The Tampa Bay Buccaneers halted their four-game losing streak last Sunday by taking down the Arizona Cardinals, but didn’t have time to celebrate long.
With their season still on life support at 3-6, the Buccaneers will now face the challenge of trying to take down the New Orleans Saints, who sit atop the NFC South at 7-2.
The Saints are coming off a stunning home loss in Week 10 to the Atlanta Falcons, which dropped them to 7-2, meaning they still sit behind the San Francisco 49ers (8-1) in the race for the top spot in the NFC. A Drew Brees-led offense playing in desperation mode can only spell bad news for the Buccaneers, who have the league’s worst pass defense.
While New Orleans is rightfully favored heading into Sunday’s matchup at Raymond James Stadium, NFL Network analyst and former NFL wide receiver James Jones thinks the Bucs will actually shock the Saints and pull off the upset.
Here’s what Jones had to say:
“After scoring a measly nine points in a loss to the Falcons last week, will Drew Brees and the Saints turn things around against the Bucs’ 32nd-ranked scoring defense? No! The Saints don’t find their rhythm, but Jameis Winston does. The Bucs quarterback continues to prove why he should get paid by throwing four TD passes in the win.”
That’s a bold prediction for sure and one that could come to fruition. There’s no doubt that this Bucs offense can hang with anybody. In their Week 9 loss to the Seahawks, they matched Seattle score-for-score down the stretch, forcing overtime.
But Winston is the unknown in this equation. He can throw you four touchdowns any day of the week. The question, though, is how many interceptions does he throw? And, how many points off turnovers come out of it?
Turnovers have plagued Winston throughout his career. If he can string together a solid, turnover-free performance on Sunday, the Buccaneers could very well play spoiler to the Saints.
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