Week One of the NFL season has finally arrived. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints open their seasons this Sunday in the Louisiana Superdome.
Tampa Bay swept New Orleans in 2007 on their way to the NFC South title.
Expectations are high for both teams this season. The Buccaneers are attempting to become the first NFC South team to repeat as division winners. The Saints, on the other hand, are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 7-9 season and prove that 2006 was no fluke.
Here is a position-by-position breakdown of both teams.
Quarterbacks
Both teams possess Pro Bowl signal callers in Jeff Garcia and Drew Brees. Garcia and Brees have each won in the postseason and are proven leaders. I'll give the edge to Brees. He completes a higher percentage of his passes and for more yardage than Garcia.
EDGE: SAINTS
Running Backs
Much of the Saints' running game depends on the health of Deuce. When healthy, the Saints are a respectable running team. When he's not, the Saints run for less than 100 yards per game like they did in 2007.
Earnest Graham and his 10 rushing touchdowns are back for the Bucs. While he is not an All Pro player, his consistency gives the Bucs the edge over the Saints in the ground attack.
EDGE: BUCCANEERS
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
The Bucs possess Saints-killer, Joey Galloway. Galloway has torched the Saints' secondary for the past three seasons. In the six games against the Saints since 2005, Galloway has amassed over 600 yards receiving and eight touchdowns.
If Galloway played against the Saints in every game throughout a 16-game season, he would have more than 1,600 yards and 21 touchdowns.
To counter, the Saints have Marques Colston. While the third-year receiver has never made the Pro Bowl, his numbers say he should. He has 168 catches, 2,240 yards, and 19 touchdowns in his first 30 NFL games.
The Saints also feature two weapons they did not have last season: wide receiver Robert Meachem and tight end Jeremy Shockey. Both will help make this offense more explosive.
EDGE: SAINTS
Offensive Line
This is a tough group to judge. As far as pass protection, there is no better unit than the Saints. Despite 668 pass plays, Drew Brees was only sacked 16 times. Bucs quarterbacks, on the other hand, were sacked 36 times.
Run blocking is a different issue. The Bucs averaged half-a-yard more per carry than the Saints in 2007 (4.2 to 3.7).
A lot of it has to do with mentality. The Bucs are more of a power team than the Saints, and they exude that personality on the field. The Saints are the superior pass-blocking team.
EDGE: PUSH
Defensive Line
Surprisingly, the Bucs only had one more sack (33) than the Saints (32) in 2007. The Saints, though, generated very little pressure with their front four.
Most of the time, the Saints had to blitz in order to get to the quarterback. This is disappointing, considering they have used first-round picks and given huge extensions to both starting defensive ends.
6 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Oliver Ellis 10 months ago
Very good read, very balanced.
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russ autin 10 months ago
on the o line with joseph out and a rookie(zuttah) in his place i would go with the saints o line. the d line for the saints is much improved. bobby maccray will make an impact(on garcia)but the bucs d line is one of the best so i agree till the saints prove me wrong. now coaching it's not gruden but monte kiffin that gives them the edge.over all a sound article
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Paul Augustin, Jr. 10 months ago
yeah, i thought about comparing monte to gary gibbs. It''s no contest there.
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russ autin 10 months ago
it's gonna be a great game a top offence (saints) going against a top defence19.6 points per game last year i just hope i don't see any reverse pitches from the saints
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MJ Kasprzak 10 months ago
I disagree with your assessment of the running game--I give the edge to Deuce and Bush since Deuce may be a question mark but Cadillac is in the shop. It is also weird to pick the Saints when your assessment gives the edge to the Bucs, 4-3-1 by unit.
However, this was a really good, objective analysis, AND I went ahead and gave you five stars because aside from liking your article, it was well-written--great work!
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Paul Augustin, Jr. 10 months ago
I realized that advantage I gave the Bucs before I published it. I think that the Bucs' coaching advantage is minimal and I think that the Saints have a top-3 passing attack and the Bucs don't really compare. One thing that I didn't write about was home-field advantage which the Saints will have. Finally, I don't think that a team wins a game just because they are better on paper. The Giants were better than the Patriots in one match-up, their defensive line versus the Pats offensive line. That was the key to the game.
I appreciate the nice comments and the five stars.
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