The Tampa Buccaneers looked to get off the snide against the New Orleans Saints on the road Sunday, but the game started as many Bucs games have gone this season as Drew Brees and the Saints offense started with the football after winning the coin toss, and made it look easy, quickly moving the ball into Buccaneers’ territory. Brees started 6-for-6, and had the Saints on the Red Zone’s doorstep before the drive stalled on a 3rd-and-4 on which Lavonte David dropped what should have been an interception, missing the kind of opportunity this Bucs team desperate needed as they try to end a losing streak.
The Bucs offense hit the field after the Saints score, and got off to the slow start seen so often for this Bucs offense, going 3-and-out after a pair of Doug Martin runs, and a short pass to Charles Sims. Seconds later the Bucs let Justin Hardee come through the middle of the line unblocked to block the Brian Anger punt, and to scoop it up and score a touchdown to put the Saints ahead 9-0 after the Bucs blocked the extra point.
The Bucs were able to move the ball into Saints territory, largely because of a big pass interference call drawn by Desean Jackson, but the drive stalled when Jameis Winston looked for Mike Evans 20 yards down field on a 3rd-and-4, and Evans came down with the ball out of bounds.
The Saints started their following drive at their own 11-yard-line with a 9-0 lead, and a couple minutes left in the first quarter. The Saints couldn’t do anything on the drive, but almost went ahead 16-0, but Brees overthrew a wide-open Ted Ginn Jr.
Tampa Bay’s offense once again found themselves in Saints territory on the following drive after Bernard Reedy took a fair catch just on the Bucs side of the football field, but the drive stalled right at midfield after Winston was sacked on 3rd-and-12.
The Saints offense looked poised to add points to their lead, but Lavonte David caused an Alvin Kamara fumble, and T.J. Ward recovered it to give the ball back to Jameis and the offense still down nine.
Despite moving the ball inside the Saints 30-yard-line, and eventually putting three on the board with a 50-yard field goal, the Bucs offense continued to look disjointed on the following drive, as a pair of penalties turned a 3rd-and-3 into a 3rd-and-13. Winston found Sims for a handful of yards on third down after a wild play that saw him running away from the Saints pass rush. With a few minutes to play before the half, the Saints lead was cut to 9-3.
The Saints offense came out on the following drive and added to their lead before the half as Alvin Kamara dominated the drive, and ended up in the end zone on a 33-yard screen pass in which he broke several Bucs tackles.
The only thing worse than the Bucs play in the first half was the fact that Winston reaggravated his injured shoulder, and would be forced out of the game in favor or a freshly shaved Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The second half started very similar to the way the first half went down. The Bucs went 3-and-out, and the Saints ran the ball right down the Bucs throats with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara until Kamara eventually punched it in to stretch the Saints lead to 23-3 over a Buccaneers team that looked like it didn’t’ want to be anywhere near a football field.
Moments later, it was O.J. Howard caught a Fitzpatrick pass and then coughed it up. Just a few moments later, it was Brees finding a wide-open Ted Ginn on a deep touchdown pass and the game was over just minutes into the second half.
The only thing as bad as the Bucs play was their conduct, as on the following drive, Jameis Winston came off the sideline to poke Marshon Lattimore in the back of the head, followed by Mike Evans streaking across the field to blast Lattimore in the back, landing on top of the Saints defensive back, and starting a scuffle on the Bucs sideline.
When the game moved back to New Orleans with the football, William Gholston suffered a bad injury and was carted off with what looked to be a neck injury. While it took a while to cart him off, he was moving his arms and legs before leaving the field, so the news hopefully won’t be as drastic as these situations can be.
After the Gholston injury, the game just got weird. From the way the Bucs were drubbed, to the fight, to Gholston being carted off the field, the rest of the game just kind of felt like a funk. If a game could be considered a stomach ache, that’s what Sunday’s second half felt like.
The Bucs scored a meaningless touchdown when Fitzpatrick hit Luke Stocker for six, before the Saints wrapped up the 30-10 victory.