The Buccaneers started off their divisional matchup against the Saints strong and scored a touchdown on the very first drive. Jameis Winston and the Bucs’ offense continued their stellar play throughout the first half.
The defense played similarly well and held the Saints to only three points at halftime. Adarius Taylor intercepted Drew Brees in Saints’ territory before halftime. The Bucs were able to capitalize and score another touchdown to put the score at 14-3.
The Bucs completely dominated the Saints in the first half and played outstanding, fundamental football.
However, the Bucs were not able to deal with the adjustments the Saints made after halftime, and the Saints took over the game in the third quarter. A crucial turning point was a blocked punt by Josh Hill. New Orleans started their drive deep in Tampa Bay territory and scored a touchdown.
After that the Bucs’ offense, particularly the offensive line, could not get anything going anymore. Winston constantly had defenders in his face, and the offensive line committed way too many holding or personal foul penalties, which killed the Bucs’ drives over and over again.
New Orleans, on the other hand, found their usual game and got Alvin Kamara involved, who was basically a non-factor in the first half due to Tampa’s stellar defense.
All in all, the Bucs lost to the Saints 28-14. Winston played a decent game. He was picked off on the Bucs’ last offensive play of the day on a deep pass into the end zone to Mike Evans. Other than that, he made no major mistakes and made good decisions. He finished the afternoon with 18 completions on 38 passing attempts and 213 yards. Once again, he was the Bucs’ leading rusher with 47 yards on five runs.
Next up is a tough away game against the Baltimore Ravens and their superb defense.
