New Orleans Saints: Players who need to step up against the Buccaneers

The New Orleans Saints were handed an ugly loss by the Atlanta Falcons and have another matchup with ugly loss potential against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Everything was going right for the New Orleans Saints heading into their bye week. The Saints had won six straight games, five of which were without their starting quarterback, and the team was passing every single test and challenge that was thrown their way.

Literally everything was going right results-wise for the Saints despite all of the hurdles that the team had to overcome. That was, of course, until the Atlanta Falcons came into town in Week 10 and handed the Saints their ugliest loss of the season.

The 1-7 Falcons came into this game playing like it was their Super Bowl and didn’t just beat the Saints, they routed them. While every loss matters as the Saints vie for the first seed in the NFC, fans should not be panicking about one ugly loss.

However, the Saints do have to take on another division rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in Week 11. The Saints are on the road against the Bucs and what makes them so scary is not that they are a good team, but that they are prone for these huge breakout games, especially against division foes.

Saint fans have seen this before. In fact, the Saints have gone 1-1 against the Buccaneers the last four seasons.

Is this going to be a trend breaker, or is it going to be more of the same? Whether or not these three players can step up will determine that fate.