It’s the same old story: Buccaneers squander opportunities vs. Saints in season-opening loss

Same Old Story: Buccaneers squander opportunities vs. Saints in disappointing season-opening loss

The new-look Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the 2020 season looking to become legitimate competitors, but the season-opening loss to the Saints shows the team has a far ways to go.

The Buccaneers stepped into New Orleans with tons of hope, but came away with a disappointing 34-23 loss that showed the gap currently existing between the top of the NFC South and the rest of the division.

Tom Brady and the Buccaneers came out firing and drove the ball right down the field- with the help of a couple pass-interference calls- to start the game, taking a 7-0 lead, but that may have been the brightest spot of the day.

Though Tampa Bay clung to that 7-0 lead heading into the second quarter, it was the Saints that came alive and took a 17-7 lead into halftime. While the Buccaneers had chances to get back into the game, including possession of the football down 24-17 to begin the fourth quarter, nothing seemed to come together when it was needed most.

It’s the same old story: The Buccaneers can’t get out of their own way

There’s a whole list of factors in which we can place blame when it comes to the loss this afternoon:

• Brady’s interceptions.
• The ineptitude of the offensive line.
• The questionable play-calling.
• The fact that the Bucs couldn’t establish any kind of a successful running game, especially with Ronald Jones II.
• The special teams blunders.
• The defense came away with a lot of stops, but gave up too many big plays and couldn’t come away with stops when it was needed most.

Wherever you want to place blame, there’s plenty to go around.

Ultimately, it’s the same thing we’ve seen in the past. The Buccaneers just can’t seem to get out of their own way.

This team has the talent in place to be successful and one loss isn’t going to derail the season, but there’s clearly a long road ahead of them as they attempt to develop and learn from this early loss.