Buccaneers at Saints: Five game-changing players for Week 9

Drew Brees

Knowing what we know about the Tampa Bay defense, I think it’s safe to say that Sunday really feels like an inevitable nightmare. Drew Brees is elite. The Bucs seem to struggle with any quarterback, so facing Brees is really going to be a problem. Case Keenum, Carson Palmer and Tyrod Taylor have all dominated Tampa Bay this year. Having a future hall-of-famer up next is tough, especially considering that future hall-of-famer has some good weapons and a suddenly-improved defense to feed off of.

Losing Brandin Cooks seemed like it was going to be an issue for the New Orleans offense, but that hasn’t been the case thus far. Adrian Peterson was brought in as a free agent, but grew unhappy very quickly after not getting a lot of snaps. He has since been traded, but that’s not affecting the Saints either. Nothing seems to be messing with the mojo of Brees and company. Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn Jr. and Brandon Coleman have been more than effective on the outside. Mark Ingram is running the ball well, while rookie Alvin Kamara is proving to be a dangerous threat on the ground and through the air. There is no shortage of weapons for Brees to pick the Bucs apart with.

If there’s one interesting twist to the Tampa Bay defense this year, two of its best performances have been against Tom Brady and Cam Newton. That’s likely just a coincidence, but it’s strange nonetheless. However, don’t expect Sunday’s game to continue that trend. Brees is one of the best in the business and he may have a field day come Sunday. If there’s no pressure and relaxed coverage from the Tampa Bay defense, this one could get ugly.