Sav Rocca boomed a punt late in the first quarter of Sunday's game that was fielded by Saints return man Reggie Bush at the New Orleans 18-yard line. Quintin Mikell stopped Bush for no gain. It was an ideal punt, one that backed up the Saints and left them with less than favorable field position.

However, there was a penalty on the play - gunner Joselio Hanson was called for an illegal shift - and Rocca had to punt the ball again. This time, Rocca punted the ball out of bounds at the Saints' 47-yard line. That's a 29-yard shift in field position. The Saints scored a field goal on that drive to take a 10-7 lead.

"It's very hard because then you hit a 65 or 70-yard kick on the kick before," Rocca said. "Sometimes you try a little too hard and you try to replicate that kick and that can be a downfall sometimes."

On the day, Rocca's numbers were actually good. He had a 45.0 gross avg. on five punts, a 41.6 net and a long of 61 yards. However, there were two other punts that left the Saints with the ball near midfield. On those three drives, the league's top-ranked offense took advantage of the favorable field position and scored a total of 17 points.

"There were a couple of punts I wish I could have taken back," Rocca said. "Our job out there is to change field position and there were a few punts where we could have done a bit better."

After the game, head coach Andy Reid was asked about Rocca and expressed faith in his punter.

"I have trust in Sav that he'll get that right," Reid said.

Last year, Rocca was named the NFC Special Teams Player for the month of September after leading the NFL with a 44.1 net average. Through two games in 2009, Rocca has a 44.0 gross average and a 38.4 net average with two of his punts being downed inside the 20-yard line.

-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 1:59 p.m., September 21