Jonathan Goodwin snapped the ball past Brees in shotgun formation and Brees fell on the ball for a 15-yard loss.