Explosion Perspective
January 11th, 2021
Regardless of your definition of a big or explosive play, the Washington defense was fantastic this season at limiting them.
Listening to D.C.-area sports radio last week, Joe heard a line a couple of times that the hometown team was best in the NFL at limiting big plays at average of about two per game.
And then Tampa Bay came to town.
On Saturday night, the Bucs had five receivers/runners with gains of 20 yards or more, and Antonio Brown, Cameron Brate and Mike Evans did it more than once. Ron Rivera and his defensive gurus are still shaking their heads, and the Bucs could have had more.
It’s just more evidence of how dangerous the Bucs offense is.
Washington hadn’t allowed more than 20 points in a game since November 15. The Bucs put up 31 points and struggled in the red zone and missed an extra point.
There’s really no reason why the Bucs can’t shake whatever hold/hex the New Orleans defense has on them.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:35 pm
It’s the coin toss. We start out with O….or at least not down by 7 and the team gets a huge morale boost. I like the offense finally. not sure who to thank for that… the coin, BL or TB.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:35 pm
I fear Brees vs Bucs secondary.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:38 pm
Would have had less if ira kaufman was the coach and benched our top wide reciever…smh
January 11th, 2021 at 1:43 pm
What I want to know is in what areas do the Saints have a stronger defense than Washington did? I think our defense can hold them to 30 or under. Can they stop us from scoring 31 and more?
I expect a close first half but then we will pull away and win this one!
January 11th, 2021 at 1:52 pm
Jimbo
The Saints will be a much tougher matchup for the Bucs offense because the Sean Payton and that Saints staff are more familiar with the Bucs than any other coaching staff in the NFL. Also, Cam Jordan might not be better than Chase Young on paper, but he sure does eat Donovan Smiths lunch everytime they meet.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:54 pm
I’m more worried with their offense against our defense.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:55 pm
I think we just need to go into this game with the expectation that we need to score a minimum of 35 points to win…our D will give up that many against Brees and Co…no sense in ‘hoping’ it doesn’t happen…if it does, great!
January 11th, 2021 at 1:56 pm
Saints also got back a ton of starters over the last few days.
They are incredibly healthy, though they might be missing Trey Hendrickson again (which would be great for D Smith)
January 11th, 2021 at 1:57 pm
Defense was extremely overrated. They get all this credit when playing one of the easiest schedules in the nfl but saying Bucs put up our offensive numbers against nobody’s so doesn’t really count. I hate the Saints and I hate how much they talk more than anything else. Bucs please beat the Saints even if you don’t reach the Super Bowl please don’t lose this game.
January 11th, 2021 at 1:58 pm
I know Jenkins, #22 and Cam Jordon will be running their clock suckers, AB looks to be a prime target and Fornette likes to bark himself. Evans will have to keep his cool and we can all hope Jameis runs onto the field and pokes someone in the helmet. There is no home field advantage without fans. Road teams were 4-2 this past weekend. The Bucs will be road warriors battling to come back home to reach the promised land. Helluva story for Buccaneer fans!
January 11th, 2021 at 2:05 pm
1987
Never fear Brees the choke artist
January 11th, 2021 at 2:06 pm
Actually missed 2 extra points……
January 11th, 2021 at 2:09 pm
It’s funny how some Bucs “fans”, just last week were wringing their hands because of Washington’s fierce pass rush…After the Bucs beat them, they act like Washington’s defense was nothing.
Now some are saying there’s 0% chance of the Bucs beating the Saints. Okay. We’ll see.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:13 pm
tbbucs3 Says:
January 11th, 2021 at 1:52 pm
Jimbo
The Saints will be a much tougher matchup for the Bucs offense because the Sean Payton and that Saints staff are more familiar with the Bucs than any other coaching staff in the NFL. Also, Cam Jordan might not be better than Chase Young on paper, but he sure does eat Donovan Smiths lunch everytime they meet.
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I thought Cam lined up on the opposite side
January 11th, 2021 at 2:16 pm
He did. Cam Jordan had 0 sacks against Wirfs this year. Trey Hendrickson had 3 sacks on the other side. He might be talking about past years.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:17 pm
Our secondary ( Murphy bunting and dean will get cooked ) o and Devin white in pass coverage… Winfield needs to go off this game in order to win Brees has to be picked twice a Kamala fumble and a hard ( NOT DIRTY ) hit on number #11 in order to win the game
January 11th, 2021 at 2:18 pm
Get the offense on the field first if possible. Do not give this defense a chance to put the team down to start the game.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:26 pm
Suh needs to in Brees grill like he did with Rodgers.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:26 pm
We can’t start slow…if we get down by 14 or 17 points we may be toast. I hope we don’t play that zone crap and watch Brees pick it apart. I’m optimistic that we can outscore them but not if we get behind early.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:27 pm
Hard hit on 11 or 13 , @ afedupbucfan
January 11th, 2021 at 2:38 pm
Where is Ndog?
“Here puppy puppy puppy”!
January 11th, 2021 at 2:44 pm
One secret to the Saints success against us is, they control the ball.
Their version of the West Coast Offense is run to perfection by Drew Brees, and as they dink and dunk down the field, they control time of possession.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:54 pm
Overall point is that the Bucs Oline tends to fold against the Saints Dline.
January 11th, 2021 at 2:55 pm
This time they better have a game plan on offense. If it’s too difficult to keep the Aints away from Brady then come up with plays that get it out of his hand quickly and still give players space to make some moves. They better put strong emphasis on the run game just hope RoJo is ok by then because we can’t be embarrassed like we were the last time we played them! If we protect Brady we will win doesn’t matter what the defense does but if not it will be another blow out
January 11th, 2021 at 2:58 pm
I encourage Bucs fans to go back and watch the highlights of the previous 2 matchups vs the Saints and notice the lack of time that Brady has in the pocket. The Bucs are going to need to counteract this with a run game, play action and 7 man pass pro.
The pockets are going to collapse fast, they always do against the Saints.
January 11th, 2021 at 3:00 pm
We won’t have to worry about beating the Saints because if our defense can’t play any better than Washington or Atlanta…the Bucs are finished, it doesn’t make any difference about our offense. That’s it in a nutshell. We MUST get a pass rush and make Brees less comfortable AND cover his receivers or else he will make the Bucs very uncomfortable, especially with the final score. Prediction Saints 33 Bucs 14.
January 11th, 2021 at 3:08 pm
Sheesh, Bucs let a rookie qb look like a super star. And our pass defense looked like a sieve. Open receivers everywhere. Play like that against the Saints and it will be a blow out.
January 11th, 2021 at 3:21 pm
‘There’s really no reason why the Bucs can’t shake whatever hold/hex the New Orleans defense has on them.”
B-I-N-G-O !!! Last night the 14th ranked Browns offense laid 48 points on the #3 ranked Steelers defense, while the #21 ranked Browns defense ‘limited’ the Steelers offense to ‘just’ 37 points. OK, not exactly a defensive struggle, BUT … the Browns were 5 point underdogs AND they played at Heinz Field.
By all rights, the Browns shouldn’t have won because Pittsburgh outplayed them in every stat except one: TURNOVERS. Steelers gave it away FIVE times; Browns had ZERO giveaways. Roethlisberger threw FOUR INTs, and yet the Browns’ defense gave up 501 passing yards in the game & 4 passing TDs. Probably not their most sterling defensive performance, BUT … good enough to win when your offense plays solid COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL & takes advantage of every opportunity presented to it.
And oh, for those who bad-mouthed MJ Stewart earlier, he had one of those INTs and contributed 10 solo tackles plus 1 PD & 1 TFL. May not be the best CB in the league, but that’s not bad for a night’s work.
January 11th, 2021 at 3:23 pm
ToP is once again the Key to this game. Keep the ball in Brady and companies hands.
It may not seem like that big of a stat but ToP allows for us to control the Saints O.
Last week the few extra minutes we had the ball proved to be the difference. And the game plan was solid. Took away most of the short stuff and forced the QB to improvise.
Do that again and we will crush NO
January 11th, 2021 at 3:26 pm
Unfortunately we have a defensive scheme that neutralizes our dangerous offense.
January 11th, 2021 at 3:28 pm
This rivalry goes way back to when the Bucs started as a franchise. I think it’s cos the 2 towns have a lot in common. Historical seaport cities on the Gulf of Mexico. LA is just as nuts over its college teams as the Tampa Bay area is. All the stuff about Cajuns, voodoo, the actual pirates who terrorized the west coast of FL. Both areas are huge international tourist traps. Etc. I listened to the Bucs beat Green Bay earlier this year. They played a perfect game. Why can’t they do it against NOLA? Plus, Aints cheat and the Pack doesn’t. Bucs play perfect again and Aints will go home with their tails between their legs. Works for me. Go Mighty Bucs Sunday!
January 11th, 2021 at 3:48 pm
Lmao… the Bucs offense is not about ToP. They’re offensive philosophy is “Imma gonna score right now”
That being said, I agree that owning the ToP would help our defense out tremendously.
January 11th, 2021 at 3:54 pm
i have 100% hope and 0 expectations. GO BUCS!!!
January 11th, 2021 at 4:06 pm
Force Brees to throw deep! Force Brees to throw deep! Force Brees to throw deep!!!! If he beats us that way, so be it!! But please no more of the soft as a baby’s a@@ zone!!
January 11th, 2021 at 5:29 pm
It will be a MAJOR upset to win this game – our secondary is very bad and since VV went down, the pass rush consistency has not been the same
All that being said, I hope and pray we just put up one more point than they do – none of us KNOW what is going to happen, that is the beauty of sports
January 11th, 2021 at 6:18 pm
Jesus Lord, I wish I could read one set of comments without hearing “Via” You’re developing a handicap before they flip the damn coin. Here’s the 2 main things to hope for is our O-Line (3-4 seconds would be great for Brady). The other one we might need some help from above. Our God awful secondary. I watched the Wash game again today. In most cases there was several Bucs around the receivers when they caught the ball. BUT they were no closer than 5 yds. In other words you could see the receiver and about 3-4 Bucs visible on the screen. Reminded me of the old fashion pinball machine
January 11th, 2021 at 6:31 pm
Humm… I listened to same local Redskins talk in DC and they said one of the weaknesses of the defense had been giving up big plays. Also they said the Redskins run defense was pretty bad and the Bucs would be wise to run it a lot. They had been getting a lot of pressure and playing a lot of struggling offenses, but seemed to think they could hold Brady to 24 or less – and the game would be won or lost by the offense. They also thought the Bucs had a good defense, which made me laugh. Overall, listening to a few different podcasts, they seemed to be realistic, in that they hoped their defense could get to Brady and maybe pull out a low scoring close win, but they also all thought in reality the Redskins wouldn’t be able to get it done. That’s too bad since it’s much more fun to listen to idiots who think their 7-9 team is the best team in the NFL at that moment and they’re going to the SB, that way when they get bounced in the first round it really hurts and they cry.
For example, if the Bucs can get it done against the Saints, the Saints podcasts are going to be at emo-level 11, and it’s going to be fun to listen to. Let’s hope that happens.
January 11th, 2021 at 7:55 pm
I’m not worried about our Offense. I’m worried about our Defense which su¢ks
January 11th, 2021 at 9:53 pm
I am worried about our lousy secondary first. Then our stupid defensive coach who has not idea that Hill will be handling the ball no matter what position they put him at when he is on the field. But every fan watching the game does!!!
January 11th, 2021 at 9:53 pm
^no