Saints “Winners and Losers” From the Loss to Tampa Bay
By Bob Rose
Dec 11, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton talks with quarterback Drew Brees (9) during the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the New Orleans Saints 16-11. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers effectively turned out the lights on the New Orleans Saints’ 2016 season with a 16-11 defeat yesterday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL.
The loss dropped New Orleans to (5-8), and ensured that the Saints will not finish with a winning record for the 4th time in their last five seasons.
Since evening their record at (4-4) in San Francisco over a month ago, the Saints have responded by going 1-4 — seemingly playing WORSE each week as the stakes were raised for any potential playoff berth.
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The last two weeks in particular, in losses to Detroit and Tampa, have been a baffling turn of fortune to a team that had seemed to be progressing into a contender.
As always, we will cast a vote on just who some of the”winners and losers” for the Saints were following the game, all the while wondering ‘what might have been’ if a couple of bounces might have gone a different way earlier in the season.
With that in mind, here are our Saints “winners and losers” from yesterday’s loss to the Buccaneers.
Starting with one of our few “winners”…….