Canal Street Chronicles
After discussing the New Orleans Saints’ offensive matchup for the upcoming week, let’s turn our attention to the defensive side of the ball. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a familiar divisional opponent for New Orleans, but that does not change the fact that the Saints were walloped at home in Week 8. How can Brandon Staley’s group turn the tables in this road game?
Tampa Bay currently has the 21st-ranked offense in the league with an average of 316.2 yards while scoring just over 23 points per game. Meanwhile, New Orleans allows 314.6 yards and 24.6 points, good enough for the 12th-best ranking defensively.
In the first Saints-Bucs game of 2025, New Orleans actually held Tampa to just 212 yards of total offense, the Buccaneers’ second-lowest yardage total of the year to this point. However, the Saints allowed three drives that lasted four minutes or longer, including an extended 17-play, 10:19 drive during the second quarter. The Bucs won the time of possession by a near six-minute advantage while scoring on two of those series.
The Saints managed to force just one turnover by way of a strip-sack fumble from defensive end Chase Young. Quarterback Baker Mayfield had a relatively quiet performance with just 152 yards on 15-24 passing. Running back Sean Tucker scored the lone offensive touchdown by either team in the game off a one-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal in the third quarter.
Standout linebacker Demario Davis led the way for the Saints in tackles with ten, while Justin Reid, Nathan Shepherd, and Young split the three sacks for the defense.
Unfortunately for the Saints and Who Dat fans, I do not believe that this weekend’s game result will be much different. Tampa Bay is in the thick of the NFC playoff race and holds a slim lead over the Carolina Panthers for the division lead. New Orleans, I’m sure, will play with a higher sense of urgency this time around versus the Bucs, but a win may do more harm than good at this point, with the team set to have a top pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
