Looking back on Bucs’ win over Saints

by Gary Shelton on October 15, 2024

in general

Tuesday, 4 a.m.

5 Thoughts

  1. How much better do you think Rachaad White is feeling today? Nothing like a case of the Irvings and Tuckers, is there?

2. Yeah, the Saints are going to spend a lot of time worried about Spencer Rattler today. But Derek Carr wouldn’t have helped that defense, would he?

3. Gee. Just how many would the Bucs have scored if their coaches weren’t mentally suspect?




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4. Yeah, it’s old news, but if the clock was one second faster against Atlanta, the Bucs would be 5-1 today.

5. The tough sledding part of the schedule is upon us.  In the next month, the Bucs play the Ravens, the Falcons, the Chiefs and the 49ers.

5 Comments

(On Sean Tucker’s performance): “It’s definitely worth him making it a three-headed monster. He took advantage of his opportunities. He ran away from some tackles, some linebackers. He ran through the hole. He cut back, he made some people make plays. He caught the ball well out of the backfield so that gives us a three-headed monster.”

(On the identity of the offense and defense): “Right now, it’s just resiliency. Us coming back and forming toughness in the second half and learning off our mistakes. If we can eliminate penalties, if we can eliminate shooting ourselves in the foot, which we’re cutting down more and more, I think we have a chance to be a very good team.”

(On what was said at halftime): “We just made our adjustments. We showed a lack of composure in the first half — we really talked about that before the game. The penalties piled up on us. We were getting false starts and we were getting penalties on defense. We showed a lack of composure to allow plays. We had to calm down against a division opponent. We knew if we could keep our composure in the second half and cut down on the mistakes, we thought we could make some plays.”

(On Tykee Smith’s play): He probably gets the most veteran treatment out of all our rookies because he doesn’t make as many mistakes as everybody else. He made a few last week that he cleaned up. He played an outstanding game. He covered well, he tackled well, he blitzed well. He played zone well. He punched the ball out. He got an interception. His all-around play all year has been outstanding.”

(On Chris Godwin’s ability to help in the running game): He’s helping a great deal in the run game. I mean, he’s helping in the run game  as much as in the pass game. He’s playing an all-around type of play. His football game speaks for itself. “

Game Balls

Offense: Godwin was terrific, but you’ve seen it before. Baker Mayfield was solid in the second half, but you’ve seen that, too. But no one had ever seen anything like Sean Tucker.

Defense: Hello again, Lavonte David. Sunday, he had nine tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss.

Special teams: Chase McLaughlin had a field goal and six extra points.

Grades

Quarterback: Mayfield had three interceptions in the first half, but they weren’t all his fault. He was very good in the second half. Grade: B.

Running backs: Between Tucker and Bucky Irving, can you wait to see the Bucs run the ball next game? Grade: A.

Offensive line: No problems with this one. Grade: A.

Defensive line: The Saints didn’t have 100 yards rushing and they gave up five sacks. Grade: B+.

Linebackers: White was solid again. Grade: B+.

Secondary: The secondary wasn’t great against Rattler, but they rallied. Grade: C.

Power Rankings

  1. Kansas City

2. Minnesota

3. Detroit

4. Houston

5. Baltimore

Bottom Five

32. Carolina

31.  Jacksonville

30. Tennessee

29. Cleveland

28. New England

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