Tampa Bay Buccaneers are due for an upset over Saints

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110-33
Thats the combined score of the last threes road losses to the New Orleans Saints by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, not exactly something the Bucs are going to be favored for.

One of the great away moments, the 2-12 Bucs upset the 13-1 Saints.

At home the Bucs have lost 2 games as well:  a 2 point nail biter that was the result of a missed FG, and a 7 point loss in Orange uni’s where the Bucs caught TDs on 3rd and 4th down only to have them ruled incomplete.

That’s 5 straight losses, but the real surprise is before that, Tampa Bay won 3 of the previous 4 games including both ROAD games in New Orleans! Since Drew Brees took over the Saints, the Bucs are 6-10, but that includes the last 5 losses, so going into the Greg Schiano era, the Bucs were 6-5. (Oddly, Raheem Morris was 3-3 splitting each year with the buyou boys in black.

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Below are highlights of how select Buccaneers have performed during their careers against the New Orleans Saints:

LB Lavonte David: Combined for 28 tackles, 1.5 sacks and three passes defensed in four games against the Saints in his career (2012-13).

LB Mason Foster: Returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Saints (9/15/13).

WR Vincent Jackson: Combined for nine catches for 112 yards in two games against the Saints in 2013… Caught seven passes for a franchise- record 216 yards and one touchdown, including a 95-yard reception, the longest play from scrimmage in franchise history (10/21/12).

QB Mike Glennon: In his only career game against the Saints, went 22-for-41 passing for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception (12/29/13).

RB Doug Martin: Recorded 144 rushing yards on 29 attempts in his most recent appearance against the Saints (9/15/13)… In three career games against New Orleans, has rushed 54 times for 245 yards (4.5 avg.) and one touchdown, adding 56 yards receiving on six catches.

WR Louis Murphy: Notched three receptions for 57 yards in a win against the Saints as a member of the Carolina Panthers (12/30/12).

TE Brandon Myers: Caught six passes for 55 yards and a touchdown as a member of the Oakland Raiders (11/18/12).

So what happened the last time we played? The score was New Orleans 42, Tampa Bay 17,  the Screen Shot 2014-10-02 at 10.59.53 AM
Screen Shot 2014-10-02 at 11.00.53 AM2013 season finale, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveled to New Orleans to face the Saints. With New Orleans needing a win to help secure a playoff spot, the two teams battled back and forth early in the game, but the Saints took over the game and overcame the Buccaneers, 42-17. Tampa Bay elected to defer to the second half, giving quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints offense the field first. The Buccaneers stopped the Saints on third-and-1 at the Tampa Bay 46 on the drive, but the Saints opted to attempt to convert and did so successfully. On the next play, Brees connected with tight end Lance Moore on a 44-yard pass for the 7-0 lead. However, the Buccaneers answered immediately, scoring with a 48-yard flea flicker pass from quarterback Mike Glennon to wide receiver Tiquan Underwood. New Orleans took the lead back, 14-7, after marching 80 yards down the field to end with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Brees to tight end Jimmy Graham. In the second quarter, the Saints brought the score to 21-7 on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Brees to wide receiver Robert Meachem, but the Buccaneers responded with a score of their own, cutting into New Orleans’ lead following a one-yard touchdown pass from Glennon to tight end Tim Wright. On the ensuing drive, however, Brees connected with wide receiver Kenny Stills on third-and-6 for a 76-yard touchdown, giving New Orleans a 28-14 advantage at the end of the first half. Though Tampa Bay added a 54-yard field goal by kicker Rian Lindell on its opening drive of the third quarter, New Orleans was able control the lead, adding another touchdown on an eight-yard rush by running back Pierre Thomas. Glennon was intercepted on the first play of the following drive, and the Saints were able to turn the pick into another score as Brees scrambled nine yards for the touchdown. The Buccaneers were unable to produce any additional scoring in the remainder of the final quarter, ending the game at 42-17.

HISTORY SERIES HIGHLIGHTS!  

CB Mike Washington (45 yards), LB Richard Wood (10) and DE Greg Johnson (0) returned interceptions for scores in 33-14 Bucs win (12/11/77), the first in franchise history… Saints scored 42 unanswered points – all in the second half – en route to 42-14 win at Tampa Stadium (10/14/79)… New Orleans scored five of its six TDs on the ground, rushing for 234 yards on 48 carries… QB Doug Williams threw for 218 yards and two TDs house-no82in 31-14 road win (11/29/81)… Teams combined for 600 passing yards in 44-34 Saints win at the Superdome (12/6/87)… WR Mark Carrier caught five passes for 120 yards, helping the Bucs snap six-game series skid with a 20-10 win (9/24/89)… K Morten Andersen booted a 50-yard FG to lift New Orleans to a 23-21 victory alstott-no99(11/1/92)… Rookie FB Mike Alstott caught seven passes for 91 yards, including a 17-yard TD in 13-7 Bucs victory (11/24/96)… The Bucs snapped a nine-game road losing streak in the series with a 31-16 victory at New Orleans (11/7/99)… Tampa Bay tied the club’s single-game record for points scored in a 48-21 victory over New Orleans at Raymond James Stadium (12/23/01)… CB Ronde Barber set a club record (later tied) with three interceptions, including a 36-yard return for a touchdown on his final interception, as the Bucs sapp-no2002apicked off Saints QB Aaron Brooks four times… New Orleans LB James Allen intercepted a desperation pass from P Tom Tupa in the end zone on a botched punt to lead the Saints to a 26-20 overtime win in head coach Jon Gruden’s debut (9/8/02)… Trailing late in the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay posted a frantic 10-point comeback to send the game into overtime… WR Joe Jurevicius made a one-handed grab for an 11-yard TD with 2:41 on the clock and Gramatica nailed a 40-yard field goal as time expired to force the extra period… TE Ken Dilger and DT Warren Sapp, who was playing tight end at the time, both caught touchdowns as the Bucs won 14-7 at New Orleans (12/7/03)… QB Chris Simms made his first career start in the NFL at New Orleans (10/10/04) and completed 5-of-8 pass attempts for 68 yards before leaving the game because of injury late in the first quarter… Backup QB Brian Griese relieved Simms and led the Buccaneers to a 20-17 win by completing 16-of-19 pass attempts for 194 yards and one touchdown… CB Ronde BARBER GRUDENBarber recorded his second three-interception game of his career against the Saints in Baton Rouge (12/4/05)… Tampa Bay clinched the NFC South title with a 27-13 win vs. New Orleans (1/1/06)… WR Joey Galloway caught a pair of touchdown passes, his ninth and 10th of the season to set a new team record… Saints RB Reggie Bush scored his first career touchdown on a 65-yard punt return late in the fourth quarter to give New Orleans (10/8/06) a 24- 21 win in New Orleans…

After losing its first game of the season on the road, Tampa Bay was able to defeat New Orleans (9/16/07) 31-14 at home for their first of nine wins on the season en route to the 2007 NFC South division title… The Buccaneers all but sealed up the 2007 NFC South Championship after they were able to leave New Orleans (12/2/07) with 27-23 come from behind victory… Trailing 23-20 with 3:36 remaining in the fourth quarter, DT Jovan Haye was able to recover a RB Reggie Bush fumble on New Orleans 37-yard line… After marching down the field, QB Luke mccown3-no07aMcCown found TE Jerramy Stevens in the end zone with just 14 seconds remaining in the game to give Tampa the win… The Buccaneers defense intercepted Saints QB Drew Brees three times in 23-20 defeat of the Saints to give Gruden his 100th career victory (11/30/08)… PR Micheal Spurlock return a punt 77 yards for a touchdown, as the Buccaneers erased a 17-3 halftime deficit to knock off the Saints 20-17 at Superdome … RB Carnell Williams rushed 24 times for 129 yards and a touchdown as K Connor Barth hit the game-winning 47-yard field goal in overtime (12/27/09)… WR Micheal Spurlock caught a two yard touchdown pass in the second half during a 31-6 loss to the Saints (10/17/10)… QB Josh Freeman went 21-of-26 for 255 yards and two touchdowns as the Buccaneers defeated the Saints at New Orleans, finishing the season 10-6 (1/2/11)…The Buccaneers forced four turnovers, including intercepting QB Drew Brees three times, en route to a 26-20 victory over the Saints at Raymond James Stadium (10/16/11)… QB Josh Freeman threw for 303 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions, while RB Earnest Graham picked up 109 yards on the ground for Tampa Bay… The Saints never trailed in a 27-16 victory over barth-no09athe Buccaneers in New Orleans (11/6/11)…Saints QB Drew Brees led the way for New Orleans, completing 27-of-37 passes for 281 yards, two touchdowns and one interception…In a high-scoring affair, the Saints held on to beat the Buccaneers 35-28 in Tampa (10/21/12) on the strength of 337 passing yards and four touchdowns from QB Drew Brees… The Buccaneers staged a late comeback but fell short as WR Mike Williams apparent game-tying touchdown catch was nullified by a penalty as time expired…The Buccaneers fell to the Saints road 41-0 on the road (12/16/12)…Tampa Bay’s defense allowed 447 yards of total offense, while QB Josh Freeman threw four interceptions (12/16/12)… RB Doug Martin rushed for 144 yards on 29 attempts, but the Buccaneers lost in the final seconds, 16-14, on a Saints field goal (9/15/13)… LB Mason Foster returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the loss… The Saints topped the Buccaneers 42-17 in the 2013 season finale between the two teams (12/29/13)… but we’ve already covered that above!!

 

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