The Saints welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to town as they face off for the first time this season. The opening betting lines have all heavily favored the Buccaneers in this matchup and rightfully so, but I think this game is a little closer than a lot of people expect. Also, Boom and Zoom returns! The duo should be able to give the Saints a nice edge in this game that they will probably need.
The Saints are admittedly horrible offensively outside of Jameis Winston and Alvin Kamara. With Michael Thomas missing this game due to his ankle surgery over the offseason, they are incredibly thin at the receiver position. Tre’Quan Smith was awful in his first game back last week and Kevin White dropped what would have been a huge gain. Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harris have been great at times but need to be a little more consistent. If this group wants to win this game, the ground attack will be how they do it. Kamara and newly acquired Mark Ingram will reunite for the first time in years to establish a strong run game. Their offensive line is getting healthier and should be able to get them some separation against the number one run defense in the NFL today. Defensively, I am not all too worried. Tom Brady is obviously going to be putting up points eventually, can’t hold this offense down for too long. However, I don’t think they will be putting up 40 plus like some expect. This defense is talented, with guys like Demario Davis and Marshon Lattimore covering the field. New Orleans just has to have a somewhat consistent day offensively and definitely can’t fall into an early hole.
The Buccaneers do have the top run defense but a lot of that is because teams always fall behind early on and then they abandon the run game. Tampa Bay is definitely vulnerable through the air but that secondary has seriously been playing a lot better in the last couple of weeks. Then we just can’t talk enough about that offense. One thing to pay attention to in this game is going to be the absence of Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski. Even with the two players out, this offense is still loaded from top to bottom, but it is still going to be a new dynamic for this crew. Brown before his injury was one of Brady’s favorite targets in the early half of the season.
If I had to make a final selection for this game, I would have to roll with the Buccaneers. As much as I would love to take the Saints in what should be a massive upset performance, I just know that it may be a little too unlikely considering the Saints lack of wide receivers that can catch the football. Still, don’t expect this to be a blowout, this will be a close one throughout for sure regardless of how little talent New Orleans has on offense.