Saturday, 4 a.m.
They can glide. At times, they can soar. They can speed past you, fluid and fiery, and you cannot keep up.
And then, without warning, they will stumble.
They are the Tampa Bay Bucs, and every now and then, they step in it.
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Poor Tampa Bay. They cannot stay out of their own way. They can march, and they can parade, and then they can stub their toes. They have nothing to fear but the mirror itself.
For intance, they can go 3-1 with wins over Washington, Detroit and Philadelphia. Then they stumble twice in four weeks against Atlanta. They can look like dynamite against the Giants, then almost blow it against Carolina. They can look terrific against San Diego, then lay an egg against Dallas. They can destroy Carolina...
... And now?
Now here we are, in a must-win game against a Saints team the Bucs destroyed earlier. And the sneaking fear is that it will happen again. The Bucs are overwhelming favorites, which is not a good place for them to be.
Oh, the Bucs should handle the Saints, who gave up the ghost weeks ago. They're home, they're rolling. They should spend most of the day trying to add to Mike Evans' numbers.
But they've been here before. And they've stumbled before.
How do they lose to Spencer Rattler? Same way they lost to Cooper Rush. They have a weak secondary and poor pass rush. They have a knack for turning the ball over. They commit penalties.
Yeah, like that.
Still, I don't think the Saints will care enough to keep it up for a full half.
Prediction: Tampa Bay 30, New Orleans 17.
In other NFL games:
Atlanta 27, Carolina 24.
Washington 31, Dallas 20.
Seattle 19, L.A. Rams 17.
N.Y. Jets 3, Miami 2.
Detroit 24, Minnesota 17.