New Orleans Saints

How Do the Buccaneers Keep Up With the Saints?

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:42 a.m. ET

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How can the Buccaneers keep the pace with Drew Brees and the Saints offense?

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The Buccaneers are flying high and making a run at the playoffs. Four wins in a row and all of Tampa Bay believes. The offense doesn’t give up and the defense is realizing the vision that all of Bucs Nation had for it.

It’s all going well in the land of Dirk Koetter and company.

First things first. In order to continue that run to January football, the Bucs need to take care of business. That means beating the New Orleans Saints this week.

Over the years in New Orleans, the faces have changed. Marques Colston has come and gone. Jimmy Graham has come and gone. The one name that hasn’t changed, however, is Drew Brees. He has been throwing touchdowns in the Big Easy since 2006, and with 30 in 2016, is showing no signs of slowing down.

So how do the Bucs keep up with this high-powered, potentially lethal, attack? We discuss in this week’s roundtable.

Dec 4, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin (22) runs the ball while defended by San Diego Chargers cornerback Trevor Williams (42) during the second half at Qualcomm Stadium. Tampa Bay won 28-21. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Big Game From the Backfield

Look we have seen this Bucs team put up points in the run game. With a depleted WR core and a high-powered Saints offense, the Bucs have to get the run game going. The Bucs stable of running backs has proved to be deeper than we previously thought coming into this season, a couple of guys have had to step up due to injury. The Bucs haven’t had a 100 yard rusher since San Francisco. I think the Bucs will need exactly that with the Saints coming into Tampa. The formula for stopping any high-powered offense is to keep the ball out of their hands. The Saints have however, proven they can stop the run ranking 11th in total rush yards. The plan shouldn’t change any as the Bucs had 30 rushing attempts against the 3rd ranked rushing defense in the Chargers. I expect nothing less than that on Sunday against the Saints.Bold prediction (kinda?) Martin goes over 100 on the ground and Sims goes over 50 in the passing game.–Marc Magana Next: The Running Back Committee

Sep 25, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Charles Sims (34) runs past Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Mark Barron (26) during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Running Back Committee

Given the firepower of the Saints offense and the Bucs unfortunately depleted wide receiver core, this week Tampa needs to take full advantage of the run game. Although the Saints run defense ranks above their pass, the Bucs’ running back committee is something special. All four running backs on the roster give the Bucs excellent options to work with. Whether it’s Doug Martin, Jacquizz Rodgers, Charles Sims or even Peyton Barber, all four backs have great skill sets. Wearing down teams with constant fresh legs may be the key to winning this game.

A constant serving of the run game against the Saints could set them up to be tricked with plenty of pass plays, especially screens. We’ve seen in the past this season that the Bucs are more than capable to create some big plays off of screens and with the return of Charles Sims this adds the x-factor off of those screens that teams will be weary of. The Bucs would be wise to make this Saints defense load the box so that they can get the look they want for Mike Evans in the pass game .

–Zach Sauers

Nov 27, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin (22) runs for a first down between Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker K.J. Wright (50) and fullback Will Tukuafu (46) during the first quarter of an NFL football game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

A Steady Dose of Dougie

During the current four-game winning streak, the Tampa Bay offense hasn’t been at its best. A lot of pressure has been put on Jameis Winston. His receiving corps continues to fall apart, while the run game can’t seem to consistently produce. If Tampa Bay wants to keep up with a high-powered Saints offense week, then Doug Martin, Jacquizz Rodgers and Charles Sims will need to pick it up.

Since returning from injury, Martin hasn’t been able to break out. Rodgers returned last week and appeared to be easing back into things, while Sims appears to be coming back this Sunday. The Bucs need some production from their group of running backs to take some of the pressure off of Winston. The fact is, the depleted receiving corps would be much easier to deal with if there was any sort of consistency in the backfield.

If Martin returns to his 2015 form on Sunday, Tampa Bay could have a better chance of keeping up with Drew Brees and his talented offense. Any secondary productivity from Rodgers and Sims will help too, but no. 22 needs to be the workhorse that everyone knows he can be.

–Bailey Adams

Dec 4, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) against the Detroit Lions during the second half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Lions defeated the Saints 28-13. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Ground the Saints

The New Orleans Saints boast one of the NFL’s very best offenses and will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing game last week against Detroit. Drew Brees didn’t throw a touchdown pass in that game, but he’s thrown 30 on the season already and is approaching an 11th straight season with over 4000 yards. Brandin Cooks, Michael Thomas, Willie Snead and Coby Fleener are all threats and the Bucs offense must be prepared to match them point for point in what could be a high scoring game.The best way for them to go about that is to keep the Saints offense off the field for as long as possible. Since returning from injury Doug Martin has yet to have a game that he’s capable of, and this would be the perfect week for it. Establishing a consistently effective running game to chew clock and rest the Buccaneer defense is critical and quarterback Jameis Winston is at his best when the running game is functioning. Between Doug Martin, Jacquizz Rogers and returning Charles Sims the Bucs should have plenty of fire power in the run game to dominate time of possession and come away with a fifth straight victory.–Michael Horan Next: Control the Clock

Nov 27, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin (22) gets pumped up as he is introduced before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Control the Clock

With the Bucs riding high these past four weeks they have to keep it up if they want to stop the potent New Orleans Saints offense. But, the Saints are coming off a brutal loss at home where Drew Brees didn’t have a touchdown. If I were the Bucs I would be on edge going against an angry Brees. The Saints will score so the Bucs need to score more. The best way to do that is to have an efficient offense. The Bucs time of possession has averaged 34:26 over the past four games, more time the offense has the ball means the less time the opponent has the ball.

The best way to control the clock is an effective ground game. Doug Martin has been less than spectacular this season averaging 3 yards per carry but they should have Jacquizz Rodgers and Charles Sims all healthy and active for this game. The Saints don’t have a good defense but they have gotten better against the run lately. If the Bucs want to win this game they have to keep the Saints off the scoreboard, to do that keep them off the field.

–Brian DeFeo

Dec 4, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) looks to pass as San Diego Chargers defensive end Corey Liuget (94) jumps to block it during the second half at Qualcomm Stadium. Tampa Bay won 28-21. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Famous Jameis For the Win

The New Orleans Saints have scored 70-points more than our beloved Buccaneers this season; averaging nearly a touchdown more per week so far.

In order for Tampa Bay to keep pace and beat this division rival they need to win the turnover battle, and it all starts with Jameis Winston.

In 12 games this year the Saints have intercepted the opposing quarterback in six games. They won each of those but one, with the only loss coming against the Denver Broncos in Week 10, and we all know just how they lost that one.

Conversely, their defense has failed to secure an interception in six match-ups, and you guessed it, they’ve lost every one of them.

Bottom line, if you give the Saints extra possessions they’ll kill you with them more than 90% of the time, but if teams protect the ball they seem to always find a way to get the win.

Winston didn’t throw a single interception in his rookie campaign against this team, and if he keeps his passes out of the hands of guys like Sterling Moore then they should find themselves in position to win their fifth straight.

–David Harrison

Nov 8, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line during the second half against the New York Giants at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Control the Tempo

The Saints offense is still capable of putting up huge numbers despite the appearances of their 5-7 record, so this game will have its challenges. If the Bucs are going to keep pace, they have to control the tempo.

In order to do so, they have to do a much better job of establishing a run game than they have in recent weeks. With Jacquizz Rodgers reportedly seeing a bigger role and Doug Martin continuing to return to form, it’s on the Bucs OLine to control the line of scrimmage as well as time of possession.

The Saints’ run defense has seemed to improve recently and Martin still has not returned to his 2015 form but Quizz has run extremely well in Martin’s absence. The duo should prove to be extremely effective – much the same way Martin and Charles Sims were last season.

With a run game established, the pressure won’t be on Jameis Winston quite as much to go toe-to-toe with Brees while relying on weapons like Freddie Martino and Josh Huff.

–James Yarcho

Dec 4, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter speaks to the media following the game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Tampa Bay won 28-21. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Be the Bucs

What do I mean by that? Well, the Saints are ranked 27th in defense overall. They are ranked 31st in pass defense. Be the Bucs, do what the Bucs do. They will be able to move the ball against New Orleans. They haven’t had a good defense in a long time.

The only facet of the game that the Saints defend well is the rushing attack, ranked 11th. Of course a solid running game is going to help on Sunday. The Bucs may just have to get into it by using the passing game to open it up. With Charles Sims likely back in the lineup, open the defense up with some short passes and screens.

It may be a shoot out, but the Bucs can keep up.

–Alan Schechter

You have heard from us, now let’s hear from you. How do the Bucs keep up on Sunday? Comment below.

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