Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints defense came up clutch on multiple occasions on Sunday. They held the Buccaneers to 2/7 on 4th down and kept them out of the end zone on their potential game-tying drive in the fourth quarter. On the Bucs final drive, the defense didn’t allow a single first down and clinched the game. The offense kept pace and took the lead after scoring for the third straight drive in the second half. Quarterback Tyler Shough was able to run for two touchdowns in the second half, the second of which gave the Saints a 24-17 lead that they would never lose. Shough’s passing stats don’t look great on paper, but on the Saints final drive of the game Shough converted on two 3rd and mediums through the air to Devaughn Vele that burned 3 minutes off the clock and forced the Buccaneers to use all of their timeouts. The offense capitalized on an interception on the Bucs first drive of the second half and scored a go-ahead touchdown, and even their first touchdown drive of the day on their opening possession was set up by a 54-yard kick return by Mason Tipton. This is the kind of complimentary and situational football the Saints hadn’t been playing this year, and it was very nice to finally see it on Sunday.
The Saints defense was unable to get to Baker Mayfield on Sunday, registering 0 sacks for the first time since Week 3 in Seattle. This did not cost them a win thankfully, as the secondary was able to hold up and cause incompletions when they needed them most at the end of the game, but after having seven total sacks in their last two games it would have been nice to see the Saints keep that going against one of the better QBs in the NFL in Mayfield.
The Saints committed 10 penalties in Tampa for a total of 82 yards. These issues have plagued them all season and again showed themselves on Sunday. Like the lack of pass rush however, it thankfully did not cost them a win, but it is something they must clean up if they are going to be a serious team next season. A neutral zone infraction by Chase Young gave the Bucs a free first down on 3rd and 5 of their opening drive and a DPI wiped out an interception. Another DPI would later give the Bucs a first down on 3rd and 10, and an ineligible man downfield call on Cesar Ruiz would cancel out a 1st down on 4th and 1 and make the Saints settle for a field goal. Both of Tampa Bay’s touchdown drives were kept alive by penalties, but thankfully when the Saints needed to, they were able to play clean football which is why they were victorious on Sunday.
