The new look Tampa Bay Buccaneers came to the former Louisiana Superdome, soon to be former Mercedes Benz Superdome, soon to be the Dominos’ Superdome, hoping to surprise the Saints without their customary loud home field advantage. It wasn’t to be. The steady but unspectacular Saints held off the not quite ready Bucs, 34-23.
Don’t let the score fool you. Both defenses played pretty well, and both offenses sputtered most of the day. There were a couple of big plays that made the difference There were two aging veteran quarterbacks on the field and to be honest they looked it most of the time. Brady threw two interceptions, one a pick 6 by Janorius Jenkins that was a big difference as the second half began, and Brees’ 48 yard completion to Jared Cook early in the 4th quarter was the big play the Saints needed to regain momentum after a dismal third quarter. Brees couldn’t get the ball to Michael Thomas at his usual steady rate but Emmanual Sanders contributed a couple of plays, including a touchdown grab and the Saints lead was insurmountable.
The Saints repeatedly had wide runs blown up for losses and depended on special teams for help, as they blocked a field goal and recovered a short kick off that was fumbled by the Bucs. The Bucs were sloppy and out of sync in their first game with Brady at the helm, and the Saints were slightly better. Let’s just say it goes as a W and the faithful can be happy with that.
The victory brought a sigh of relief to apprehensive Saints fans, as they are not used to fast starts to the season. Last year’s victory over the Texans broke an inexplicable 5 game losing streak in season openers. Up to that point they had been 1-7 in the last 8. The Saints are now 147-93 since the 2006 arrival of Payton and Brees but only 7-8 in the 15 games that have opened the season.
Here’s the New Orleans Saints record in season openers in the Payton/Brees era.
2006 beat Cleveland 19-14, finished 10-6
2007 lost 41-10 to Indianapolis, finished 7-9
2008 beat Tampa Bay 24-20, finished 8-8
2009 beat Detroit 45-27, finished 13-3, Super Bowl Champs
2010 beat Minnesota 14-9, finished 11-5
2011 lost 42-34 to Green Bay, finished 13-3
2012 lost 40-32 to Washington, finished 7-9 Payton suspended for year
2013 beat Atlanta 23-17, finished 11-5
2014 lost 37-34 to Atlanta, finished 7-9
2015 lost 31-19 to Arizona, finished 7-9
2016 lost 35-34 to Oakland, finished 7-9
2017 lost 29-19 to Minnesota, finished 11-5
2018 lost 48-40 to Tampa Bay , finished 13-3
2019 beat Houston Texans 30-28, finished 13-3
2020 beat Tampa Bay 34-23, finished ????
So in the last few days I’ve developed a theory as to why this record of frustration. Maybe it’s a compliment to the Saints coaching staff. They are good at studying game film and putting together a game plan, but in the first game of the season, that is a tall order. The Saints get better as the season goes on. The Bucs will be doing the same. You can bet Brady can’t wait for the rematch.
The Saints lead the division as both Carolina and Atlanta fell. It’s like that old joke, what do you call 3 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start.
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