NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints — Week 1 Recap
The Week 1 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the highest scoring game in the Super Bowl era. The Saints’ season got off to a disappointing start, losing 48-40 at home to the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston has been suspended for three games due for violating the player conduct policy. Backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick filled in and stepped up to the plate, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for another.
Going into the half, New Orleans only trailed by a touchdown. The Bucs, however, took a huge lead during the third quarter after two Saints punts and a Michael Thomas fumble. Trailing by 24 points going into the 4th quarter, New Orleans needed to step it up. Alvin Kamara scored two touchdowns and the Saints converted on both two-point conversions, but QB Drew Brees’ 439 yards was not enough to pull out the win.
Defense: Who Came to Play?
Neither teams’ defenses came to play for this game. With this Week 1 matchup being the highest scoring game since the Super Bowl era began, it was all offense.
The Saints had no sacks and no interceptions. Early in the first quarter, safety Marcus Williams had a misstep leaving DeSean Jackson wide open for a 58-yard touchdown. New Orleans gave up a total of 529 yards.
The Bucs only had one sack with zero interceptions. Tampa was able to contain New Orleans’ running game to a comfortable 43 yards, but the secondary fell down allowing 432 passing yards. The one saving grace was two recovered fumbles, one leading to a touchdown.
Stat Leaders
Saints
Drew Brees – 37/45, 439 yards, 3 TD
Alvin Kamara – 8 carries, 29 yards, 2 TD; 9 catches, 112 yards, TD
Michael Thomas – 16 catches, 180 yards, TD
Buccaneers
Ryan Fitzpatrick – 21/28, 417 yards, 4 TD, rushing TD
Peyton Barber – 19 carries, 69 yards
Mike Evans – 7 catches, 147 yards, TD
Fantasy
If New Orleans or Tampa Bay’s defense was on your starting roster this week, I apologize. Neither defense stepped up to the plate. In fact, they probably lost you points. Brees racked up over 30 points and, whether the Saints win or lose, it’s always okay to heavily rely on Brees for points in your league. Mike Evans banked almost 150 yards and over 20 points, this late rounder is not someone to be worried about even with the low number of receptions. Karama doesn’t seem like a running back to start even against a low ranked defense as of right now, he seems to be more productive in the passing game – consider looking elsewhere for Week 2 in certain formats.
Photo Credit to Nazrul Islam via Flickr
