Gameday Preview: New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
What defines a rivalry? Is it a comparable level of competitiveness between two teams over an extended period of time? Is it a history of physical and/or verbal disputes between players on each side? An ongoing hatred between fanbases?
According to Oxford's online dictionary, a rivalry is defined as "competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field."
Regardless of what your definition of a rivalry entails, I think it's pretty clear that whatever it is that exists between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers should qualify.
The Saints have dominated the regular season matchup with the Bucs, while Tampa Bay has conquered New Orleans in the games that mattered most. The Saints have won more games over the past 25 years, but the Bucs have won more Super Bowls.
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Tom Brady is just 1-4 against the Saints as a member of the Buccaneers in the regular season. In those games, Brady has a passer rating of just 72.8, with 7 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Brady's performance vs. New Orleans is a true anomaly. And his team's regular season performance vs. the Saints is a bizarre result considering his extensive career accomplishments, and his consistent domination over almost every franchise in the league across more than two decades.
I would expect Tom Brady to be highly motivated to conquer the Saints when they travel to Raymond James Stadium for Monday Night Football this week. Not just to set the record straight on his own behalf, but because his team desperately needs to secure a division victory in order to keep pace atop the NFC South.
In fact, everyone member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization should be motivated. Coming off yet another disappointing loss — this time to the Cleveland Browns — the 2022 Bucs just can't get out of their own way.
And patience from the fans in Tampa is understandably wearing thin.
Although Todd Bowles' defense has played well this season, his in-game coaching decisions have been atrocious. With no examples more damning than his mismanaged 4th quarter in Cleveland last week, questions about whether or not he is cut out to be a head coach in the NFL have arisen. Which is all the more tragic considering he is just 11 games into his tenure as the head coach of the Buccaneers.
Meanwhile, Byron Leftwich's offense has been a complete disaster. His lack of consistency in play-calling, and his inability to customize his scheme to suit the strengths of his players has been the defining feature of his offense this season.
Yikes.
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With Tristan Wirfs now joining Ryan Jensen as a spectator for the foreseeable future, things are about to become significantly more challenging for this offense. For at least the next 4 games, the Bucs will be without all three of their best offensive linemen from last season; Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen, and Tristian Wirfs.
Which provides an enticing opportunity for a New Orleans Saints defense that, despite their team's disappointing record this season, is still very talented. I would expect Saints' head coach, and defensive specialist, Dennis Allen, to dial up a lot of pressure in order to test the Bucs' under-manned offensive line in this contest.
Offensively, the Saints have struggled. This is to be expected when you opt to enlist Andy Dalton as your starting quarterback.
Did I mention Dennis Allen was a defensive specialist?
Despite his extensive history of risky and erratic play on the field, there's no denying that Jameis Winston would provide the Saints with at least a chance of putting up points on offense. But I really feel like the Saints' ceiling is only so high as long as Andy Dalton is under center.
The Saints still have Alvin Kamara though, who has had his way with Tampa Bay's defense on many occasions in the past. They've also got arguably the best rookie wide receiver in the league at their disposal, Chris Olave, who is capable of taking the top off the defense at any moment.
That said, the main storyline of this second matchup of 2022 between the Saints and the Buccaneers will revolve around two very respectable defensive units clashing, and ultimately aiming to overcome the lack of production provided by their under-performing offensive counterparts, in order to secure an important victory within the division.
That is unless something changes from what we've seen from both teams so far this year.
It might not be pretty, but someone is going to win this football game. And whoever does is going to give themselves a legitimate chance at winning the NFC South division.
For more on this, and continuing coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, follow Collin Haalboom on Twitter, and check out his video content on the Bucs Banter YouTube channel!
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