Buccaneers fall apart late in loss to Saints
By Ryan Doyle
The New Orleans Saints scored 22 unanswered points as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense disappeared in the second half.
The Saints put a dagger in the Buccaneers 2018 playoff hopes. Tampa Bay faltered in the second half as New Orleans was able to escape Raymond James with a 28-14 win.
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints first met this season, both offenses dominated. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Drew Brees combined for 819 passing yards.
Fast forward to Week 14, Jameis Winston and Brees threw for a combined 414 yards.
Winston completed 18 of 38 passes for 213 yards. The offensive line did Winston no favors as he was running for his life for 60 minutes.
Tampa Bay’s defense did its job today; the offense was the issue today. The offensive line struggled to block and committed multiple penalties to halt drives.
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Mark Ingram‘s 17-yard touchdown scamper was the dagger. New Orleans was up 25-14 with just over seven minutes in regulation. Tampa Bay needed a miracle to come back.
Tampa Bay almost put together an impressive goal-line stand to open the final period of play, but Brees wasn’t having it. He reached over the pile, and the ball crossed the plane, giving New Orleans an 18-14 lead with 11:46 to play.
Momentum shifted quickly with 7:23 minutes left in the third quarter. With Bryan Anger set to punt the ball back to the Saints, backup quarterback Taysom Hill blocked the punt.
Quickly, New Orleans scored and trailed 14-11 with 4:43 left to play. Tampa Bay needed to answer.
Defensive coordinator Mark Duffner’s unit came out of halftime ready to put the game away. On the opening drive, Carl Nassib smacked the ball out of Brees’ hand, and Jason Pierre-Paul recovered.
Both Nassib and Pierre-Paul had memorable days. They are the two best additions for general manager Jason Licht from his past offseason.
The Buccaneers began the first half on a high note and ended it on a high note. Thanks to a strong defensive performance, what happened in between, didn’t matter much.
Brees and the Saints were held to just 104 yards of total offense in the first half.
After an ugly, penalty-filled drive in the second quarter, the Bucs offense received a gift from the defense.
Adarius Taylor intercepted Drew Brees on a screen pass to set up Tampa in scoring position. The Bucs would finally answer as Winston found Cameron Brate in the end zone for his second touchdown of the day.
Halfway through the second quarter, the Buccaneers offense had another chance to extend the lead. After a false start by Donovan Smith and a pair of penalties on Ryan Jensen, the Bucs would hand the ball back over to Brees.
In the first quarter, Tampa was in total control. They held a 7-0 lead and outgained New Orleans 122-41.
Tampa Bay’s offense came out firing. The unit cruised down the field on a 75-yard drive. From first glance, it looked like the game was going to be a repeat of Week 1.
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The Buccaneers will have their hands full next week against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.