Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. New Orleans Saints Preview (9/18/22): Betting Odds, Prediction, Depth Chart
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The 1-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers will travel to Caesars’ Superdome to face off against the 1-0 New Orleans Saints on Sunday at 1:00pm ET. Facing off in their first of two NFC South divisional rivalry games this season, both the Saints and Bucs will look to remain undefeated after winning each of their respective season openers last week. While Tom Brady and the Bucs looked like their typical Super Bowl-contending selves in their 19-3 rout over the Dallas Cowboys, the Saints barely squeaked past the depleted Atlanta Falcons 27-26. Because the Saints seem to always give the Buccaneers trouble, this divisional game is one you’re not going to want to miss come Sunday.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. New Orleans Saints Betting Odds
The Buccaneers are a -2.5 point favorite against their divisional rival and a -150 moneyline favorite to the Saints +125 line. The Over/Under is set at 44 points.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs. New Orleans Prediction
The odds are suspiciously low on this one and you get a sense why when remembering that the Saints have truly dominated this series in recent memory. Of the last eight times these teams have matched-up against one another, the Saints are 7-1 and 4-0 against Brady’s teams in that regular season span. Perhaps most embarrassing for the Bucs was last year’s 9-0 beatdown at the hands of the Taysom Hill led Saints in primetime on SNF, where Brady was seen smashing a tablet out of frustration on the sideline. New Saints’ head coach Dennis Allen – then the defensive coordinator – coached that game in place of Sean Payton and saw his defense sack Brady 4 times and intercept him once. Brady’s QBR of 24.3 in that game was one of the lowest totals of his career according to ESPN.
Brady has a long history of making his point and that probably won’t change on Sunday. What’s Brady’s point you may ask? Well, it seems like it’s to prove that he is the greatest of all time and that no one can stop him but himself, even at the age of 45. Showing no signs of age in last week’s game against Dallas, and with a noticeably bad record against the Saints, Brady will look to change the perception in New Orleans’ fans minds that the Saints are his kryptonite. And this time, Brady should feel extra embolden to drive his point home given his front seven decimated a much higher ranked (PFF’s #6) opposing offensive line than the one they will face in the Saints this week (PFF’s #21). On the flip side, it is no secret that the Bucs’ offensive line is banged up and the Saints’ defensive front has had great success making Brady feel uncomfortable in the last four regular season match-ups. Can this Saints defense be better than they were last week though?
While basing a team off of their week one game serves no good purpose, the Saints will lose if they play like they did last week against the Falcons. Even though it took quarterback Jameis Winston more than a half of football to start connecting on 10+ yard passes and navigating pocket pressure, the defense arguably performed worse, failing to secure a sack against a bottom tier offensive line. Because the Saints have beat the Bucs with Taysom Hill under center, the key to a Saints victory is going to, again, rely on the defense making Brady look human.
But banking on Brady to look human is never a good idea, especially when betting. Given Brady’s historical inadequacies against the Saints, it’s due time he makes a statement that no team can truly stop him. Whether it’s from the Bucs’ defense making big plays on Winston or if its from Brady being Brady, expect the Buccaneers to end their drought and finally get a victory in New Orleans.
Pick: Tampa Bay 20 | Saints 10
Betting Trends
-Saints are 8-2 ATS in their last ten games following an ATS loss
-Saints are 11-5 ATS in their last 16 vs. NFC South
-Buccaneers are 4-0 ATS in their last four games after allowing less than 250 total yards in their previous game
Key Injuries
Tampa Bay
-WR C. Godwin (OUT)
-OT Donovan Smith (QUESTIONABLE)
New Orleans
-RB Alvin Kamara (QUESTIONABLE)
-RB Dwayne Washington (QUESTIONABLE)
-WR Tre’Quan Smith (QUESTIONABLE)
-OT Trevor Penning (OUT)
Key Matchups
Check out the key matchups and mismatches for away team vs home team below in just a few words.
Bucs D-Line vs Saints OL
Big advantage to Tampa Bay here. With Trevor Penning still sidelined, Jameis got beat up against a weak pass-rush. Now enter Vita Vea, Akiem Hicks, William Gholston, and Shaquill Barrett.
Brady vs Saints D-Line
Advantage to the Saints here as Shy Tuttle, David Onyemata, and especially Cameron Jordan pose a challenge for a Bucs’ line that’s banged up and starting a back-up at center. How this Saints’ unit performs is arguably the key to this game.
Tampa Bay BuccaneersDepth Chart
QB: Tom Brady
RB1: Leonard Fournette
RB2: Raachad White
LWR: Mike Evans
RWR: Russell Gage
SWR: Julio Jones
TE1: Cameron Brate
New Orleans Saints Depth Chart
QB: Jameis Winston
RB1: Alvin Kamara
RB2: Mark Ingram
LWR: Michael Thomas
RWR: Jarvis Landry
SWR: Chris Olave
TE1: Juwan Johnson