NEW ORLEANS — Terrific effort by the Saints to beat the Tampa Bay Bucs. 3-0 for the Saints in games without Drew Brees.
They’re playing complimentary football. The defense was terrific. Marshon Lattimore had another great game. Demario Davis was everywhere.
However, the story of this game was the Saints defensive line, which was unbelievably good. Malcolm Brown looks like a great free agent signing. Sheldon Rankins is coming along better than any of us thought he would a few months ago. Cam Jordan is not blockable. But, to me, the big difference and the bright spot going forward is Marcus Davenport. He had two sacks and three quarterback hits against the Bucs and he really seems to have taken a step forward the past two weeks. He’s enormously athletic and talented. If the light can go on for him and it appears maybe it is right now that is a great thing for the Saints.
I know Tampa got the garbage touchdown at the end, but a great effort by the Saints defense.
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And, you saw the Saints go completely different on offense. They went over the top a bunch. Teddy Bridgewater was outstanding, beating coverage by going over coverage, which he didn’t do in his first two starts.
And the Saints worked it a lot more to Jared Cooks. It was nice to see Cooks involved. Obviously, Mike Thomas stole the show. The chemistry between Bridgewater and Thomas was good and getting Cooks involved is a huge plus going forward. All positives.
I know the Bucs haven’t been a good team the past few years but they played really well last year and they’re looking like a good team this year.
The Saints really dominated this game. The score was closer than the game actually was. A big win for the Saints.
Drew Brees, if you saw this week, is actually throwing a football. He’s not too far away. I would not expect to see him play this coming week, but he’s not too far away and things are all trending up for the Saints.