Reflecting on the Buccaneers-Saints game
By: Jake Rajala
The New Orleans Saints marched into Tampa and upset the Buccaneers. They have a knack for upsetting NFC South squads, as they beat the Carolina Panthers recently. With that said, I’m going to lay out five things we learned from the Buccaneers-Saints matchup.
Tyler Shough
It may be questionable to get Taysom Hill involved, as Shough may be faster than Hill. The 26 year old had two rushing touchdowns on the day. Shough has won two games, while Spencer Rattler has one victory. Shough was also a 3rd down conversion god in the second half.
Devin Neal
As Alvin Kamara is graded by PFF has the worst RB in the league, it may be wise to get RB Devin Neal more involved. He had 19 carries for 70 rushing yards and a touchdown. Neal was instrumental to eating up chunks of yards and setting the Saints in third and manageable. Neal was taken by the Saints in the sixth round of the 2025 draft.
Baker Mayfield
Baker loves to bake. Yes, we’ve seen the commercial. Just was Matt Ryan was surprisingly fast with his legs, Baker would cook the Saints defense with his legs on countless third downs. He ran for 42 yards on six carries. Baker won’t replace Bucky Irving, but he may continue to use his legs more often.
Emeka Egbuka
If Emeka caught the easy pass for a touchdown, we may be talking about a Bucs victory. Well, he sadly didn’t catch it. Emeka is still an OROY candidate (as he has 791 yards and six TDs) and he has the potential to be the WR1, even with Mike Evans healthy. Chris Godwin is a stellar slot WR, so he has a unique, somewhat unreplaceable role right now.
Saints pass rush
I didn’t love the consistent effort from Chase Young. He still came close to bringing down Baker. Cameron Jordan had a nice pass deflection and he nearly intercepted it. Carl Granderson also had a beautiful tackle for loss. Bryan Bresee abandoned his lane to try and sack Baker, which resulted in Baker running for a first round. I’d still like to see at least one sack from the Saints.
The Bucs loss allowed the Panthers to come closer to winning the NFC South. The two squads will face off twice in the remainder of their schedule. I expect a couple of high-scoring games between the two.
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