What We Saw: Week 5

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints

 

New Orleans Saints

 

Quarterbacks

 

• Teddy Bridgewater: 26/34, 314 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT | 5 carries, 7 yards

 

“TED-DY! TED-DY! TED-DY!” The Mercedes-Benz Superdome was buzzing, showering their newfound native son, QB Teddy Bridgewater, with adoration. Bridgewater earned every bit of the praise with a breakout performance on Sunday, as he led the Saints’ to a 31-24 victory over Tampa Bay, throwing for over 300 yards and 4 TDs. Bridgewater also threw a first-quarter interception on a bobbled catch from RB Alvin Kamara that was thrown slightly behind him. Bridgewater has now won all three of his starts filling in for injured starting QB Drew Brees, and has shown noticeable improvement in each game. Bridgewater showed a willingness to take more shots downfield, and it paid off for the Saints’ offense. Bridgewater had 3 completions over 30 yards and hadn’t had a single such play since he took over in week 2 for the injured Brees. It was no surprise that Saints’ head coach Sean Payton would script a pass-heavy gameplan against the Bucs, knowing that Tampa Bay was entering the game 31st in the league in pass defense. Bridgewater’s 4 TD passes (2 to WR Michael Thomas, 1 to TE Jared Cook and 1 to WR Ted Ginn, Jr) tied a career-high, and his 314 yards were the most for him in a game since 2015. On their opening drive of the 2nd half, Bridgewater led the Saints on a 3-play, 75 yard TD drive connecting with Michael Thomas on a 42-yard strike on the right sideline, and then a 33-yard TD to Ted Ginn – who had run right by the coverage. Bridgewater carried the Saints’ offense on his shoulders as the running game struggled to ever really get going. With an exact timetable on Drew Brees’ return still unknown, Bridgewater may have just worked himself into the streaming QB conversation. He’ll look to keep the Saints’ winning streak alive next week at Jacksonville.

 

Running Backs

 

• Alvin Kamara: 16 carries, 62 yards | 7 targets, 6 receptions, 42 yards
• Latavius Murray: 7 carries, 28 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 6 yards

 

While the Buccaneers’ entered this week with the #31 ranked pass defense in the league, they also entered with the #1 rush defense – and it showed against New Orleans. RB Alvin Kamara finished with only 62 yards and averaged a mere 3.9 yards per carry. Kamara also finished with 42 receiving yards and finished with over 100 yards from scrimmage – but he failed to reach the end-zone for the fourth time in five games this season. While his lack of TDs has been concerning for his owners, he continues to provide a safe floor with his usage – especially in PPR formats. RB Latavius Murray didn’t fare much better in relief of Kamara – finishing with only 34 total yards from scrimmage on 9 touches. The Saints’ running game just hasn’t been able to bust that many big plays this season. A 30-yard rush by Latavius Murray vs. Houston in week 1 is the longest rush of the year for the Saints – and that’s good for a tie for 21st in the league with the Eagles. With Teddy Bridgewater and the Saints’ passing game torching the Bucs’ defense, the running game felt like more of an afterthought in this game. Kamara attempted his first pass attempt on the season and completed a 13-yard pass to TE Josh Hill after taking a handoff from Teddy Bridgewater. Saints’ RBs will look to improve their rushing output next week against the Jaguars, who have allowed 5.5 yards per carry so far this season. 

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

• Michael Thomas: 13 targets, 11 receptions, 182 yards, 2 TDs
• Ted Ginn, Jr: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 35 yards, 1 TD
• Jared Cook: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 41 yards, 1 TD

 

WR Michael Thomas had another fantastic performance in week 5 against the Bucs – finishing with 182 yards and 2 scores on 11 catches. His rapport with backup QB Teddy Bridgewater continues to develop, and Thomas terrorized Tampa Bay’s defense all day on Sunday. It was Thomas’ third game of the season with at least 10 catches, and it was his first multi-TD game of the year. By basically all metrics, it was Thomas’ best game of the season so far. His 11 receptions, 182 yards, 2 TDs and 16.5 yards per reception were all his best marks of the season so far. His 42-yard reception on the first play of the 3rd quarter was his longest catch of the season. WR Ted Ginn, Jr would catch his first TD of the season – a 33-yard strike from Teddy Bridgewater – on the same drive. Ginn’s 35 yards on the afternoon were his second-most in a game this year. The Saints’ have yet to solidify a true WR2 behind Michael Thomas, a carryover from last season. 2nd-year WR Tre’Quan Smith left with an ankle injury after having missed weeks 2 and 3 – also with an ankle injury. Smith failed to make much of an impact while he was in the game, having not registered a single target. It was a breakout game of sorts for TE Jared Cook. Cook finished with his highest reception and yardage totals of the season and was able to score his first TD of the year as well against the Buccaneers. Cook hasn’t seemed at home very much through the Saints first four games, but he did seem to be a focal point of the offense on the afternoon. At this point, it would still be tough to trust Cook as a week-to-week contributor to your fantasy lineup, but the slight uptick in his production was encouraging. This WR corps seems that it will (and should) remain the Michael Thomas show in the weeks to come. With the Saints traveling to Jacksonville to face off against the Jaguars next week, Thomas may have another big game if Jaguars’ CB Jalen Ramsey continues to miss time with a back injury.

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

 

Quarterbacks

 

• Jameis Winston: 15/27, 204 yards, 2 TDs

 

QB Jameis Winston had a decent performance against the Saints this week, but still, it was a far cry from his 385 yard, 4 TD performance against the Rams last week. On two separate occasions in the first half, Winston was bailed out when he threw an interception that was negated due to a New Orleans penalty. Winston struggled all afternoon to find open receivers as the Saints’ secondary clamped down on the Bucs’ receivers. Winston also struggled to move the chains at times, especially in the first quarter. After punting on their first three possessions, Winston and the Bucs were finally able to get into the end-zone to take a 7-3 lead near the end of the first quarter, after a Teddy Bridgewater INT set them up in good field position. After New Orleans took their 2nd-half opening drive down to score and stretch their lead to 24-10, Winston answered back by orchestrating a masterful 17-play, 75-yard drive that took almost 9 minutes off the clock to cut the lead back to 7. Winston converted a 3rd and 11 and a 4th and 1 to finally see RB Peyton Barber score on a 2-yard plunge. Winston heavily favored WR Chris Godwin on the afternoon as Godwin’s 7 receptions were as many as the rest of Tampa Bay’s skill position players combined. Towards the end of the game, Winston just couldn’t seem to make enough plays to combat New Orleans’ pressure. New Orleans sacked Winston 6 times on the afternoon – and all 6 of them happened in the 4th quarter. Winston will hope for more production next week as they take on Carolina in London.

 

Running Backs

 

• Ronald Jones II: 9 carries, 35 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 21 yards
• Peyton Barber: 8 carries, 32 yards, 1 TD | 1 target, 1 reception, -1 yards

 

Much like Tampa’s defense was able to contain New Orleans’ rushing attack, New Orleans’ defense was able to do much of the same. The Buccaneers as a team finished with only 92 rushing yards against the Saints. As has been the case for most of this season, Bucs’ RB Ronald Jones II looked more explosive than his counterpart RB Peyton Barber. Unfortunately for Jones owners, however, Barber has now scored 3 TDs on the season to Jones’ 1. Add RB Dare Ogunbowale into the mix to steal passing work from them both, and you’ve got a stable full of unreliable fantasy RBs in Tampa Bay. Other than Barber’s 2-yard TD plunge in the 3rd quarter, both Bucs’ RBs combined for only 11.7 total fantasy points in PPR formats. Neither Barber or Jones have proven themselves as a viable fantasy option to this point in the season. They will both have a tough task ahead next week as they take on the 8th-ranked Panthers run defense for a “home game” across the pond.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

• Chris Godwin: 9 targets, 7 receptions, 125 yards, 2 TD
• Mike Evans: 3 targets, 0 receptions, 0 yards
• OJ Howard: 2 targets, 1 reception, 10 yards

 

In what was probably the most stunning development of the week for the Bucs, their star WR Mike Evans was completely blanked on the afternoon – finishing with 0 catches on 3 targets. Evans was an absolute non-factor, mostly due to the stellar coverage of Saints’ CB Marshon Lattimore. It was only the second time in Evans’ 5+ season NFL career that he was held without a catch for an entire game. Across from Evans, however, WR Chris Godwin had another fantastic week – finishing with over 100 yards and 2 TDs for the second straight week. Godwin now has 6 TDs on the season and is projected to finish as the Bucs’ WR1 for the year. While Evans’ 0-catch performance must be incredibly frustrating for his owners, seeing Godwin continuing to emerge as the clear number-one receiving option for the Bucs has to be less-than-inspiring. TE OJ Howard took steps to further cement his status as one of the biggest disappointments this fantasy season – finishing with only 1 reception on 2 targets for 10 yards. If you would have read my ‘All-Hype-Team’ article back in July, you would have seen this coming! Howard has seen his target-share diminish in each week since the beginning of the season, and there’s nothing to suggest that he’s even worthy of a roster spot moving forward. While Evans hasn’t performed up to his expectations as of yet, it might be time to buy low on him if you feel that he can turn it around. It’s been an up-and-down season for Tampa Bay – alternating wins and losses each week of the season so far. It’s also been an up-and-down roller coaster ride for Bucs’ players’ fantasy owners. Things won’t get much easier for Buccaneers’ pass-catchers next week as they host Carolina in London. The Panthers’ passing defense has allowed the third-fewest passing yards per game so far this season (197.0).

 

–Corey Saucier