Welcome everyone to another edition of #4Downs! Today’s edition will be breaking down the Saints demoralizing loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
1st Down: Brees Under Fire
One of the most glaring negatives on this Saints team that has been present since last season is the offensive line. And the problem is all the more apparent with how much the Bucs defense was able to get to Brees and cause pressure. This caused Brees to throw errant passes, the run game to become almost nonexistent and force turnovers. After a loss like this, the offensive line needs to run quite a few laps to get back on track.
2nd Down: Defense is Jekyll and Hyde situation
On certain plays, the Saints defense looked very good, getting a couple turnovers late to try and rally back to win, but there were too many moments like when Delvin Breaux wasn’t able to cover his man and let a play go over him. Overall, the defense was the positive this week, but even that wasn’t a huge positive.
3rd Down: Brees Possibly Hurt?
Early on in Sunday’s matchup against Tampa Bay, Brees took a huge hit and really wasn’t the same afterwards. Now, Brees may not be that bad off because he stayed in the game. But given Sean Payton’s past of not divulging anything, it could be a big injury, and according to rumors, it could be a possible career-ender. We should find out something later in the week. Hopefully, this isn’t anything major.
4th Down: Time to Hit the Panic Button?
YES. It has to be time to hit the panic button. If you lose against a rookie QB and a defense that got shredded last week by the Titans, there’s a lot to be worried about. Combine that with a possible major injury to Brees leads to a perfectly good reason why it’s now time to hit the panic button.
Hope you enjoyed this edition of #4Downs!
-Clint Domingue