How/where to watch the game
The 4-2 New Orleans Saints host the 6-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Sunday game of the week matchup. The game will be played in the Caesars Superdome with kickoff at 4:25 PM EST, 3:25 PM CT, 1:25 PM PST on Fox. Here’s a map of what areas get the game, Saints and Bucs are in red.
If you don’t get the game or can’t watch it for some reason, links to live streams of the game will be sent to my Saints groups chat. Link is here to join: https://relevnt.app/vibe/44763
Uniforms
The Saints will be wearing their color rush uniforms.
The Bucs will be wearing red jerseys over pewter pants.
Injury Report
Roster moves
The Saints signed OT Jordan Mills to the active roster
WR Kevin White was elevated to the roster from the practice squad
Inactives
– Taysom Hill (concussion)
-Ian Book
-Dwayne Washington (neck)
-Jalyn Holmes
-Malcolm Roach
-Payton Turner (calf)
Players to watch
- David Onyemata, his first game back from his suspension; how does the entire defensive line perform with his presence
- Mark Ingram, his usage from Sean Payton and how often does Sean put him in
- WR corps, Bucs secondary is banged up; can they make a play happen or continue to struggle
- Brian Johnson, does he get more opportunities to show his leg
Things to keep an eye on
- Can the defensive line get pressure without blitzing
- How often does Sean Payton put in Mark Ingram
- The matchup of Lattimore vs Evans and Adebo vs Godwin
- Does Sean Payton get aggressive with his play calling
- Does Sean call up some big plays to Deonte
Keys to the game
- Pressure Tom Brady without blitzing, without a doubt the most important key to winning this game. The Saints can’t blitz because Brady will know, and the Saints can try and disguise coverages and all that but the baseline is the front four needs to create pressure. Last year during the regular season against Tampa Bay the Saints were able to get to Brady and make him make a rare mistake. This year, the Rams beat the Bucs by forcing pressure and hitting Brady. They got 3 sacks and 5 QB hits, they’ve allowed 9 sacks all year. Pressure is important and critical this week.
- Control the clock, the offense has to find a way to keep Tom Brady off the field and put up points. It seems the best way they’ve put up points this year is on long drives. Week one they had two touchdown drives that took 15 plays each. That’s an example of some of the many long drives the Saints have had this year. The point is, keep Brady off the field and don’t let him control the clock cause then he’ll control the game. The final thing, they have to put up points on these long drives and don’t just waste time because the Saints will be digging their own grave at that point.
- Win the turnover battle, Brady doesn’t make a lot of mistakes but if he’s pressured he will start to panic. We saw this last year in Tampa Bay when the Saints would get pressure without blitzing and the coverage would be outstanding so Brady would just throw up a prayer. If the Saints get an opportunity to create a turnover the offense has to execute off that turnovers and not just punt it back. Offensively the Saints can’t turn the ball over either and give Brady and the Bucs momentum. The team that won the turnover battle over the last three matchups won the game. Very important this week to create turnovers.
Strengths
- run defense
- two number one wide receivers
- Tom Brady
Weaknesses
- secondary is beat up, ranked 26th most passing yards allowed
- rushing offense is mediocre
Rooting guide, who to root for
As it stands right now the Saints are the sixth seed behind the Rams. With the Cardinals loss that puts the Saints in good position to get a possible higher seed if they can get first place in the division and end up with the same record as the Packers as we hold the tie breaker.
Packers @ Cardinals – Packers
Panthers @ Falcons – Panthers
49ers @ Bears – 49ers
Eagles @ Lions – Lions
Rams @ Texans – Texans
Jaguars @ Seahawks – Jaguars
Washington @ Broncos – Broncos
Cowboys @ Vikings – Cowboys
Giants @ Chiefs – Chiefs
Written By Kadin Janisch
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