Game 10

Saints (7-2) at Bucs (3-6)

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13, NFL Sunday Ticket Channel 712.

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network WXTB-FM 97.9 in the Tampa-St. Petersburg region; 97.9 FM ESPN Radio in Tallahassee (Transmisiones de radio en español en WTMP-FM 96.1 y WMGG-AM 1470 en Tampa); SiriusXM Channel 111.

Weather: Per the good people at WTVT-TV Channel 13, today’s game will be chilly for tailgaters with temps in the mid- to high-50s, but that will change quickly. Kickoff should see a temperature of 64 and 67 degrees by the third quarter. By the end of the game, expect it to be 65, all under partly cloudy skies.

Odds: Per the Mirage in Las Vegas, Saints -5.5; O/U 50.

Outlook: Joe thinks it is safe to say that Saints quarterback Drew Brees eats the Bucs alive. In his last five games against the Bucs, Brees has thrown eight touchdowns and one pick. But to make matters worse, last week the Dixie Chicks held Brees without a passing touchdown. That has only happened six times in his career as an NFL starting quarterback, and each time, the very next week Brees has torched opponents — for a combined six wins, 77 percent completion percentage, 15 touchdowns and two picks. With only one Bucs projected starter in the defensive backfield having more than two years experience (Andrew Adams), one doesn’t need a telescope to see the Bucs have an uphill climb today. Tampa Bay has one of the best passing offenses in the game. However, you wonder if the Bucs should make all the numbers crunchers want to jump off a bridge by playing ground and pound football — for two reasons: keep the ball out of Brees’ hands and keep the horrific Bucs secondary off the field. Having a PO’ed Brees face this Bucs secondary is literally the football equivalent of throwing lit matches at a bucket of gasoline. But Joe does not believe the Bucs are not built to ground and pound. Joe is confident the Bucs have the horses to get into a shooting match with Brees. Problem is, as it has been all season, the Bucs have to play mistake-free football to pull that off. The Bucs would have to be perfect. The Saints can afford to make mistakes. Not the Bucs.

Trinkets: Saints QB Drew Brees passed for 287 yards last week. Has 1,447 passing yards (289.4 per game) and 9 touchdowns (8 passing, 1 rush) against one interception in his past 5 games against Tampa Bay. … RB Alvin Kamara had 8 catches and 74 yards from scrimmage (50 receiving, 24 rushing) in Week 10. Since 2017, Kamara is 1 of 2 running backs (Christian McCaffrey) with 200 or more receptions (203). Had 104 scrimmage yards (62 rushing, 42 receiving) in Week 5 meeting with the Bucs. Has 612 scrimmage yards (122.4 per game) and 6 touchdowns (4 rush, 2 receiving) in 5 career games against Tampa Bay. …WR Michael Thomas had 13 catches for 152 yards last week. Has most catches (407) by a player in his first 4 seasons in NFL history and is the fastest player in NFL history to reach 400 career receptions (56 games). Became fourth player (Mike Evans, A.J. Green and Hall of Famer Randy Moss) with 1,000 or more receiving yards in each of first 4 seasons. Had 11 catches for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 5 meeting. Looks to record his fourth in a row against Tampa Bay with 10 or more receptions and 90 or more receiving yards. … TE Jared Cook had season highs in catches (6) and receiving yards (74) last week. Had also had a touchdown catch in earlier meeting with Bucs. … DE Cam Jordan had a sack in the last meeting. Jordan looking for his third game in a row against Tampa Bay with sack and third straight road game with 2 or more sacks. Jordan is 1 of 2 players (Cam Jordan) with 8 or more sacks in each
of the past 3 seasons. … LB Demario Davis had a sack last week and looks for his sixth in a row against Tampa Bay with 7 or more tackles. … CB Marcus Williams had a career-high 4 passes defended and an interception last week. … They had the coach in place to provide the defense but couldn’t wait to fire L. Smith. QB Jameis Winston had 358 passing yards and a touchdown against 2 interceptions last week. Jameis has 300 or more pass yards in 4 straight games, longest streak in franchise history and longest active streak in NFL. Is 1 of 3 quarterbacks (Patrick Mahomes and Matty Ice) with 6 games of 300 or more pass yards in 2019. Jameis had 2 touchdowns against 0 interceptions in the last game at New Orleans. … RB Ronald Jones had 106 scrimmage yards (career-high 77 receiving, 29 rushing), career-high 8 catches and fifth career rushing touchdown last week. Jones looks for his third in a row at home and third in row overall with a rushing touchdown. … RB Peyton Barber had a rushing touchdown last week. Had a rush touchdown in the last meeting at New Orleans. … WR Mike Evans has 15 catches for 202 yards (101 per game) and 2 receiving touchdowns in his past 2 at home against NFC South foes. Evans is looking for his fourth in row at home against NFC South teams with 85 or more receiving yards. Since 2016, is 1 of 2 WRs (Deandre Hopkins) with 4,500 or more receiving yards 4,770) and 30 or more receiving touchdowns (32). … WR Chris Godwin had 125 receiving yards and 2 touchdown catches in the last meeting. Has 4 receiving touchdowns in his past 4 against New Orleans. Godwin has 31 receptions for 511 receiving yards (127.8 per game) and 5 touchdowns in his past 4 against NFC South foes and looks for his fifth in a row against division rivals with 100 or more receiving yards. … LB Shaq Barrett had a sack last week. Has 11.5 sacks in 2019, tied-most in NFL (Chandler Jones). … LB Lavonte David had 8 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery last week. David is 1 of 2 active players (J.J. Watt) with 15 or more forced fumbles (19) and 10 or more fumble recoveries (14) since 2012. … Rookie LB Devin White looks for his fifth in a row with 6 or more tackles.