The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints faced off in a crucial NFC South matchup on Sunday, October 1, 2023. The game was expected to be a close contest between two of the best teams in the division, but the Buccaneers dominated the Saints with a 26-9 victory at Caesars Superdome.

The Buccaneers improved to 3-1 and took the lead in the NFC South, while the Saints fell to 2-2 and lost their second consecutive game. The Buccaneers’ offense was led by quarterback Baker Mayfield, who threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. He connected with WRs Deven Thompkins, Trey Palmer, and TE Cade Otton for scores and ran for 31 yards. Godwin had a big day with eight catches for 114 yards, while Thompkins added four for 45 yards.

The Buccaneers’ defense was equally impressive, holding the Saints to nine points and forcing three turnovers. They sacked Saints quarterback Derek Carr three times. They also limited star running back Alvin Kamara to just 84 yards from scrimmage on 26 touches. Todd Bowles’ defense forced Kamara into one of the strangest stats in NFL history. Kamara was on the receiving end of 13 passes while only gaining 33 yards.

Here's a wild one -- Saints' Alvin Kamara had 13 catches today (on 14 targets) in loss to Bucs but managed only 33 yards (2.5/catch). It's the 200th game in NFL history with 13+ catches -- none of the others yielded less than 71 yards. Cuts the record for fewest yards in half.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) October 1, 2023

The Saints struggled to get anything going on offense, as Carr completed 23 of 37 passes for 127 yards and no touchdowns. Star WRs Michael Thomas and Chris Olave were held in check by the BUCS’ defense. Thomas came away with 4 catches on 6 targets for 53 yards while Olave on had 1 catch on 4 targets for 4 yards. The Saints’ only points came from three field goals by kicker Blake Grupe, who made kicks from 37, 32 and 44 yards. The Saints’ defense tried to keep them in the game, but could not stop the Buccaneers’ passing attack. Even with Mike Evans exiting the game n the 2nd quarter, the New Orleans defense struggled to get off the field to mount a comeback. They did manage to force an interception by Baker Mayfield when he targeted Chris Godwin in the end zone. However, the ball was placed at the 1-yard line. And as the sAints attempted to run the ball to get out of their own end zone, Antoine Winfield Jr. forced a fumble by FB Adam Prentice, and it gave the BUCS the ball back on the 6-yard line. Fitting. Mayfield(#6) connected with rookie Trey Palmer on the second play of the drive for a touchdown.

New Orleans continued to struggle on both sides of the ball in the 2nd Half of the game. Both the BUCS’ offense and depleted defense often looked like too much of a challenge for the sAints coaching staff to figure out.

The game was a statement win for the Buccaneers, who showed they are the team to beat in the NFC South. They will look to continue their momentum after the upcoming Bye Week when they host the surprising Detroit Lions for the return of the Throwback Game featuring the Creamsicle jerseys. The Saints will try to bounce back when they travel to New England to face the New England Patriots who are also struggling to find balance on offense.

THE AFTERMATH

With the Buccaneers defeating the sAints for the sole lead of the NFC South early in the season, BUCS fans have had a field day(s) reminding New Orleans’ fans of the early preseason hype and trash talk lobbied in various social media platforms.

Cam Jordan on the NFC South “rivalries” pic.twitter.com/bjTV8DPaV8
— NOF (@nofnetwork) September 28, 2023

There’s been no shortage of angst between the two fan bases, even though one side swears there’s no rivalry to speak of. Cam Jordan of the losing team of has dismissed the Buccaneers as being a rival several times. Yet and still, the two fan bases have remained a nuisance to one another throughout the existence of the NFC South division, which was created in 2002.

New Orleans has the lead in the head-to-head matchup with a 39-25 lead. However, they’ve lost the last three regular season games, and they were ousted in the 2020 Playoffs by the BUCS en route to the Super Bowl. That’s the Buccaneers getting the better of the sAints four out of the last six meetings.

Last unday’s game was redemption for many fans of the Pewter and Red, who were both berated and dismissed by media and divisional opponents well before the season even started. As such, BUCS fans used the time to remind New Orleans’ fans just how vindictive and petty pirates can be by revisiting as many social media posts as possible to see what went wrong in their grand scheme to dominate the BUCS. (Me. I’m “BUCS fans”).