Sean Payton frustratingly reminded the Bucs that he still owns them in Week 3

Sean Payton was back on the opposing sideline of Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers really wish he hadn't been.

After a hot start to the season that saw the Bucs crush the Commanders and get a win over the Lions, they followed the siren song of national praise right into a trap game. Rather than the easy victory everyone was predicting, Tampa Bay met Payton and his knack for always knocking them down a few pegs.

Payton took just one drive to remind the Bucs of how badly he owned them when he was the head coach in New Orleans. Bo Nix carved up Tampa Bay's secondary for an opening drive touchdown, and Jaleel McLaughlin juked Anthony Nelson into another dimension a little later to make it 14-0.

That was only the beginning of another afternoon that saw Payton out-coach the Bucs with the kind of ease that has made him easy for fans to loathe.

It was a clinical dissection of Tampa Bay's defense, and the fact that Payton did it with Nix -- who had been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league through the first two weeks -- made it even harder to stomach.

It was an even worse offensive showing, as the Bucs were held to just 7 points, something that Payton had a firm hand in. Vance Jospeh called great game, but it had to have been Payton in his ear all week pointing out the flaws that have always existed in Tampa Bay's gameplan. Notably, the lack of a run game, or a fear of one, was evident early on as the Denver secondary took away all of Baker Mayfield's options and forced the offense to become one-dimensional.

Payton looked right at home as he embarrassed the Buccaneers, but it might have been exactly what needed to happen.

Sean Payton owning the Bucs might be a blessing in disguise

Watching Payton systematically pick the Bucs apart wasn't fun, but it's also nothing new. Everyone assuming the Broncos would get rolled after a 0-2 start forgot that Payton has historically owned Tampa Bay over the course of his career.

After becoming head coach of the Saints in 2006, Payton has a 24-12 record against the Bucs including this Sunday's win. Even when Tom Brady was in Tampa Bay the Saints controlled the board, save for that glorious NFC Divisional Round game in 2020.

Payton lives to ruin Tampa Bay's life, but it's a loss that comes at perhaps the best possible time. Tampa Bay has a gauntlet of games coming up; a game against the Eagles next Sunday followed by ones against the Falcons, Saints, and Ravens.

If this Bucs team shows up in any of those matchups, the hot start to the season will get undone faster than it happened. What the loss to Payton and the Broncos does, in theory, is humble Tampa Bay ahead of a slate of games it can't afford to play this poorly in and expect to remain competitive.

Then again, Sunday proved that time is a flat circle because Bucs fans are once again trying to rationalize getting beaten up by Sean Payton while trying to find silver lining. He had done it 23 times in the past and the latest installment was just as much of a drag as the rest.

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