By Timothy An

Sunday, Nov. 8 at 8:20 P.M. EST NBC

Spread: Bucs, -4.5

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints enter Week 9 with a record of 5-2 coming off four straight victories. They have averaged a margin of victory of 3.75 points in their last four games and had their two losses come at the hands of two playoff contenders in the Las Vegas Raiders and the Green Bay Packers. Saints star wide receiver Michael Thomas is still questionable to play on Sunday night and his presence would be a key addition to this offense. The Saints beat the Buccaneers to start the season in Week 1 and we will see if they can get another key victory to solidify their lead in the NFC South.

Saints Offense

The Saints offense has been pretty consistent throughout the year, ranking 7th in the league in points per game with 29.4. They run a very balanced offense, ranking in the top 10 in both rushing yards and passing yards per game. Though Drew Brees isn’t putting up the MVP-caliber numbers that we are used to seeing in the past, he is still playing efficiently, throwing for 1,898 yards, 13 touchdowns, and just three interceptions in 7 games. The real star of this offense has been running back Alvin Kamara. Though Kamara’s rushing stats for the season aren’t anything extraordinary, rushing for 431 yards and 4 touchdowns, his yards per carry at 5.0 ranks as one of the best in the league. Where Kamara has been especially impressive is in the receiving game. He ranks 2nd in the entire NFL with 55 receptions to go along with his 556 receiving yards and three touchdowns, solidifying himself as one of the best dual-threat running backs in the entire NFL. The X-Factor in this offense will be if Michael Thomas can finally return to the field. This offense has already been playing pretty well, but if arguably the best wide receiver in the league can return to this loaded offense, the Buccaneers defense will have trouble stopping them.

Saints Defense

The Saints defensive unit has been a solid group thus far into the season, ranking 8th in yards allowed with 328.4 per game. While this unit's passing defense ranks in the middle of the league, their run defense has been dominant, ranking 3rd in the league by averaging only 90.6 rushing yards per game. This defense prides themselves on their dominant front seven featuring All-Pro DE Cameron Jordan, along with young upcoming stars in DE Marcus Davenport, DE Trey Hendrickson, DT Sheldon Rankins, and veteran DT David Onyemata. The Saints have invested heavily in their defensive line, making this unit one of the best in the league. They also feature a couple of good linebackers in veterans Demario Davis and Alex Anzalone, and they just added another in Kwon Alexander in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. Combining this talented front seven with great players in the secondary in CB Marshon Lattimore, CB Janoris Jenkins, FS Marcus Williams, and SS Malcolm Jenkins and you would expect the Saints to be a top defensive unit in the NFL. Though they aren’t a poor defensive unit, with the talent they have, we expect this defense to create a lot more turnovers and apply more pressure on the quarterback. It will be interesting to see if this unit can improve and become one of the top 3 defenses in the league by the end of the season. Regardless, they are going to have their hands full in this game with the Buccaneers stacked offense.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After a loss to the New Orleans Saints to start the year, the Buccaneers have seemed to find their stride, going 6-1 with their only loss being a one point defeat at at the hands of the Chicago Bears. The Buccaneers are coming off a disappointing victory against the New York Giants in which they were only able to win by two points. However, this small margin of victory was probably attributed to a lack of preparation and overconfidence by the team to easily dismantle the Giants. They enter Week 9 with the return of Chris Godwin and the debut of newly acquired receiver Antonio Brown. It will be interesting to see how Tom Brady will be able to utilize his flurry of offensive weapons on Sunday night.

Bucs Offense

This Buccaneer’s offensive unit is frightening. Before we get into their stats, let's just acknowledge how talented this unit is on paper. At quarterback, they have arguably the greatest football player of all time in Tom Brady. Then, they boast a three-headed monster at running back featuring Leonard Fournette, LeSean McCoy, and Ronald Jones. At wide receiver, they easily have the best unit in the NFL with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Scotty Miller, three of which could easily be considered number one wide receivers on any other team in the league. Then you throw in two capable tight ends in Cameron Brate and Hall Of Famer Rob Gronkowski, and an offensive line that is playing as well as any, and it creates one of the most star-studded offensive units that we have ever seen. In 2019, without Antonio Brown, an often-injured Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and a transitioning Leonard Fournette, Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady, and LeSean McCoy, the Buccaneers offense was still able to rank 4th in the entire league in points per game, averaging 30.9. There’s not much to say about this offense, other than the fact that it is already one of the best in the NFL, and should continue to get better and better as the season continues.

Bucs Defense 

While the star-studded offensive unit takes all the glory and the media attention, the Buccaneers defensive unit is actually what makes them a dominant team in the NFL. Their defense ranks 3rd in yards allowed, giving up just 299.5 yards per game. The passing defense is pretty average, but their rushing defense ranks 1st in the league, giving up just 70.4 yards per game. This front seven boasts a mix of Pro-Bowl caliber veterans, along with a couple of young stars. The front seven starts with veterans Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh, both of whom have consistently been at the tops of their position throughout their career, and are once again showing off their abilities by combining for 10.5 sacks in 8 games. These two veterans combine with young stars in DT Vita Vea, OLB Shaquil Barrett, and LB Devin White to create a feisty defensive front. Combine this with one of the best linebackers in the league in Lavonte David, and a young speedy secondary featuring S Antoine Winfield Jr., S Jordan Whitehead, and CB Sean Murphy-Bunting, and you can see why this defense is so dominant. Stopping Drew Brees and the Saints offense will be a challenge, but with the amount of skill and talent on this defense, we should expect the Saints offense to be slowed down significantly in this game.

Prediction

After the Buccaneers’ loss to the Saints in Week 1, the Buccaneers have proceeded to drastically improve up until this point in the season. This is a heavyweight matchup between two of the top teams in the NFC, fighting for the lead in the NFC South with serious playoff implications. I expect both teams to have great gameplans coming into the game, and expect a close matchup. I think the Buccaneers defense will be keyed on Saints RB Alvin Kamara, and do everything in their power to take him out of the game. This will be a close game, but I think the Buccaneers will prevail and get revenge on their division rivals on Sunday night.

SHAWN’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 29 - 24

AJ’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 28 - 27

TIMOTHY’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 31 - 28

CADE’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 38 - 35

JAKE’S PREDICTION: Buccaneers 35 - 27

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