New Orleans Saints: Get to know the Buccaneers’ three strongest areas

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 12: Head coach Bruce Arians of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during their game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on September 12, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 12: Head coach Bruce Arians of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during their game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on September 12, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) – New Orleans Saints
(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) – New Orleans Saints /

1. Linebackers

The reason why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are first in rushing yards allowed, despite playing the Carolina Panthers and Christian McCaffrey as well as the Los Angeles Rams and Todd Gurley, is because of the linebacker unit on the field.

More from Big Easy Believer

The best area of the entire team is the backers as the Bucs boast one of the most talented linebacker units in all of football. Because of them, Alvin Kamara is going to have a challenging day both running the ball and getting open in the passing game and Teddy Bridgewater might face a good amount of pressure.

Outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for September. Barrett leads the NFL in sacks with nine (which is absolutely insane for four games) and has another seven tackles for loss.

The Bucs only have two more sacks aside from that but they do have a total of 20 tackles for loss in four games.

In the middle of the field is two impressive linebackers in veteran Lavonte David and rookie Devin White. David is a one-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler that is on pace for his second straight 120-tackle season.

Meanwhile, White, although he only has eight tackles this year, was one of few extremely talented linebackers in the 2019 NFL Draft and was selected fifth overall by the Bucs. As fans of the New Orleans Saints, you know exactly how good White is from his time with LSU.

Next. Three bold predictions vs. the Bucs. dark

The key for the Saints has to be targeting the outside of the field and the deep ball to go after the shaky secondary. Anything in the middle of the field could be troublesome on Sunday.