Game 9

Saints (5-2) at Bucs (6-2)

Kickoff: 8:20 p.m.

TV: NBC (Locally WFLA-TV Channel 8).

Streaming: Fans may stream the broadcast from Buccaneers.com or on a mobile device using one of the following: Buccaneers official app, NFL app, NBC Sports app or Yahoo! Sports app. Geographic restrictions apply.

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 83 (Bucs broadcast) or Channel 88 (Westwood One national broadcast).

Weather: The weather for tonight’s game is going to be very tricky. As you may know, there is a tropical disturbance/depression/tropical storm/hurricane/something brewing down south that should be entering the southern Gulf today. Weather projections are all over the map, and that’s not a cliche. Best Joe can tell from AccuWeather.com is this system will move towards west-central Florida on Monday with tropical force winds reaching the Tampa Bay area Monday morning. So will the outer remnants of the storm affect the game? Hard to tell. As Joe is writing this, the game should be played under excellent conditions with temperature at kickoff expected to be 74 under cloudy skies with winds at 16 mph. The temperature will rise through the game to 76 at game’s end with winds increasing to 21 mph. So this may not be a good time to bank on a kicker no matter how well he is kicking. Also, bombs to Antonio Brown might not be such a good idea. Chances of rain will be 34 percent at kickoff and rise to 46 percent at game’s end. As local legend, meteorologist Denis Phillips of WFTS-TV Channel 28 (a guy who plays in Todd Wright’s fantasy football league) wrote on his Facebook page where he documents weather info, “Don’t freak out unless I start freaking out. I’m not. We’re fine.”

Odds: Per BetMGM, as of noon Monday, Bucs -4.5; 50.5-under.

Outlook: This is it in Joe’s eyes. Tonight is the night. If the Bucs want to be serious contenders for a run to the Super Bowl and not have to begin a potential playoff run playing in Seattle or Green Bay or Chicago, the Bucs must win tonight. If the Bucs lose, they are technically two games behind with seven to play. The Saints will hold the tiebreaker over the Bucs so to win the division, the Bucs must finish at least a game better than the Saints. Making up two games with seven to play on a good team like the slimy Saints would be damn tough to do. It looks like New Orleans will be full-strength with Michael Thomas and Drew Brees (right shoulder issue) expected to be playing tonight, per Dianna Russini of BSPN. Emmanuel Sanders is also expected to be active as he is recovering from The Sickness. The Bucs better clean things up defensively from that letdown they displayed in New Jersey on Monday. The secondary was awfully leaky and in the first half and not nearly enough pressure was put on Danny Dimes. Do that to Brees and he will slice you up. Joe keeps hearing about how Brees cannot throw downfield. If that is true, how come he keeps leading his offense to wins? We’re not talking Nick Foles here. No, the Bucs better bring their “A” game tonight. The same one they broke out in the second quarter against the Packers. The Bucs’ dreams of playing in the Den of Depression Super Bowl night may hinge on how this game turns out.

Trinkets: …Saints QB Drew Brees passed for 280 yards and 2 touchdowns against 0 interceptions. He had 2 touchdowns without a pick in Week 1 meeting. Brees had 3 touchdowns against no interceptions in his last road game against the Bucs. Brees has 2-or more touchdowns passes in 4 of his past 5 road games. Brees ranks first in NFL history with 79,314 passing yards and second with 560 touchdowns passes. … RB Alvin Kamara had 163 scrimmage yards (96 receiving, 67 rushing) and 9 receptions last week. He joined Matt Forte and Hall of Fame RB LaDainian Tomlinson as the only backs with 50-or more catches in each of first 4 seasons. He had 2 touchdowns(1 rushing, 1 receiving) in Week 1 meeting with the Bucs. He has 801 scrimmage yards (114.4 per game) and 8 touchdowns (5 rushing, 3 receiving) in 7 career games against Tampa Bay. Leads NFL with 987 scrimmage yards. … WR Michael Thomas has 69 receptions for 848 yards (106 per game) and 4 touchdowns in 8 career games against the Bucs. Looks for his fourth in row at Tampa Bay with 90-or more receiving yards. … WR Emmanuel Sanders had a receiving touchdown in Week 1 meeting and looks for his third in row against Tampa Bay with a touchdown catch. … TE Jared Cook had a receiving touchdown last week and looks for his fourth in row with a receiving touchdown. He had 80 receiving yards in Week 1 meeting. Cook has a touchdown catch in 2 of his past 3 against the Bucs. … DE Cameron Jordan had a sack in Week 8. He has 4.5 sacks in his past 4 games against Tampa Bay. … DE Trey Hendrickson had a sack last week. He had a sack in last meeting against the Bucs. Looks for his fourth road game in a row with a sack. … LB DeMario Davis had a sack in the season opener with the Bucs. … CB Marshon Lattimore had 8 tackles and his 9th-career interception in Week 8. … CB Janoris Jenkins had a 36-yard pick-six in the season-opener with the Bucs. … S Malcolm Jenkins had 8 tackles, 2 passes defensed, and a sack last week. … QB Tom Brady passed for 279 yards and 2 touchdowns without a pick last week. He had 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) against 2 interceptions in the season opener against the slimy Saints. Brady has 14 touchdowns (13 passing, 1 rushing) with just five picks in 6 career starts against New Orleans. Brady looks for his fourth in a row with 2-or more touchdowns against 0 interceptions. Brady ranks first in NFL history with 561 touchdowns passes and second with 76,760 pass yards. … RB Ronald Jones had 3 rushing touchdowns in 3 home games this season. RoJo looks for his third in a row at home with 120-or more scrimmage yards. He had 82 scrimmage yards (66 rush, 16 receiving) in Week 1 meeting. … RB Leonard Fournette looks for his third in a row with 70-or more scrimmage yards. … WR Mike Evans had 5 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown catch last week. Evans had a touchdown catch in Week 1 meeting. Evans also has a receiving touchdown in 3 of his past 4 home games. Evans is tied for NFL-lead with 7 touchdowns catches this season. … WR Chris Godwin had 6 catches for 79 yards in Week 1 meeting. Godwin has 5 receiving touchdowns in his past 6 games against the slimy Saints. … WR Antonio Brown had 14 receptions for 185 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns in his last game against the Saints in December 2018 while playing with the Steelers. Brown looks for his third in a row against New Orleans with 8-or more catches, 90-or more receiving yards and 2-or more receiving touchdowns. … TE Rob Gronkowski had a touchdown catch last week and aims for his fourth game in a row with a touchdowns catch. … LB Lavonte David has 5-or more tackles in all 17 career games against New Orleans. … LB Devin White had a sack last week. White looks for his third game in a row against the slimy Saints with 10-or more tackles and fourth in a row overall with a sack. … LB Jason Pierre-Paul has 7.5 sacks in his past 5 games at home. … LB Shaq Barrett had 2 passes defensed last week. … CB Carlton Davis leads the NFL with 13 passes defensed and is tied for the NFL-lead with 4 picks this season.

The Last Word: As Bucs coach, Bucco Bruce Arians is 0-3 against the slimy Saints.

It’s an all-new TAMPA TWO, featuring Sage JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman and Derrick Brooks, who needs no introduction.

Brooks and The Sage dive into all things Bucs-Saints. The fun is presented by The Identity Tampa Bay and Joe.

What have Tom Brady and the Bucs’ offense learned since their Week 1 loss to the Saints? A lot actually… pic.twitter.com/ZU4M2KsWHI

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) November 8, 2020