NEW ORLEANS — The way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came out swinging from the opening bell reminded me of the Saints season opener in 2021.
That week, Hurricane Ida hit the New Orleans area. Sean Payton had to take his Saints to Dallas to practice, then to Jacksonville for a home game against the Green Bay Packers.
Somehow, the shared stress of that week bonded his team, and they absolutely destroyed the Packers.
Of course, this week, Hurricane Milton tore through the Tampa area. The Buccaneers evacuated Florida and set up shop in New Orleans. And somehow, the shared stress of this week bonded that team, and they ran over the Saints.
Both the '21 Saints and the '24 Bucs were able to give their fanbases something to smile about at a time when their communities were hurting.
Let me start our four takeaways with the one area where the Saints dominated.
#4 Only Positive: Special Teams
The special teams were excellent. Rashid Shaheed's second-quarter punt return touchdown looked so easy.
Shaheed is an elite return man. Rookie punter Matthew Hayball has been excellent and was again sunday.
Blake Grupe hit all five of his kicks, and the coverage teams were good.
In a close game, this would have mattered, but of course, it didn't Sunday.
#3 Rattler )
Number three, if I had to give Spencer Rattler's debut a letter grade, I'd give it a "C" or maybe a C-.
I thought Klint Kubiak had a great plan for Rattler's debut, with a ton of rollouts and playaction passes.
For a half, it worked. Rattler was seeing the field effectively, and his numbers show it.
There were some really promising moments in that first half, but then, the Buccaneers adjusted.. and rattled Rattler.
He was not good in the second half. The two interceptions were bad passes.
Rattler's second-half numbers were terrible. 26 quarterbacks started this week thru Sunday night. Rattler was the 24th best out of 26.
You'll never win with these numbers. It was his first game. And again, there were positive signs in an overall disappointing debut.
Let me say this: Rattler was not the reason the Saints lost this game.
That falls squarely on the defense.
#2 D disturbingly bad
The defense was disturbingly bad. They are now in the top five in the NFL in missed tackles.
Tampa Bay rushed for 277 yards. That's not just bad; that's embarrassing.
It's the most rushing yards given up in one game by any team this season.
594 total yards is the most yards given up in one game by any team this season. I could give you 15 more numbers that illustrate how terrible it was.
But let's just say this was a historically bad day defensively.
For the first time in Dennis Allen's tenure as Saints head coach, this felt at times like a lack of effort. That's the reddest of red flags.
#1 Season on the brink
I said this last week, and I'll say it again: this is a season now on the brink.
When I said it last week, I meant for this three-game window: the Bucs, the Broncos, and the Chargers.
For this season not to spiral out of control, you have to win at least one of these three. And test number one was a failure.
At some point, the Saints are gonna get Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Taysom Hill, and Derek Carr back.
They'll have a chance to reclaim some of that early-season offensive magic.
It is not time to give up on this season yet.
We're only six games in, but the Saints' defense is now the worst in the NFL.
I have to tell you I did not see that coming preseason, and if the answers are in-house, they have not shown themselves yet.
To save this season, Dennis Allen has to fix his defense fast because it's spiraling downward quickly.
That's my 4 Takeaways from the embarrassing loss to the Bucs.
WWL Louisiana's '4 Takeaways' is sponsored by Rouse's Markets, the official supermarket of the New Orleans Saints.
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