Saints, Brees dominate Bucs, Brady in Sunday night statement game

  • November 8, 2020
  • By Ken Trahan
  • Category: Saints
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It was rainy and it was windy, adding to the pre-game gloom and doom faced by the New Orleans Saints who were as lambs being led to slaughter with a big boom from the Tampa Bay Bucs and their cannon.

Of course, we know the Saints are a “Dome” team.

We know they do not like it outside.

It was cold and windy in Chicago.

There was rain and wind on this night.

Of course, I jest, because that narrative continues to be destroyed.

Of course, the narrative was clear.

Tampa Bay was now the team to beat in the NFC.

Tom Brady was playing great and was even becoming a league MVP candidate, we were told.

The Buccaneers’ defense, which smothered Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay, would eat the Saints up at home, in subpar conditions.

Every national commentator, and I mean every national commentator, picked Tampa Bay to win, some convincingly.

On The Three Tailgaters Show Saturday morning on 106.1 FM, Ed Daniels, Eric Held and I joked that the Saints might just as well stay home and not show up. Of course, we begged to differ from all of the dire predictions regarding the team from New Orleans.

Sean Payton thrives on adversity. He thrives on the us-against-the-world. He and the Saints were determined to shred that narrative.

Instead, they obliterated it.

Let’s hear the discussion from “pundits,” including one from this area who prepped here and played at LSU about how no one fears the Saints offense and their weapons, anymore.

I don’t know about you but Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Taysom Hill, Deonte Harris, Latavious Murray, Jared Cook, Tre’Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, Marquez Callaway and even Adam Trautman aren’t half bad.

Neither is Drew Brees and his “air-yards.”

Take that conversation and shove it as the Saints shoved it down the Bucs’ throats at “The Ship.”

That ship sank. It took on water rapidly. It sank swiftly.

On the 50th anniversary of Tom Dempsey’s then NFL record 63-yard field goal, the Saints wore their color rush jerseys. They rushed Tom Brady, left him seeing white all night. Though Halloween was over a week ago, it was a fright for Brady and his Bucs. The New Orleans Saints have taken flight.

At one point in the second quarter, the Saints had amassed 15 first downs while the Bucs had snapped the ball just 15 times, according to our Lenny Vangilder.

This may well have been the best performance ever by a Saints’ team, given the circumstances. They were underdogs, facing a team that just added Antonio Brown, a team considered the best in the league by many that was at home with a huge revenge motive.

Despite the positive commentary, it is quite possible that I will understate the superlatives of the Saints on this night.

The only negative was normally reliable Jared Cook, who lost a fumble near the Tampa goal line, dropped a first down pass to kill a drive and missed a block, resulting in a sack and lost fumble by Brees. Somehow, that can be overlooked, given the outcome.

Here are my Quick Takes on the 38-3 demolition of Tampa Bay by the New Orleans Saints:

**Saints inactives included running back Ty Montgomery, cornerback Ken Crawley and offensive lineman Derrick Kelly.

**New Orleans got a stop on the opening series of the game on a 3-and-out as the Bucs took just 54 seconds with the ball.

**The Saints promptly drove 65 yards in nine plays, taking 4:32 off the clock with Drew Brees hitting an uncovered Tre’Quan Smith on a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Saints a 7-0 lead with 9:34 to play in the opening quarter.

**The drive included seven passes. Brees was 5-of-6 for 44 yards and a touchdown while Taysom Hill completed a key third-down conversion pass of 18 yards to Jared Cook. The six completions on the drive went to six different receivers.

**Tampa Bay went 3-and-out on its second possession as well. It was the first time since 2016 that the Bucs opened a game with two consecutive 3-and-out possessions.

**The Saints then drove beautifully again, reaching the Tampa Bay 1-yard line but on a completion from Brees to Cook, former LSU star Devon White stripped Cook and Lavonte David recovered for the Bucs.

**The Saints forced a third straight 3-and-out.

**Cesar Ruiz started the game at right guard but Nick Easton took over late in the first quarter. Ruiz would return as both played substantially.

**Brees finished the first quarter 11-of-12 for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The Saints had 157 yards to just 18 for Tampa Bay. The Saints had the ball for 11:18 to just 3:42 for the Bucs in the quarter.

**The rookie tight end Trautman scored his first career touchdown to cap the opening 15 minutes.

**Tampa Bay went 3-and-out again on its fourth possession.

**According to Drew Porche, it was the first time New Orleans held an opponent to 3-and-outs on their first four drives since Nov. 5, 2006 against the Buccaneers.

**The Saints continue their barrage, taking apart the Tampa defense, driving 50 yards in five plays, taking 2:23 off the clock with Brees connecting with Emmanuel Sanders on a 12-yard touchdown pass to give New Orleans a 21-0 lead with 11:44 to play in the half.

**On the drive, Taysom Hill caught a 21-yard pass from Brees before rushing 23 yards for a first down, leaping a defender.

**Then, Marcus Davenport reached up, batted a Brady pass in the air and David Onyemata intercepted it at the Tampa Bay 22-yard line.

**New Orleans took full advantage, going 27 yards in five plays with Alvin Kamara scoring on a 1-yard run to give the Saints a 28-0 lead with 8:45 to play in the half. Taysom Hill set it up with a 12-yard run.

**As the focus of the Buc defense, Kamara was limited to just 49 total yards from scrimmage but he became the third player in franchise history to eclipse 1,000 yards from scrimmage in the first half of the season (eight games), joining Ricky Williams and the man who replaced him, Deuce McAllister, in that elite company.

**The Saints then got a stop on a fourth down play as the Bucs went for it from the New Orleans 38-yard line.

**New Orleans then drove 44 yards in nine plays, taking 3:03 off the clock with Wil Lutz kicking a 36-yard field goal to make it 31-0 with 1:49 to play in the half.

**Marcus Williams capped the first half shutout for New Orleans with an interception.

**Brees was 18-of-23 for 189 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first half. Brady was 11-of-22 for 96 yards, two picks. The Saints had 18 first downs to five for the Bucs. The Saints had 40 snaps to 25 for Bucs. New Orleans finished with 208 yards to 96 for Bucs. The Saints had the ball for 19:58 to 10:02 for Bucs. The Saints had NO penalties in the half. Get the picture?

**New Orleans had seven possessions in the first half and the average starting field position was its own 40-yard line. That included the final series of two kneel-downs, which began at the New Orleans 15-yard line.

**It was the first time the Saints have ever held an opponent scoreless in the first half of a game and scored more than 24 points in the half.

**On the first possession of the second half, The Saints made a first down but then a bad night for Jared Cook continued as he whiffed on a pass block on Shaquil Barrett, who hit Brees’ arm as he tried to throw, causing a fumble which was returned to the New Orleans 21-yard line.

**Tampa Bay reached the New Orleans 1-yard line on a pass interference call in the end zone against Janoris Jenkins. The Bucs had four chances to score from the 1-yard line. They did not. Brady had three incomplete passes while Ronald Jones was stopped for no gain. It was a brilliant defensive stand by the Saints.

**It was also the first time that Tampa Bay did not score in a goal-to-goal situation. The Bucs had been 22-of-22.

**It was also the first time the Saints’ defense did not allow an opponent to score in a goal-to-go situation. New Orleans had given up scores in all previous 13 such situations.

**Marshon Lattimore, who was having a terrific game, went down with 4:17 to play in the third quarter and went to the locker room. He returned to the sideline, though, after reportedly receiving an IV and got back on the field.

**With the third quarter nearing a close, Malcolm Jenkins picked off Brady to end a Tampa Bay possession.

**It marked the first time Brady was intercepted three times in a game since Sept. 25, 2011, as New England lost 34-31 to Buffalo. That covered the course of 168 games.

**New Orleans then took whatever life remained out of the Tampa Bay corpse, driving 10 plays, 790 yards in 6:50 with Brees hitting Josh Hill on a 3-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-0 with 9:07 to play in the game.

**Trey Hendrickson and C.J. Gardner-Johnson both limped off in the fourth quarter.

**Tampa Bay avoided a shutout, driving 45 yards in seven plays, taking 3:10 off the clock. Despite trailing 38-0 with under six minutes remaining, Bruce Arians opted for a 48-yard field goal by Ryan Succop, which he made, to make it 38-3 with 5:52 to play in the game.

A near perfect night, if there ever was one. Destroyed this team. May have been the best performance by any NFL team this year. May have been the best ever by a Saints’ team, considering the location, conditions and opponent.

As for quarterback ratings, Brees finished the game at 135.2 while Taysom Hill was at 118.8.

Then, the perfect ending had Jameis Winston playing the final series for New Orleans and even completing a first down pass of 12 yards to fullback Mike Burton, against his former team, in his former home stadium.

Winston had a quarterback rating of 116.7.

As for Brady, he finished with a quarterback rating of 40.4.

Brees is now 5-2 all-time in head-to-head matchups against Brady. It was the 37th time in his illustrious career that Brees has thrown four or more touchdown passes.

Brees was 26-of-32 for 222 yards and four touchdowns. He was brilliant, completing passes to 12 different players.

That included Michael Thomas, who played and played well with five catches for 51 yards.

It was quite a night for Taysom Hill, who became just the third player in franchise history to throw for 48+ yards and to have 21+ receiving yards in a game and he is the first quarterback to do so. The others to accomplish the feat were Tony Galbreath and Willie Snead.

Hill was fantastic. He had a tackle on special teams. He was 2-of-2 passing for 48 yards. He rushed seven times for 54 yards. He caught a pass for 21 yards as Hill finished with 123 yards. Hill blocked very well, for good measure.

The pass rush was tremendous all night, led by Trey Hendrickson and Cam Jordan. Malcolm Brown had a sack as well.

Tampa Bay rushed the ball just five times, for a total of eight yards. That is astounding. It was the fewest rushing attempts in a game in NFL history, a statistic kept since 1933. Brady was 22-of-38 for 209 yards with three interceptions.

All of the talk about how Brady would make all the difference in Tampa ending the Saints’ control of the NFC South would have to be in serious doubt now, if not dismissed totally.

In two games against the Saints this season, with a ton of weapons, Brady has completed 45-of-74 passes for 448 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions.

For the first time in his career, Brady has been swept by a division opponent. He is not in the AFC East anymore.

It was also the worst loss in Brady’s career. It was delivered by a better team.

New Orleans is now 13-3 under Payton on Sunday Night Football.

This was a masterful, complete performance. Brees was great. Taysom Hill was great. The offensive line was terrific, running the ball well and keeping Brees clean. Receivers ran good routes and caught the ball well. The defensive front was dominant, harassing Brady all evening, hitting him frequently. Linebackers covered well and pursued well. The much-maligned secondary played by far its best game against a celebrated group of receivers. The kicking game, as always, was good.

Then, there was the coaching.

You will never see a more prepared team.

Payton and Pete Carmichael were a step ahead of Todd Bowles all night.

Dennis Allen had his best game ever as the defensive coordinator of the Saints and was a step ahead of Byron Leftwich. His defense gave up a total of 194 yards. The Saints amassed 420 yards against a good defense.

New Orleans hits the halfway mark of the season at 6-2, tied in the loss column for the top spot in the NFC with the Packers and Seahawks. New Orleans has won five straight games.

A wounded San Francisco 49ers team comes to New Orleans next Sunday, a year after they handed the Saints a brutal 48-46 loss which cost the Saints the No. 1 seed and cost them a bye in the 2019 playoffs, which doomed the Saints.

The key will be to put this devastatingly good performance to bed quickly, to set the alarm, wake up, and maintain the laser focus that this team displayed for 60 minutes for all to see at Raymond James Stadium so that the goal of returning to “The Ship” on Feb. 7, 2021 remains alive.

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Ken Trahan

CEO/Owner

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Born and raised in the New Orleans area, CCSE CEO Ken Trahan has been a sports media fixture in the community for nearly four decades. Ken started NewOrleans.com/Sports with Bill Hammack and Don Jones in 2008. In 2011, the site became SportsNOLA.com. On August 1, 2017, Ken helped launch CrescentCitySports.com. Having accumulated national awards/recognition (National Sports Media Association, National Football…

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