Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New Orleans Saints
Sunday, October 26th, 4:05 PM ET
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing on Monday Night Football against the Detroit Lions and are looking to really make their stamp in the NFC with a win. They’d have a two-game advantage over the Lions if they won in Week 7, sending Detroit to 4-3 and the Bucs to 6-1.
The Lions winning would make the NFC even more complicated, but with the Buccaneers, one thing we do know is that Baker Mayfield has played his tail off this year and is definitely playing like an MVP candidate thus far.
He’s truly remade himself in Tampa and is simply one of the best QBs in the NFL right now, which is wild to say, but it’s the truth. Tampa does have some concerns on the defensive side of the ball, but getting healthier on the injury side could fix things there.
The Saints are a different story. New Orleans is 1-6 on the season after a pretty sloppy Week 7 loss at the Chicago Bears, but the one silver lining has been the steady and overall solid play of Spencer Rattler, someone who might be worth building around in 2026 and beyond.
New Orleans used a second-round pick on Tyler Shough, but I am not sure we’ll see him at all this year. The Saints are poorly built and just a broken franchise in need of a reset. GM Mickey Loomis has made a series of horrendous decisions that have left the Saints where they are now.
I would be flat-out shocked if New Orleans won this game, and I don’t really think there is much else to say here - whether Tampa loses on MNF or wins is irrelevant. The Buccaneers will take care of business in this game and send to Saints to 1-7 on the season, which would keep them in the running for the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.