The New Orleans Saints (0-1) wanted to get rid of the stench that was left when they came up short up in Minnesota last January. Well, the 2018 season still has some of that stink on it after falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) 48-40.
Things looked good for the Saints to start the ballgame, going on a six-play drive that was capped off by a quick run into the endzone for Alvin Kamara to give them the early lead. Tampa Bay responded just as quickly with Ryan Fitzpatrick connecting with a wide-open Ryan Fitzpatrick for a 58-yard touchdown pass to even things up.
Wil Lutz got his team the lead back after a 36-yard field goal, but the Buccaneers run game proved to be too much on their second drive with Fitzpatrick running it in from three yards out to make it an 14-10 ballgame.
The offensive flurry from both teams continued in the second quarter when Brees connected with Ted Ginn on a 28-yard pass to make it a 17-14 game. However, things started to turn sour when the Buccaneers put up 17 unanswered points, highlighted by a scoop and score by Justin Evans to make it a two-score game. The Saints did build up some momentum before halftime with a nine-play drive that ended with Brees connecting with Michael Thomas to make it 31-24 headed into the locker room.
The Buccaneers smelt the blood in the water to start in the second half, putting up 17 unanswered points to start the second half and that was highlighted by a 50-yard pass to Mike Evans with 2:58 left in the third quarter.
New Orleans was able to make the game look a little more competitive in the final nine minutes of the ballgame with a pair of touchdowns by Kamara, but it was too little too late.
The Saints will return to action next Sunday when they play host to the Cleveland Browns (0-0-1) with kickoff set for 12 pm.
-Clint Domingue