Overreactions to New Orleans Saints bittersweet win against Buccaneers

The underdog New Orleans Saints came out on top of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8 of the NFL regular season. The Saints played one of their better games all season behind Trevor Siemian. Time of possession favored the Saints, as well as first downs and rushing yards. The Saints also only had two enforced penalties for the entire game. This is a welcome sight for the Saints who had been one of the most penalized teams in the leagues at the beginning of the year. The Saints also had over 350 yards of total offense for just the third time on the season. The win will feel good for a short while, but the concern will be with Jameis Winston who is thought to have suffered a significant injury in the game. This will be a bittersweet win for this Saints team if this injury does lead to Jameis Winston missing significant time.

This divisional matchup could become the most heated in the NFC South

Ask most Saints fans who they disliked in the NFC South the most and the most common answer would have been the Atlanta Falcons. Well, that was up until this week. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers seemed to come in this game with a point to prove, whether legal or not. Early in the second quarter, the Buccaneers Devin White delivered an illegal horse-collar tackle on Winston. This tackle knocked Winston out with a knee injury, one that is feared to be significant. The Saints could be without their starting quarterback for some amount of time.

The Buccaneers were flagged 11 total times in this game, accounting for nearly 100 yards for the Saints. This included multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Four of the Buccaneers 11 penalties were the 15-yard variety. Other plays were also unnecessary. At one point, Antoine Winfield Jr. even went to a camera and “ate a W” to insult Jameis Winston. This was after Winston’s injury, which again, was a dirty hit. A very classless move by Winfield. It seemed as if the Buccaneers came into this game looking to hurt the Saints players. It will be interesting to see if the NFL levies any fines against the Buccaneers later this week. One thing is for sure, the next meeting between these two teams will likely be personal on both sides.

Jameis Winston was set to have a career day

Jameis Winston and the Saints offense looked to be ready for this game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Winston looked crisp early in this game. He was running well to keep the defense on their heels. Winston was also passing well, hitting Tre’Quan Smith with an early touchdown. In the first quarter, Winston accounted for 96 total yards of offense. Against his former team, everyone was ready to see how what Winston could do. It is a shame that his day was ended on a dirty, illegal hit by the Buccaneers defense. At least the game ended in a win for the Saints. Winston is such a beloved player for this organization. It is likely that this team played hard on behalf of Jameis Winston after he went down.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Saints defense just finds a way

To say that the Saints were not given any chance to win this game would be an understatement. Even after the Saints win last week against the Seahawks, national talking heads like Skip Bayless were already dismissing this Saints defense. Bayless is quoted as saying, “We’ll see how much [Demario Davis] is talking after Brady visits Sunday.” Of course, the Saints defense would have the last laugh. This defense intercepted Brady twice in the game, including one to end the game. Bayless was not the only person to dismiss the Saints either. This is just one example, but the Saints defense proved these many doubters wrong.

The Saints defense showed up when they had to this game. The defense caused three total turnovers from the Buccaneers, including two interceptions by Tom Brady. All three of these turnovers ended with points for the Saints. Cameron Jordan stripped Tom Brady late in the first half, which led to a field goal by new kicker Brian Johnson. Two plays later, the defense and C.J. Gardner Johnson intercepted Brady for the first time. This play led to a touchdown for Alex Armah from Trevor Siemian. The last interception sealed the game for the Saints. P.J. Williams intercepted Brady and then returned it for a touchdown for the Saints. These turnovers won the game for the Saints. This defense finds ways to keep the team in games. This will be welcome with the Saints potentially losing Jameis Winston for an extended period of time.

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