Saints disrespect Buccaneers with curveball decision ahead of Week 6

When the New Orleans Saints signed Derek Carr last offseason, the idea was that he’d help them keep the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at arms length and flip power in the NFC South. So far Carr has delivered in at least creating some difficulties for the Bucs in his first two games against them, but his third attempt will have to wait.

Carr left Monday night’s game between the Saints and Chiefs with an oblique injury. An MRI revealed that he’d need to miss multiple games as a result, which took him off the board for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay.

That was good news for the Bucs, as Carr has historically been pretty great against Tampa Bay. He’s thrown eight touchdown to just one interception in four games against the Bucs, with a 100.7 passer rating. A lot of that success came with the Raiders but the anxiety is that he’ll settle in and recapture that groove with the Saints.

Rather than let the absence of Carr be a deterrent, the Saints are using the opportunity to low-key troll the Buccaneers while potentially giving us all the first look at who could be the future under center in New Orleans.

Saints to start Spencer Rattler against Buccaneers, which is low-key disrespectful

There have already been three rookie quarterbacks who have started games this year, and come Sunday that total will grow to five. Drake Maye is starting for the Patriots, while Spencer Rattler will be making his debut for the Saints against the Buccaneers.

Having a rookie quarterback starting in a must-win game should be a good thing for an opposing team, but Buccaneers fans can’t be blamed for being a little nervous about what this means.

This all goes back to the 2010s, where over a seven year period the Bucs were a totally miserable 1-11 against rookie quarterbacks. However, things have gotten much better as of late even with a few notable hiccups thrown into the mix. Tampa Bay is 11-6 against rookie quarterbacks since Todd Bowles arrived and served as either defensive coordinator or head coach, which includes the loss in the 2022 finale where they rested starters against the Falcons and Desmond Ridder.

Let we forget the way the Bucs started the year, owning Jayden Daniels in a way no other defense has been able to since. That’s not what fans are focusing on, though, as the way Bo Nix looked like John Elway a few weeks ago is what is playing into the anxiety over a rookie quarterback starting against Tampa Bay’s defense.

It’s hard to not see the Saints starting Rattler, who wasn’t even active last week, as low-key troll that doubles as some historical disrepect. New Orleans knows exactly what Bucs fans do in terms of how iffy it is for the defense to face a rookie, and not putting Jake Heaner under center instead of Rattle is deeply intentional.

Whether it pays off is yet to be seen, but it’s yet another wrinkle in a rivalry that is going to have a lot on the line when the two teams meet on Sunday.

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