By Tom Krasniqi
The 6-7 Bucs made their final preparations on Friday as they get ready for Sunday’s game in New Orleans against Drew Brees and the 5-8 Saints. It’s the second meeting of the season between the NFC South rivals. The Saints won at Tampa Bay 35-28 back on October 21. Both teams have dropped 3 in a row.
Here’s the Bucs injury report: It appears DE Da’Quan Bowers (hamstring) suffered a setback. After practicing in full on Thursday, Bowers missed practice on Friday and is listed as questionable. CB LeQuan Lewis (knee) was limited on Friday and is questionable. RG Jamon Meredith (ankle), DE Michael Bennett (shoulder), CB Anthony Gaitor (hamstring) and DT Roy Miller (head) are all probable.
Notable injuries for the Saints: T Charles Brown (knee), RB Chris Ivory (hamstring), FS Malcom Jenkins (knee), RT Zach Strief (ankle) and CB Corey White (knee) are all out. FB Jed Collins (toe) was limited in practice on Friday and is questionable.
News & Notes:
- Caught up with WR/KR Tiquan Underwood on Friday. He’s looking forward to returning kicks again this week: “Very excited. As a player, you always want another opportunity to get the ball in your hands”.
- Expect another shootout on Sunday. Back in October, the Bucs totaled 513 yards of total offense and both teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards of offense.
- Josh Freeman threw for 420 yards and 3 scores in the first meeting. In 7 career games against the Saints, Freeman is 3-4 and has thrown 10 TDs and 7 INTs, averaging 268 yards per game.
- Drew Brees has feasted on the Bucs through his career. In 14 career games against Tampa Bay, Brees has thrown 29 TDs and 14 INTs. In the first meeting, Brees threw for 313 yards and 4 TDs in the first half alone without Jimmy Graham, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Graham will play Sunday and figures to be a matchup nightmare for the Bucs.
- The Bucs simply cannot afford to fall asleep on Saints WR Lance Moore this time around. In the first meeting, Moore killed the Bucs with 9 catches for 121 yards. He did most of his damage on third down, with 6 catches.
- Bucs WR Vincent Jackson was huge in the first meeting, with 7 catches for 216 yards and a score. He had a 95-yard catch and run in that game but was tackled at the 1-yard line by Malcom Jenkins. The Bucs failed to score and that was a big moment in that game.
- Catch the Bucs-Saints game this Sunday on 620 WDAE, your home of the Bucs. Our pre-game coverage begins at 9am.
