New Orleans Saints: Win over Buccaneers went exactly how we expected

The New Orleans Saints moved to 3-0 without Drew Brees with a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday that went exactly as anticipated.

The New Orleans Saints hosted a dangerous Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that was coming off of a 55-point game and were doing so without their starting quarterback. Nonetheless, the Saints moved to 3-0 without Drew Brees with a 31-24 victory over the Bucs.

And not to toot my own horn or anything, but this game went exactly how I anticipated and I predicted leading into the game.

The only thing I got wrong was the fact that the Saints did not really “rout” the Buccaneers, however, it was a last-minute garbage-time touchdown that made this game a seven-point game. The Saints were in control for most of the game and it certainly felt like a routing.

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Let’s breakdown what we predicted prior to the game, starting with the Saints.

First was Teddy Bridgewater, who I predicted to have his best start with the Saints thus far. Bridgewater did just that and was even better than I predicted. I predicted a 285-yard game with two touchdowns and he finished the day with 314 yards and four touchdowns.

I also stated that Michael Thomas would be a stud (not a dud) in this game after two slow games with Bridgewater under center. I predicted at least 10 receptions and 150 yards, he caught 11 receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns.

In the duds section of that same article, I went with Alvin Kamara and Eli Apple. Kamara did not have a great game, rushing the ball 16 times for 62 yards, but he did add 42 yards of receiving. As for Eli Apple, Chris Godwin had the big day I was expecting while Marshon Lattimore covered Mike Evans.

Godwin had seven receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns while Evans did not have a single reception.

One thing I did get wrong was that Jameis Winston did not throw three interceptions, as he actually continued to not give the ball away and had zero interceptions, although there was a false start that saved what would have been an interception in the first quarter.

But as predicted, this game would come down to Winston’s performance and he didn’t really have that special of a game. He completed 15 of his 27 passes for only 204 yards, but he did get two touchdowns, albeit one was in garbage time.

Heck, 73 of his yards were in that last garbage-time drive. You can’t take it away from Winston but he had 131 yards heading into the last drive of the game for his team. You cannot spin that as a good game in any way.

So aside from Winston not throwing the ball away and Kamara and Latavius Murray actually getting decent yardage on the ground (although not great), I hit this game right on the head.

Next. Studs and duds prediction. dark

So what does that tell us? That you should be checking out Big Easy Believer for all of your pregame New Orleans Saints needs!

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