Bucs Must Be Balanced On Offense To Beat Saints

The Bucs have only beaten the Saints once in the last eight meetings, and that came in the 2020 NFC Divisional Playoffs when it mattered most. Winning the turnover battle, 4-0, was a pivotal factor in a 30-20 road playoff win. Those turnovers created a few short fields for the Bucs’ offense, which out-gained the Saints that day, 316-294 yards.

But the fact that Tampa Bay ran the ball so effectively can’t go unnoticed, either.

Leonard Fournette carried 17 times for 63 yards, while Ronald Jones II ran for 62 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Tom Brady ran the ball five times for two yards, but one of those carries was a 1-yard touchdown plunge to put the game away in the fourth quarter. Tampa Bay totaled 127 yards and a TD on 35 carries in the playoff win.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs have failed to rush for 90 yards or more in three of the five games that Brady has played in. In a 38-3 shellacking at the hands of New Orleans in Tampa Bay on a Sunday Night Football game in 2020, the Bucs ran the ball just five times for eight yards. Both were franchise-record lows in a game for Tampa Bay.

The only other time the Bucs have rushed for 100 yards or more against the Saints since 2019 was 118 yards on 21 carries in their last meeting on Dec. 19, 2021. New Orleans shut out Tampa Bay 9-0. But that loss represented the closest margin on the scoreboard since the Bucs prevailed in the playoffs. The Saints won the turnover battle back in Week 15, 2-0, and that proved to be the difference.

So, aside from winning the turnover battle, the other key to victory for the Bucs seems to be having success running the ball for over 120 yards. Tampa Bay worked on its ground game in training camp and the preseason. And it started the 2022 regular season by rushing for 152 yards on 33 carries (4.8 avg.) in a 19-3 win over Dallas in Week 1.

Bucs Ran The Ball To Beat The Cowboys In Week 1

Running back Leonard Fournette started the season with 127 yards on 21 carries (6.0 avg.). Although he’s been limited with a hamstring strain in practice this week, Fournette is expected to play.

“He was great and the line was great and the receivers blocked well and there was good communication,” Brady said. “We’re going to need that all year, so it was a great way to start. We’ve got to continue to build on it and this is a good team to do that against because you’ve got to stay really balanced against these guys.

“I don’t think you can turn it into a pass-a-thon. Stay balanced and be really efficient in what we’re doing up front and play physical and don’t turn the ball over and score points in the red area and play well in the kicking game and try to get some turnovers on defense – if we can do all those things I think we’ll be pretty happy at the end of the day.”

The Bucs have had a history of throwing the ball too much against the Saints and it hasn’t worked out for Brady and the offense. Not only is Tampa Bay 0-4 in the regular season against New Orleans since Brady’s arrival in 2020, he’s also been sacked 13 times, fumbled twice and thrown eight interceptions, including a pair of pick-sixes, with just six passing touchdowns.

In that playoff win over New Orleans, Brady passed for just 199 yards and two touchdowns and threw the ball 33 times – which was the fewest amount of times he’s passed against the Saints since joining the Bucs.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich isn’t fond of the word “balanced.” Instead, he prefers the term “multiple” when describing how the Bucs can – and will – attack the Saints this time around.

“You guys (the media) always said that we should be more balanced,” Leftwich said. “The way that I see it is, prepare and be multiple and be able to do whatever you need to do to win that game that day. That’s how I view it. I don’t look at the game of football and say you have to be balanced – you have to run it 50 times, you have to throw it 50 times. I don’t view the game that way.

“I think you want to be multiple, and whatever is required to win that football game that day, are you good enough to get that done? Are you capable of getting that accomplished? That’s what we practice, we try and practice in that way – that we have multiple ways that we can win football games. Whatever that is, we’re going to try and do that to the best of our ability.”

Just run the ball, Byron. That’s been the proven winning strategy against the Saints in the past. And New Orleans just surrendered 201 yards rushing and two touchdowns last week in a narrow, 27-26, come-from-behind Week 1 win at Atlanta.

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