A look at Drew Brees’ passing accuracy during the New Orleans Saints’ 45-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons last Monday night. This weekly graphic breaks the field into six zones, depicting Brees’ hotspots and occasional rough patches.

Noteworthy: Brees broke Dan Marino’s 1984 record of most passing yards in a regular season on his last throw of the game, a touchdown to Darren Sproles. Brees has thrown for 5,087 yards this season, three more than Marino threw 27 years ago. Brees also threw his four touchdowns to a different part of the field.

TAMPA — As Tony Gonzalez walked off the field Monday night at the Louisiana Superdome, a certain rising young star stopped him to ask what everyone wants to know.

Saints TE Jimmy Graham, named to the Pro Bowl this week in just his second season, had to ask Gonzalez: What’s his secret?

“I get that question a lot,” said Gonzalez, the Falcons tight end and likely Hall of Famer who plays the Bucs on Sunday.

“It’s not really something I can sum up in a few words. I guess, to put it simply, it’s hard work, perseverance (and) you have to have to mind-set of total conviction and a passion for the game.

“And you have to kind of be obsessed. It’s borderline crazy. Not everybody can do it. Most people can’t do it. You have to be obsessed with being the best player you can be. That means you’re going to put in a lot more work than the next guy. That means before practice, during practice, after practice. There’s really no offseason.”

The Bucs can attest. Gonzalez has been a matchup nightmare for Tampa Bay, which has opted to use CB Ronde Barber, also a 15-year veteran, against him.

Gonzalez, 35, and Barber, 36, share a mutual admiration.

“We came in (to the league) together, so obviously we’ve had a chance to go against each other a lot,” Gonzalez said of Barber. “I respect him so much because, when you talk about perseverance and being able to stick around and play at such a level like he does for a long time, obviously I know firsthand how hard it is.

“It’s not an easy thing to do. It has little to do with athletic ability. It has more to do with mind-set, and I really respect him for that. He’s always in the right place at the right time. You’re looking at the film and you say, ‘How did he make that play?’ It’s probably not even in their defensive package. But he saw something and hit the hole and made the play. It’s results, and this guy gets results. It’s a privilege to go against someone like him.”

The Bucs have had mixed results against Gonzalez. He had just two catches for 18 yards in the first meeting this season. But he had an eight-catch, 72-yard performance last season and caught nine passes for 83 yards in a meeting in 2009.

TRUEBLOOD OUT: Jeremy Trueblood‘s season is over, with the veteran right tackle ruled out for Sunday after a concussion.

According to Bucs coach Raheem Morris, Trueblood will be replaced in the lineup by James Lee, a player who becomes a free agent in the offseason but gets a final chance to impress his current team. Lee has been slowed by injuries this season, one year after he replaced Trueblood down the stretch of a 10-6 season.

The Bucs also might take a look at Demar Dotson at right tackle, Morris said. He has played extensively as a tight end in two-tight end, short-yardage situations, but he hasn’t played much as a tackle.

injury updates: WR Arrelious Benn is questionable after not practicing this week because of a neck injury. DT Albert Haynesworth (knee) also missed practice and is questionable. He missed last week’s game at Carolina, as did DT Brian Price (ankle). Morris said Price was improving and had a chance to play after practicing Friday.

Stephen F. Holder can be reached at sholder@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3377. View his blog at tampabay.com/blogs/bucs. Follow him on Twitter at @BucsBeat.

Jeff Triplette, Shutdown Corner’s favorite NFL official, is at it again. This time, Triplette took his tremendous combination of “skills” to the Monday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. You’d think the NFL would want one of its best guys working a game of this importance, but as you’ll see when Triplette no doubt gets another playoff assignment, the NFL doesn’t seem to enforce any real standards when it comes to the competence of its officials.

Anyway, here’s the Triplette goof this time. The Saints have third-and-12 at their own 8-yard line with 7:27 left in the game. Drew Brees drops back, doesn’t see what he wants from the coverage reads, and scrambles to the right for a nine-yard gain and the end of New Orleans’ offensive possession. Pretty innocuous play, especially since the Saints were beating the tar out of the Falcons and the result was academic at that point.

And that’s when Triplette decided to make things more interesting. There was a flag thrown for holding, and after a mercifully brief discussion, Triplette made this ruling:

“There is no hold on the play … as it is a screen pass. The blocker was shedding him to the side.”

Uh … what?

Well, here’s the first problem, Jeff. We don’t know who either “the blocker” is, based on your description. You’re having a conversation with your umpire about a flag that apparently shouldn’t have been thrown, and that’s fine. But it would help if you informed us of your thought process in the first place. We’re assuming you’re just not smart enough to realize that you have an obligation to describe the penalty, whether it’s waved off or not, once you turn on your little microphone.

Unless, of course, our ancillary theory is correct and you’re one of the increasing number of officials who are throwing and then picking up flags in a weak and completely lame attempt to get more TV facetime.

Fortunately, Ron Jaworski spelled it out in the ESPN booth.

“You can see [Saints left tackle] Jermon Bushrod laying on [Falcons defensive end] John Abraham,” Jaworski said. “I’m not so sure it was a screen, though. In fact, it wasn’t a screen.”

Yeah … that’s the second problem, Jeff. It WAS a hold, because it WASN’T a screen pass. It wasn’t a pass at all. And there is no specific exception in the rulebook for a screen pass overthrowing a holding call even if it was a screen pass.

There is a provision that holding will not be called if it happens after a pass is clearly thrown, but Brees didn’t throw a pass at all. He read his coverage, saw nobody open, and scrambled. There is another provision that holding won’t be called if the action occurs away from the point of attack and not within close-line play. But Bushrod took Abraham to the ground and held him there, while Brees was still in the pocket and not two yards away from the hold.

So, Mr. Triplette, we ask you as we frequently do: What the hell were you talking about?

Related: Jermon Bushrod, Drew Brees, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Adventures in Officiating

Although the Atlanta Falcons failed to live up to the expectations their 13-3 2010 season brought upon them, they are still in the NFC playoffs and are still a dangerous team to play. The team possesses top ranked skill position players across the offense, starting with Matt Ryan and ending with rookie wide out, Julio Jones. The 2011 fantasy football season saw several Falcons players inserted into weekly lineups, but who are the biggest surprise and disappointments, and which star can say they were the Falcons 2011 fantasy MVP?

MVP – Matt Ryan

While quarterbacks are always critiqued on their playoff record (Ryan is winless), Ryan has continued to grow during the regular season and has become a top-tier fantasy quarterback. He has already surpassed his career high by more than 300 yards and needs one touchdown in the season finale to tie his career high. For the second straight season, the Falcons are relying on Ryan’s arm to get them to the playoffs, which is something Ryan doesn’t seem to mind.

Biggest Surprise – Julio Jones

The Falcons mortgaged their future to draft the rookie from Alabama and if this season is any indication of the future, they will be alright. Despite missing three games, Jones put together a great fantasy season for fantasy GMs who wanted to give him a go. If he gets another 113 yards in the season finale, Jones will reach 1,000 yards on the year, putting him in great rookie company this season in that club (Victor Cruz and A.J. Green).

Biggest Disappointment – Michael Turner

It’s hard to say that a man who rushed for more than 1,100 yards this season is a disappointment, but for Turner, that is the case. When you look at his numbers, they are on par or even less than what he has done since coming to Atlanta. That is the problem. He was expected to do more than 78 yards per game. Fantasy GMs were hoping to see 85-88 yards per game like they saw a season ago, but it didn’t happen. He has five more receptions this season than he did a year ago, but those 15 catches don’t make managers jump at selecting Turner in PPR leagues.

With most fantasy leagues complete following week 16, I have started my end of season reports prior to the end of the week 17. This notation is for readers to be aware that the statistics mentioned are not final.

For a closer look at All-Injury teams for all major fantasy positions, click here.

More from this contributor:

LeSean McCoy is Top Fantasy Running Back in 2011

Backup Running Backs to make Splash in 2011

Don’t Give up on These Players too Early

Drafting Individual Defensive Players?

Top 2011 Fantasy Football Rookies

Hobson Lopes has been playing fantasy football for more than 10 years and can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

TAMPA — The Falcons could have a very limited ability to impact their playoff position in Sunday’s game against the Bucs, but Atlanta maintains it will play to win.

Coach Mike Smith suggested Wednesday that he would not rest his starters or coach differently, but he wasn’t entirely specific.

“Our preparation week is going to be no different than any other week,” Smith said. “We know there are some things that are set in concrete. We know we’ll be playing the following week. We don’t know who or where or when, and we’ve just got to go through our normal preparation and prepare to beat Tampa Bay.

“That’s our entire focus this week. We’re not thinking about the second season.”

The Bucs (4-11) hope to end the season by snapping a nine-game losing streak.

The Falcons (9-6), meanwhile, will know by the 4:15 kickoff if their game affects their playoff seeding. If the Lions defeat the Packers earlier in the day, the Falcons are the sixth seed, no matter the outcome of the Bucs game. But if the Lions lose, the Falcons can grab the fifth seed with a win.

All-Pro TE Tony Gonzalez said the Falcons want to play to win after their 45-16 thumping at the hands of the Saints on Monday night.

“It’s business as usual around here,” Gonzalez said. “We’re going to try to go out and win a football game against a really good team that beat us earlier in the season. I don’t think anybody’s mind-set around here is that we’re going to go ahead and rest, especially after last week the way we performed against the Saints. We have to go out there and put on a good performance going into the playoffs.”

WELL DESERVED: RG Davin Joseph‘s selection to the Pro Bowl this week didn’t surprise QB Josh Freeman. And it probably shouldn’t have surprised some of the Bucs’ opponents, either.

“I remember Ndamukong Suh before the first game said, ‘Man, you’ve got to keep (No.) 75 from cheap (shots),’ ” Freeman said of the Lions’ defensive tackle. “I’m like, ‘Are you really telling me this? You of all people?’ Guys throughout the year said the same thing. (Texans LB) Brian Cushing comes to mind. They know about Davin. They know what a great player he is, and it’s great to have him on our team.”

For his part, Joseph, headed to his second Pro Bowl, said he’d take team accomplishments over individual ones.

“If you give me 10 wins, I’d trade it all in,” said the 2006 first-round pick out of Oklahoma. “It just shows we have talent, and there’s no doubt we put in a lot of work. It just hasn’t panned out for us right now. But, soon, it will.”

In a season full of negatives, Joseph’s play has stood out, according to Freeman: “Davin has been a major bright spot, the effort that guy gives, his intensity. I hear guys all the time talk about, ‘You’ve got to keep that No. 75, watch out for him. Tell him to cut out the cheap shots.’ (They) are not cheap shots. They’re hustle plays.”

INJURY REPORT: The Bucs are limping into their final game as decimated by injuries as they’ve been all season. The injury report includes seven players who were unable to practice Wednesday in any capacity: WR Arrelious Benn (neck), DE Michael Bennett (toe), DT Albert Haynesworth (knee), DT Roy Miller (back), DT Brian Price (ankle), WR Preston Parker (concussion) and RT Jeremy Trueblood (concussion). The defensive line is particularly thin, with only three defensive tackles available Wednesday: Frank Okam, new signee Jovan Haye and practice squad member Lamar Divens.

Staff writer Rick Stroud contributed to this report.