2-Point Conversion: Brady Saves The Day, Maybe Bucs’ Season

Brady’s two touchdown passes to Otton and White came at the expense of the Saints’ best defensive player, inside linebacker Demario Davis. In fact, Brady’s touchdown pass that was negated by a Donovan Smith holding call in the final seconds prior to White’s game-winning TD was also against Davis.

That’s poetic justice for Brady and the Bucs, as Davis has been a thorn in their side for years, notching 35 tackles, five pass breakups, a sack and an interception against Tampa Bay since Brady’s arrival in 2020.  Davis’ interception of Brady came on Monday night right before halftime and led to a field goal that gave the Saints a 10-3 lead.

The Monday night victory got the Bucs back to .500 with a 6-6 record and increased their lead over the 5-8 Falcons atop the NFC South. The heat is off head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich for a minute as a result now that Tampa Bay has some breathing room in the division. A loss to New Orleans could have sent Tampa Bay on a three-game spiral with tough games ahead at San Francisco this Sunday and versus Cincinnati the week after.

But Brady’s heroics give the Bucs a bit of momentum with Tampa Bay now 3-1 in its last four games as the team heads west to face the league’s toughest defense in San Francisco. In a season when nothing seems easy for the Bucs and every week seems like a struggle, Monday night was no different.

It’s nearly impossible to imagine Blaine Gabbert or Kyle Trask – or any other QB – doing what Brady did against the Saints. He wasn’t just playing quarterback for the Bucs on Monday night. Brady was playing savior to a team that is still alive for a division title and the automatic playoff berth that comes with it.

STATEMENT 2: Bucs Defense Continues To Shine, Offense Continues To Struggle

Bucs linebacker Lavonte David set the tone for his big night against the Saints in the game’s first three plays. David made all three tackles on New Orleans’ first drive of the night, including a big sack on third down to force a punt.

With Pro Bowl defensive back Antoine Winfield not suited up due to an ankle sprain, the 32-year old linebacker was the best player on the field for Tampa Bay’s defense, leading the team with 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops.

“He played a solid ball game,” Bowles said. “Him and Devin [White] passed the zones off well and they tackled for the most part – missed one here or there. But his discipline in zones and actually getting a sack – I thought they let him go on the sack because he never comes. Obviously it’s always Devin that blitzes. When he comes, it’s kind of a surprise the first time around. But he played a solid game for us. He’s one of our leaders on defense and everybody rallies behind him.”

It’s crazy to think that through 12 games this season that David does not have a single takeaway. But takeaways have been incredibly hard to come by for this team since the Bucs forced five turnovers in a Week 2 win at New Orleans.

In fact, not forcing turnovers is the only thing the Bucs defense is not doing this year.

“That’s something we’re trying to get done more, obviously we can help the offense more if the defense takes the ball away,” Bowles said.

What Todd Bowles’ defense is doing is keeping the Bucs in games. Tampa Bay held New Orleans to just 16 points. It’s the seventh time this season that Bowles’ defense has held opponents to 17 points or less.

The Bucs made enough plays on defense – without getting a takeaway – to get the ball back for the offense for the final, game-winning drive with less than three minutes left. Carl Nassib’s 10-yard sack of Andy Dalton was huge and set up a third-and-17 situation.

“Carl has become very valuable,” Bowles said. “The best play he made was the tipped ball on the third-and-2 that went down and they had to kick a field goal, in addition to the sack. Carl has been very physical and he brings a lot of energy for us. We can’t replace Shaq but he can do some different things in the run game and be a power pass rusher for us to help out with the sacks.”

The Bucs almost blew it on third-and-17 after that sack, as Dalton found tight end Taysom Hill open down the middle of the field against zone coverage. But safety Keanu Neal, who had five tackles on Monday night, delivered a crushing hit on Hill to force an incompletion – and a key punt.

“It was a huge play by him, Keanu was physical the whole ball game,” Bowles said. “It shouldn’t have even gotten to that point where his hands were on the ball. But he made a play that was important for us to get the ball back and win the ball game.”

The rest is history as Brady led the Bucs on an 11-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to win the game.

But despite converting 8-of-15 (53.3%) third downs, the Bucs offense only generated three points until the last three minutes of the game when Brady’s magic produced two touchdowns. Tampa Bay continues to struggle on offense, averaging just 18.1 points per game, which ranks 27th in the NFL, while its defense is allowing only 18.3 points per game and ranks fifth in the league.

Bowles’ defense is keeping the Bucs’ division title hopes alive. But there is such a narrow margin of victory each week because the offense continues to struggle scoring points.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: Does Anyone Want To Win The NFC South?

Maybe the Bucs – after Monday night’s win. Although it seems like nobody wants to win the division. The Bucs, Falcons, Saints and Panthers all keep losing and it’s turned into a strange game of hot potato with no team wanting to grab – and hold on to – the lead in the NFC South.

“Here you take it, Falcons.”

“No, we don’t want it, Buccaneers.”

“Saints, do you want it?”

“No, thanks. We’ll let the Bucs have it.”

That’s essentially what’s happened this season in the NFC South.

A loss to the Saints would have tightened the gap considerably, although the Bucs technically would’ve still led the division due to the Falcons’ loss to the Steelers on Sunday. Had New Orleans won, Tampa Bay would have still had a slight lead in the NFC South, but it would have opened the door for the Saints to stay in the race. Now at 4-8 with a 1-3 record in the division, last-place New Orleans would almost need to win out and have every other NFC South team implode for it to win the division.

The Bucs have a little bit of breathing room right now with a two-game lead over the Falcons. They can afford a loss or two to the 49ers or the Bengals in the coming weeks. But Tampa Bay will likely need to win its remaining division games against Carolina and Atlanta to solidify its chances of retaining the NFC South crown.

QUESTION 2: What Does This Win Mean For Bowles?

It means a lot. The Bucs had not swept the Saints since 2007. That’s when Jon Gruden was the head coach.

That’s seven head coaches ago.

This season has not gone the way the Bucs organization, the media or the fans have wanted – or expected – it to go. But credit Bowles for doing something that neither Raheem Morris, Greg Schiano, Lovie Smith, Dirk Koetter nor Bruce Arians could do. Sweeping the Saints is no easy task.

And Bowles did find a way to beat the Rams and end that three-game losing streak. Tampa Bay has endured some bad losses this year, but it’s back to .500 and still very much alive for a playoff berth. Especially considering the fact that his defense is playing so well, Monday night’s win should take some of the pressure of Bowles.

At least for a week.

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1: Bucs Somehow Find A Way To Win In San Fran

I can’t believe I’m writing this. The 8-4 San Francisco 49ers have the league’s best defense and are a better team than the 6-6 Bucs. Plus, they beat a good Dolphins team, 33-17, with rookie quarterback Brock Purdy at the helm and Jimmy Garoppolo sidelined with a broken foot. So why am I picking the Bucs to win in San Fran?

Well, Tampa Bay is one of the best teams at protecting the football. I know, Tom Brady threw his third interception of the season on Monday night and rookie running back Rachaad White coughed up a fumble. But if they can play turnover-free and Tampa Bay’s defense can get after Purdy, I think the Bucs can beat the 49ers. San Francisco has won five straight, but this is still a team that lost to Chicago, Atlanta and Denver (yikes!) this year. They’re due for a loss.

The Bucs are 3-3 away from Raymond James Stadium, so they can win on the road. And Brady will be returning to his home state of California for what could be the last time. Ol’ Tom showed on Monday night he still has some magic in his 45-year old right arm.

PREDICTION 2: Bucs Will Win The Division

Monday night’s win over the Saints was huge. The Bucs must beat the Panthers in Tampa in a few weeks and beat the Falcons in Atlanta in Week 18 to solidify it, but Tampa Bay will repeat as NFC South champions.

For the first time in franchise history.

And make the playoffs.

Who knows what will happen with Brady in the postseason if this Bucs team gets healthy in January?