The 7-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the 5-7 New Orleans Saints today, as they hope to keep their playoff hopes alive. For the first time in years the Bucs are in position to earn a playoff spot, and for the first time in weeks they’re clearly the better team on game day, too.
That doesn’t mean this will be an easy win for the Bucs, though. The Saints are terrible on defense, but Drew Brees has been on fire this season, with their running game firing on all cylinders. High-scoring games have been the standard for the Saints — they’ve just lost a bunch of them.
That’s not great news for the Bucs, who have mostly won low-scoring, defense-driven games this season, especially over the past month. Jameis Winston and company have struggled to score a lot of points, and if this is going to be a shoot-out the Bucs may be at a disadvantage.
At the same time, the Bucs defense has been outstanding in recent weeks. There’s not much reason to assume that’s going to change today, even with Drew Brees’ excellence. The Bucs have usually managed to keep Brees in check, which bodes well for today.
Overall, I think the Bucs are the better team. That doesn’t mean this will be an easy game, but it does mean that this should turn into a win. A close, high-scoring win, but a win nonetheless. Bucs win 30-28, is my prediction. What do you think?