How Buccaneers can beat Saints in Week 8

The Bucs have an opportunity to bounce back after a tough loss to the Lions and secure a divisional win against the New Orleans Saints ahead of their bye week.

The Bucs are banged up and need the bye to come in the worst way, but they’ll need to handle some business down in the bayou beforehand. Tampa Bay had little time to lick their wounds after their Monday night loss to Detroit. Gearing up for a divisional opponent, however, especially when there is bad blood, has got the Bucs ready to go. 

They’ll need Baker Mayfield to have a better performance, and the pass protection needs to be much better to give him that chance. Getting consistent pressure on defense and winning the turnover battle, which so many of these games come down to, will be critical. The Bucs can enter their bye week 6-2 if they follow these Keys to Cannon Fire. 

Set the tone early

If this wasn’t going to be a physical game already, Baker Mayfield’s “I hate the Saints” remarks surely poured gasoline on the rivalry. 

On offense, controlling the line of scrimmage and pushing the pocket will be paramount to achieving the balance the Bucs want to establish after last week. Getting mean in the tranches and getting the run game going will be key to the offense maintaining balance throughout the game. 

On defense, getting after Spencer Rattler early and often will be crucial to keep a struggling offense struggling. Over Rattler’s first two starts, the Bucs have sacked him seven times while picking him off twice and forcing a fumble. Getting physical with the Saints' speedy receivers to reroute and slow them down needs to go hand in hand with an effective pass rush. 

Finish drives

Last week, the Bucs couldn’t get sustained movement on offense to start drives, let alone finish them. They were four of 16 on third down, two for five on fourth down and zero for one in the red zone. Surprisingly, two areas where the Saints are pretty good are third-down defense and red-zone defense, where they are ranked 13th and 19th, respectively. Tampa Bay’s offense managed 11 first downs last week, but extending drives into more successful trips to the red zone needs to happen in a get-right game for the Bucs offense.

Defensively, there’s an opportunity for someone to fill the void with Haason Reddick sidelined for the foreseeable future. Either the steady Anthony Nelson or former second-round pick Chris Braswell needs to step up. Teams know the pressure is coming — the pressure needs to get home. 

Attack the underneath

The Bucs need to get the underneath and quick game passing working early to get Baker Mayfield in a rhythm. Offensive Coordinator Josh Grizzard said on Thursday he didn't do a good enough job of doing that against the Lions, so look for him to take advantage of a struggling middle of the field defense to backs and tight ends. 

It's been an up-and-down year for the Saints’ veteran linebackers Pete Werner and Demario Davis. The once dominant duo has allowed 39 receptions for 386 yards and three touchdowns on the season, per PFF. The pair also has seven missed tackles between them. In what could be a game that features tight end Cade Otton or Rachaad White out of the backfield, they’ll have plenty of chances to attack the short part of the field to move the sticks and open everything else up.