Bucs at Saints: Most Impressive In Week 4

In an absolute second-half drubbing, the Bucs beat the Saints 26-9 and have claimed sole possession of first place in the NFC South with a 3-1 record heading into the bye week. Here are the most impressive from their victory on Sunday.

S Antoine Winfield Jr.

From the first play of the game, Winfield helped set the tone for how the Bucs defense would play all day. The Bucs safety helped take down Saints running back Alvin Kamara in the flat for no gain. From there, Winfield would find his Star Trek teleporter to help him make sure he was everywhere throughout the day.

With nine combined tackles, a sack and a key forced fumble and recovery late in the second quarter deep in Saints territory following a Bucs turnover, Winfield was an absolute FORCE on the day.

I cannot stress how hard it is for safeties to be game wreckers. Especially free safeties. For Winfield to affect so much near the line of scrimmage while also breaking up a deep pass from Saints quarterback Derek Carr to receiver Chris Olave in the end zone is absolutely incredible. Winfield was absolutely the player of the game for the Bucs.

QB Baker Mayfield

While Mayfield threw his second interception in as many games, he also engineered three separate long scoring drives of 17, 14 and 10 plays, respectively. Mayfield ended the day 25-32 for 246 yards and three touchdowns. He added eight scrambles for 31 yards as he continued to excel in out-of-structure moments.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Mayfield eluded Saints pass rushers as he identified creases in their pass rush lanes to create running lanes as well as passing outlet windows. This was especially evident on his flip to tight end Cade Otton for a touchdown in the second quarter to take a lead the Bucs would never relinquish.

Mayfield added a beautiful fade ball to Trey Palmer for a 1-yard touchdown later in the second quarter and a fantastic scramble drill find of Deven Thompkins for his third touchdown in the second half.

Mayfield looks to be completely comfortable in the Dave Canales offense to the point that when things break down, the game slows down for him, allowing him to freely create out-of-structure and off-platform.

WR Mike Evans

Evans factored in heavily early in the game with three catches for 40 yards and a DPI call forced against Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore to help set up a score in the second quarter. The Bucs’ veteran receiver helped push the Saints defense vertically with two separate 18-yard catches.

Evans would leave the game in the first half and not return, but his impact early helped the Bucs secure an early lead they would never give back.

RB Rachaad White

White had more holes to work with on Sunday than he has had all season long. And his results showed improvement. He finished with 15 carries for 56 yards with three catches for an additional 22 yards. While the stat-line isn’t blow-your-doors-off great, it was key moments where he earned a hard-fought first down that helped keep several drives alive.

White picked up three key first downs on the day. None were more key than a swing pass that he took 11 yards on a 3rd & 8 deep in Saints territory to set up 1st & Goal for an eventual touchdown to open the Bucs’ scoring.

CB Zyon McCollum

With Jamel Dean out with an injury, McCollum was called on for the third consecutive game to start against a talented receiving corps. McCollum once again turned up with good coverage on the day, helping to stifle several deep shots that Carr took throughout the day.

McCollum was a part of the coverage unit that held Chris Olave to just one catch for four yards on six targets and Michael Thomas to four catches for 53 yards on six targets. The development of McCollum to step in and play at this level for three consecutive weeks has been nothing short of a revelation.

Bucs’ Defensive Back Seven

Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. and Saints FB Austin Prentice – Photo by: USA Today

It’s hard to single out an individual player when you consider the teamwork required to pull off what the Bucs did. With Carr nursing a shoulder injury, the Saints tried to lean on running back Alvin Kamara as a receiving threat in the flats and over the middle.

Lavonte David, Devin White, Christian Izien, Winfield, Carlton Davis and Dee Delaney showed incredible open-field tackling to hold Kamara to just 33 yards receiving on 14(!) targets.

This group also totaled 42 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, four passes defensed, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception. The Bucs’ back end held up against talented playmakers from the Saints as head coach Todd Bowles continued to create pressure through schemed-up blitzes.

NT Vita Vea

Vea, battling through an injury, took advantage of a patchwork interior offensive line of the Saints to generate consistent pressure along with two sacks and a forced fumble. Vea was consistently in Carr’s grill, forcing him to check down even when he wanted to find receivers deeper.

WR Chris Godwin

Godwin got involved early as a short-to-intermediate option for Mayfield. But after Evans had to exit with a hamstring injury, Godwin became the Bucs’ receiving corps. Ending the day with 114 yards on eight catches and 11 targets, Godwin helped move the Bucs offense downfield over and over.

He caught three passes, including two first downs (and a crucial third down conversion) on the Bucs’ initial touchdown drive of the game. He then followed that up with a 32-yard catch on a play action crossing route that helped set up a field goal in the third quarter.

Godwin then helped put the game away with a 42-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter to put the Bucs up 23-9 with just under four minutes left in the game.

Bucs Offensive Line

It wasn’t a perfect day for the Bucs’ protection unit. However, it was improved. Against a formidable opponent in the Saints’ defensive line, the Bucs offensive line was able to give Mayfield time to find receivers down field and opened enough holes to help manufacture a run game that had to be at least respected by the Saints defense.

The Saints only managed to drag Mayfield down for a sack just once on the day while Mayfield was able to throw for almost 250 yards. Incredibly, they held up for almost five seconds on the Thompkins touchdown as Mayfield ordered a pizza before finding the young receiver for a score.

K Chase McLaughlin

An unsung hero of the Bucs’ young season, McLaughlin was perfect on the day, hitting all three of his point-after tries as well as field goal attempts of 51 and 28 yards. If not for a blocked kick in week two against Chicago, McLaughlin would be perfect on the season, including long tries of 57 and 51.

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