clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Buccaneers still beating Saints heading into fourth quarter

The Bucs are beating the Saints 20-7, which means they're losing the first overall pick in the draft.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren't listening to their fans. Instead of losing to the New Orleans Saints and securing the first overall pick, they're winning -- and by a sizable margin, too.

The Bucs have played some good football, today. The offense has done what it needs to do, scoring two touchdowns and even running the football competently. Perhaps most importantly, they haven't turned the ball over. But the difference maker has been the defensive performance: the Bucs have picked off Drew Brees three times today, including twice in the third quarter -- two of those picks came on throws down the middle of the field.

Brees has been forced to rely on short completions to move the ball, and that's not his strength: he's usually looking for explosive plays, and the Bucs have taken away that option today. Can they hold on in the fourth quarter and ruin their draft position, or will the Saints come back at the last minute, as so many teams have done in Tampa this year?