Canal Street Chronicles
On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will duel for the second time this season. After the first meeting resulted in a dominant 23-3 victory for the Bucs, Tyler Shough will get an opportunity to start versus Tampa and flip the script.
New Orleans currently ranks 26th in the league offensively, averaging 296.6 yards per game and scoring just over 15 points per game. Tampa Bay ranks 22nd in defense, allowing 25.1 points per game. Now, let’s take a look back at this matchup from Week 8.
The Saints’ biggest change from the first meeting is that they now have a new starting quarterback. Spencer Rattler would wind up getting benched during this home game, paving the way for rookie Shough to get his first NFL regular-season snaps. Head coach Kellen Moore has not looked back since and has stuck with the rook in every game.
While you’d think it was the Bucs’ offense that had a big game, it was actually an average performance at best. Both teams made mental errors, turned the ball over, and struggled to punch the football into the endzone. However, Tampa Bay’s defense and special teams performances were enough to make up the difference.
New Orleans had more first downs, outgained the Buccaneers, and converted 50% of both third and fourth down attempts. However, the Saints also had four turnovers, allowed five sacks, and lost the time of possession battle. Tampa opened the scoring in the second quarter by way of a pick-six from Anthony Nelson.
Alvin Kamara is currently questionable for this weekend’s game, but it would not be surprising if he were unable to go. The Saints’ tailback is dealing with a knee injury suffered two weeks ago against Atlanta. Last time against Tampa, he finished with just 21 yards on the ground while picking up another 24 through the air on two receptions.
Obviously, there are major issues still plaguing the New Orleans offense, and they should not be expected to dissolve in this divisional matchup. I do expect the Saints to have a better performance and play with a more aggressive effort this time around.
