Too Much “Newness” For Saints To Compete
October 28th, 2021
Joe watches about six NFL games a week during the season but confesses to seeing every snap of America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, in a Saints uniform.
And Joe is pleased to learn that a former Bucs QB and a noted insider are reaching the same conclusion about the Saints.
The Bucs head to New Orleans on Sunday and Joe cannot imagine the Saints’ offense hanging with Tom Brady and the mighty Tampa Bay scoring machine.
Slimy Saints head coach and offensive guru Sean Payton won’t let Jameis play gunslinger. The Saints often checkdown on third down and Payton even was seen angry at Jameis after a touchdown pass that appeared to be an ill-advised throw.
Jameis almost looks annoyed by his new game-management orders, a sentiment echoed by ProFootballTalk.com guru Mike Florio this week. He and his Pro Football Talk Live on NBC co-host, former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms, don’t believe the Saints have enough to muster more than 17 points against the Bucs because of a low-level passing game.
Simms says the Saints can maul in the trenches effectively and on par with the Bucs. But Simms says there’s just not enough punch and comfort in the passing game to compete with Tampa Bay.
Too much “newness” between Jameis and his pass catchers is obvious, per Simms, and he claims fellow NBC analyst Drew Brees has been talking about that reality.
Bucs fans have heard too much over the past year about quarterback-receiver chemistry and its important. Tom Brady needed about two-thirds of a season to figure that out in Tampa with elite weapons.
Jameis, however, is dealing with second-rate passing targets and a playcaller who doesn’t trust him.
Smells like the Bucs are about to put a chokehold on the NFC South.
October 28th, 2021 at 7:17 pm
I hope this is right…..the prescription against the Bucs have been short quick passes……if we can take Kamara away, I don’t believe they can move the ball on a consistent basis…..
Turnovers, Penalties & Special Teams should determine the game…..
October 28th, 2021 at 7:26 pm
Guess: Brady goes 32 of 41 and a total of 35 passes are completed to players in Buc’s uniforms. Gabbert doesn’t play.
October 28th, 2021 at 7:32 pm
I have some friends in Nawlins who complain along those game manager lines. They think the few long balls Jameis has tossed have been perfect. I think they were just plain lucky; 50/50 balls all the way.
I am not sure if the receivers are too new to him, or vice versa, or if they just aren’t working on getting open. I can see why a receiver wouldn’t try real hard, Jameis’ tosses are all over the place and make a receiver look bad.
This week he will make the whole team look bad, it is going to be embarrassing for the Saints.
October 28th, 2021 at 7:45 pm
Cocky on the road against a rival with a bitter former ex-Buc QB schooled by the best Head Coach in a decade or more?
I hope I am badly wrong, but I expect a seriously close game.
These ain’t the Bears of Iggles.
October 28th, 2021 at 7:47 pm
Kamara left, Kamara right, Kamara screen
October 28th, 2021 at 7:51 pm
Curb stomp the imitators.
October 28th, 2021 at 7:58 pm
Andrus Peat officially done and will have surgery for torn peck
That push up middle should be a plus for bucs
But i agree , i think this is a good close game
Peyton was 7-1 with taysome hill and teddy bridgewater over the last few years
He is best in the game when it comes to offense.
Lavonte return would be great to pair with white to take out kamara
And saints defense is nasty
What a game on halloween in the big easy
Man i hate the saints and peyton is a scumbag
I hope we get to be the bullies this game
October 28th, 2021 at 8:00 pm
Its really wierd to say the Saints are a team that cant play from behind but thats what we are seeing.
Get up 2 scores and they cant come back…….The onlyiest thing that might possibly keep them in a game like that is some trick plays. Payton knows what happens if he lets Jamies cut it loose.
October 28th, 2021 at 8:19 pm
my perception of this years Saints is in agreement with this article…
JW has thrown a few nice passes for TD but just as many or more were on the receivers making the plays……
Seeing Sean so unhanged in Winstons face was Gold TV moment!
Watch #10 not take noise from Wintston on Monday night TV was another gem…
I feel like the trade for Ingram was to double down on run game since passing is shackled… Should be one for the record books for TRUE Bucs fans!
October 28th, 2021 at 8:40 pm
You could say it’s “newness” to the offense, to the receivers. But it could also be a QB that just doesn’t make the best decisions, and it merely appears to be “newness”. Likely a bit of both.
October 28th, 2021 at 8:41 pm
As a Bucs fan I am certain we should be rooting for Green Bay right now since Arizona is the only undereated team…….but is it just me? Because I cannot root for this Gredn Bay team……..And yes, it has everything to do with their QB. Just a very unlikable player.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:01 pm
Keep in mind the Saint should absolutely be 5-1 right now, that late 4th quarter defensive collapse against the Giants are pretty unbelievable compared to how their defense has played the rest of the season.
So even with Winston being told to do his best Mike Glennon impression, this is a damn good team. Also Payton has to know that they have no chance unless they open things up, so I just can’t foresee the Saints playing such a slog of a game on Sunday. But the reason that Payton is playing so tight might have a lot more to do with his garbage WRs than the QB. If Payton hates Winston, why is he playing him?
In any case you just have to figure Payton is going to have something special dialed up, so I’d hold off on celebrating the W before the game even starts. The Bucs should win, but I don’t believe it will be easy. If it is, then fantastic, I ALWAYS enjoy a nice beatdown, but I’m just not expecting it.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:04 pm
I love seeing the Bucs deliver a beatdown, but especially against the Saints. Or the Panthers….or the Eagles lol
October 28th, 2021 at 9:04 pm
JimmyJack – What’s wrong Jimmy, you triggered by Rodgers calling out woke cupcakes?
Actually the reason I’d call out Rodgers is because he complained the grass was too hard at RayJay after the game in 2011, I believe, when he was sacked 6-times. He did that, I can’t believe it’s not more well known.
Also no reason not to root for the Cardinals. The Packers might not lose any games in their garbage division, so I’d rather have them down a win. Meanwhile the Cards still have to face the Rams again, and they always lose at least one game to the 49ers, so they have a lot more of a chance of losing a handful of games.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:21 pm
I wouldn’t sleep on the saints. They have the coaching advantage. For some reason their defense always gives us fits.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:39 pm
Cobraboy & Rod … I agree with both of you; the Saints need to be taken very seriously, based on their coaching & defense especially. Folks forget easily me thinks that the Saints walloped the same team we’re fielding Sunday TWICE last year by a combined score of 72-26 before we whopped them in the playoffs (largely thanks to FOUR turnovers).
Yes they have a different QB & their receivers may not be as elite as ours. But they just added Mark Ingram, and that gives them another fairly substantial weapon. And they’ve only turned the ball over 6 times total in 6 games, with Jameis only throwing 4 INTs thus far. Their defense (ranked #3 allowing 17 PPG average) has only given up 6 passing TDs & 4 rushing TDs, and has intercepted 9 passes. Personally I see a game reminiscent of the Patriots’ game that we just squeaked through.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:40 pm
Rod no. I care about what players politcs are. I just block it out and flick the channel. I dont turn on Monday Night football to learn about politics.
I just dont like him as a player.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:41 pm
If you think Winston has just throwing up 50/50 balls for tds you haven’t watched…majority of his tds have been dimes hitting wrs in stride. He had a few deep ones callback or dropped this year. Bucs fans and their arrogance keep thinking he is the same player, they are going to be surprised Sunday. Craig the wrs and tes are mostly undrafted free agents. Tre was the only one drafted.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:45 pm
Watching the Thursday night game. The packers are getting all these breaks. They win and it’s basically a must win game on sunday.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:45 pm
If Sean didn’t trust Winston he wouldn’t give him full field reads. As Sean said himself its the wr core, who hasn’t come along as fast as he liked. They good and bad games with drops. Most of this guys didn’t play with Drew except on limited on basis. This has been their first shot at a lot of playing time.
October 28th, 2021 at 10:46 pm
Don’t sleep on The Saints. This will be the game that they take the chains off Jameis. I hope they regret it but I see them letting him attack our DBs. Ingram being back actually allows them to line Kamara up as a WR and still have a good RB in the backfield for the check down if Kamara doesn’t get open. Plus we all know they run 1 or 2 trick plays on us a year that we’re NEVER prepared for and it always is a TD. Keep Kamara in check and pressure Winston are the keys to this game.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:06 pm
Jaywill i believe the stat was the saints wrs on opening day had a total of 3 starts combined but of course this fan base will blame winston for the lack of airing the ball out. One poster said that jameis is only throwing 50/50 balls for tds which is false. Jameis has embraced taking what the defense gives and has said as much this season. Why? Because he trust his defense to not give up 40 pts. I think he is at 14 tds and 3 ints. Thats says he embrace taking what the defense gives him.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:11 pm
When Brees sat with the Manning’s, Peyton asked him if this looks like the same Saints offense.
Brees looked like he was squirming in his chair because it was obvious he did not think so but he was trying not to say something negative about Jameis
Their Defense is no joke though
October 28th, 2021 at 11:20 pm
JimmyJack – I was just ribbing you sunshine. Also his politics are, I believe, to the left, he just hates woke crybabies. Regardless of politics we should all agree on that.
But my reason for hating him is the most real. Literally who complains about the grass at RayJay, a stadium always at or near the top of players vote on playing surface. He got sacked a bunch of times and was upset and blamed being sore on the grass instead of his offensive line.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:32 pm
Defense Rules – The Saints receivers are terrible, the only legit one they have is Karama. Calloway is their best WR, and he’s not even as good as Tyler Johnson, and from there the WR’s for the Saints get a lot worse. So they have a severe lack of talent at WR, which is why I believe they’re playing it so close to the vest – not that Payton has ever really been a deep ball offense.
But with those backup corners out there, even the Saints guys might be able to get open if they have time, and the Saints still have a very good to great offensive line. Also Winston is hard to bring down, so if we get pressure, our guys have to bring him down and not try to one arm tackle him. Obviously the best thing you can do with Winston is go for the strip sack, which Shaq is great at. I’d say unless you can really wrap Winston up, just slap at the ball. Also Winston was always best when throwing on the move, that’s what all the stats show. So while Winston isn’t going to run a ton, if you keep him in the pocket, that’s your best play against him.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:37 pm
Arizona goes down finally.
Essentially a 5-way tie for the top seed right now. Got to win Sunday or we fall a game behind the pack.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:39 pm
HAHA… the end the Cardinals game. Does AJ Green get cut? I’d cut him.
I have no idea who would be the 1st seed right now…
Bucs lost to Rams
Rams lost to Cardinals
Cardinals lost to Packers
Packers lost to Saints
So, how does that work out?
Also the Packers are winning some BS games. They should not have won that Cinny game, they shouldn’t have won the 49ers game and they shouldn’t have won this game.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:40 pm
Oh crap I forgot the Cowboys…
So Cowboys lost to Bucs…
That is a cluster when it comes to current seeding, not that it matters.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:44 pm
@Rod Munch it means the bucs have to win on sunday! They have to keep pace. These teams are not losing any games.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:45 pm
@Rod Munch I can’t stand the packers they have made a deal with the devil it seems this year. Ridiculous. The bucs need to keep winning.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:47 pm
Here’s the official NFL Playoff standings as of right this minute.
#1 Packers
#2 Cards
#3 Bucs
#4 Cowboys
#5 Rams
#6 Saints
#7 Vikings
So the Bucs dropped from #2 to #3 with the Packers win.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:48 pm
As of right now , playoff seeding:
Packers
Cardinals
Bucs
Cowboys
Rams
October 28th, 2021 at 11:48 pm
Francisco – Agree with you, the Bucs have to win this Saints game, if they don’t, they’d drop from #2 as of this afternoon, to #6.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:51 pm
@Rod Munch any reasons why the packers and the cardinals would have the tiebreaker over the bucs? What does it come down to? Strength of schedule what?
October 28th, 2021 at 11:55 pm
FJW!!!
October 28th, 2021 at 11:58 pm
@Francisco – They don’t give scenario breakdowns this early in the season, but I’d think the tiebreaker is all the way down to strength of victories (SOV), in which the Cards would beat out the Bucs. That comes into play after head-to-head matchups, then division loses (why the Rams are last of the 5), then division loses (why the Cowboys are behind the Bucs), then eventually SOV.
October 29th, 2021 at 12:00 am
*The second division loses, I meant conference loses, but not sure why I said Cowboys there since it’s covered under head to head. Anyways, I think i’m correct on the SOV being the tiebreaker between the Bucs and Cards, that’s the only one not covered by the head to head or division tie-breakers.
October 29th, 2021 at 12:01 am
Good lord you folks breaking down strength of victories and such……there’s soooooo much more football left to be played…it’ll all shake out in the end.
Go Bucs!!!
October 29th, 2021 at 12:07 am
It’s kind of pointless to look at it like that right now because it’s going to change so much in the coming weeks. Teams are going on bye weeks which can make the math messy. And several of these teams play each other too in the 2nd half of the season.
Rams have to play the Cards again, and the Packers yet. The Packers have to play the Cowboys. Packers also have to play the Ravens and Chiefs by the way. AFC teams but those won’t be easy wins. There are a thousand scenarios there if you dig into common games and SOV tie-breakers.
All you can do is keep winning. If the Bucs beat the Saints, and get our secondary healthy, its conceivable we could run the table. That’s why some have said the Bucs may have the easiest path to the HFA. A loss to NOLA doesn’t put us out of it by any means. But it makes it harder.
October 29th, 2021 at 3:34 am
I’d feel a whole lot better if Gronk was 100% and AB was on the field. Coaching is what kept the Patriots game close those who think this is going to be a nail biter maybe right.
October 29th, 2021 at 4:20 am
Listnfrmafar … ‘those who think this is going to be a nail biter maybe right.’
I assume EVERY GAME we play will be a nail biter. Any NFL team can beat any other NFL team on any given Sunday as the old saying goes. Take ANY game for granted and your odds of losing just went way up.
October 29th, 2021 at 4:33 am
Rod … One thing about Sean Payton’s teams: they almost never beat themselves. Like him or not (probably not), he knows how to get the Saints to maximize their strengths, and how to exploit his opponents’ weaknesses.
October 29th, 2021 at 5:00 am
They can still win , the Saints are a very capable team. Anything can happen.
October 29th, 2021 at 9:46 am
Yes SB…anything can happen. But it shouldn’t happen if we play close to the way we have been or better.
October 29th, 2021 at 12:36 pm
Aside from the trick plays. The Saints passing offense is Winston looking downfield getting through his first read and if it’s not there checking it down to Kamara. I fully expect Jamis to try 3 or 4 deep throws. More if they are playing from behind by two scores. He will more than likely hit on at least one. As he is maybe 50/50. Tampa’s secondary hasn’t exactly been world beaters. And the pass rush has taken a dip compared to last year. What worries me is that many of the teams Tampa has faced this year all but abandoned the run. Honestly who has tried to run on this team. The Saints are a team that could have some success. That Chicago game showed teams could break a run lose on Tampa. Inhate to say it but this game could be decided by who’s offense makes the most mistakes.
October 29th, 2021 at 9:34 pm
It would not surprise me if Payton did not open up the passing game and give Winston the opportunity to go long if not little longer than the short passes he has held Winston to. The Bucs are going have to watch Payton and Winston to do anything and everything to keep the Bucs off balance.
October 29th, 2021 at 9:39 pm
Wouldn’t call this one a curb stomping yet. I also think this will be a close one. Bucs have bin balling against not very good teams witch should be the case for champions but against good teams it’s bin close or we have lost. Cowboys gave us a run for our money the rams beat us and the patriots were close. Let’s go Bucs. Should be a good game
October 30th, 2021 at 2:04 am
Jameis is about to school the Bucs! Hahaha