Teddy Bridgewater led the New Orleans Saints to their third consecutive win on Sunday, beating the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-24.
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Final Score
New Orleans Saints 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
New Orleans Saints
Malcom Brown and Marcus Davenport both turned in strong performances against Tampa Bay. Both players recorded multiple pressure and should finish reviews with high pass-rushing grades.
The Saints' defense, however, missed a ton of tackles on the day, and no defender was more at fault than cornerback PJ Williams. He missed multiple tackles and allowed multiple first downs in coverage.
Michael Thomas was a nightmare for the entire Buccaneers secondary. He created separation with ease, and the Bucs had no answers. One of his better plays of the day came on his second touchdown when he bounced off multiple hits on his way to the end zone.
Teddy Bridgewater was very solid today. Outside of one pass he underthrew resulting in a dropped interception, he was very accurate. He was willing to take a couple of shots downfield and had some success doing so.
Rookie Takeaways
Rookie Saints center Erik McCoy was fantastic in pass protection but struggled in the run game.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Chris Godwin continued his fiery start to the 2019 season with another standout performance against New Orleans. He finished the game with seven receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
Again, Jameis Winston had a roller-coaster performance on Sunday. He complemented a handful of well-placed throws with a number of inaccurate passes and poor decisions. His inconsistent play kept Tampa Bay's offense off schedule far too often for the team to come out with a win.
Shaquil Barrett came back down to earth this game. He was nonexistent as a pass-rusher, giving Bridgewater all the time in the world. And Barrett's teammates along the defensive line didn't have much success, either. New Orleans' offensive line kept the Tampa Bay pass-rush in check all game long.
Vernon Hargreaves III was the victim of Michael Thomas‘ incredible game. He allowed a catch seemingly every time he was targeted, resulting in a poor day in coverage.
Rookie Takeaways
Bucs rookie defensive backs Sean Murphy-Bunting and Mike Edwards both had underwhelming performances against New Orleans. The duo allowed multiple first downs in coverage and recorded one missed tackle each on the day.
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