Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3 Bold predictions for Week 9 vs. Saints

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the rival Saints on Sunday Night Football in Week 9.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will enter the team’s final regular-season showdown with the New Orleans Saints looking for redemption in Week 9. The team has only two losses currently on the season and the season-opening loss to New Orleans is one of them. The Buccaneers have won three straight which matches a season-high but the team understands what a second loss to the Saints would mean for its season.

If the Buccaneers lose on Sunday night, the team will not only lose its hold on first place but winning the division will become a tall task. With a sweep, the Saints would hold the tiebreaker and possibly the psychological edge if the teams were to meet up in the NFC playoffs. If the Buccaneers lose the division then they will lose any chance of home field throughout the playoffs.

With towards home-field advantage in the future, the Buccaneers would like to defend the same this week. The team is currently a perfect 3-0 at home and returns to Raymond James Stadium after road games in Las Vegas and New Jersey over the last two weeks. Obviously, defending your home field is a priority, but it is especially important in this game against your main division rival.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bold prediction No. 3: Alvin Kamara will have a big game

The Buccaneers have the league’s No. 1 ranked rushing defense and they head into Sunday Night’s with another tough test in Alvin Kamara. In the first meeting, the Buccaneers held Kamara to 67 total yards in the game with only 16 yards rushing. Kamara will struggle on the ground again, but this time he will be even more involved in the passing game.

Expect him to top 100 yards receiving and 150 total yards in this game. This is nothing against the Buccaneers’ defense but Kamara’s abilities to take over a game and the team’s ability to get him involved with favorable matches. Expect the Saints to create some wrinkles to get Kamara free on the edges.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bold prediction No. 2: Rushing game will continue to struggle

Since the return of Leonard Fournette, the Buccaneers rushing game has struggled and the team has been held under 90 yards rushing in two straight games. Now they will face a defense allowing only 90 rushing yards per game.

The issues are not due to Fournette but possibly a combination of factors such as better rush defenses, the emergence of consistency in the passing game, and the inability of both Fournette and starter Ronald Jones to get into a rhythm due to limited carries. This may be the game Jones finds himself on the outside looking in. The team will also be without starting guard Ali Marpet and it will struggle to hit 100 yards rushing once again.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bold prediction No. 1: Tom Brady will put the team on his back

After struggling early, Tom Brady has been getting better with every week with his new teammates and in his new offense. This will be his second game facing the Saints and their defense and he is usually better when he sees a team for the second time in a season. Add in that he should have a full complement of receivers with Chris Godwin returning and adding in Antonio Brown, and he should be able to find players to get the ball to on Sunday night.

The Saints’ defense has struggled with giving up big plays in the passing game. Brady should take advantage even if New Orleans can erase Mike Evans again. Look for over 300 yards and 3 to 4 touchdowns in this game.