SAINTS THROTTLE HAPLESS BUCS

By this point in the NFL season two things are evident:  the New Orleans Saints are very good, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are very bad.  This was clearly evident on Sunday as the Saints went into Tampa’s home stadium and blasted the lowly Bucs 38-7.  New Orleans spotted Tampa a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and then dominated the game from that point out.  Drew Brees 187 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions, while his Tampa Bay counterpart Josh Freeman threw for 126 yard and one touchdown with three interceptions.  The Saints remained undefeated at 10-0 while the Bucs dropped to 1-9.

The Saints easily covered the pointspread for NFL football betting fans, getting the money as -10 road favorites.  New Orleans is now 7-3 ATS while Tampa Bay slipped to 3-7 against the number.  The 45 points went UNDER the posted total of 50’.  The Saints and Bucs have both gone UNDER in four of their ten games this season.

And here’s something frightening for the rest of the NFL:  according to Saints’ QB Brees the team hasn’t peaked yet:

"I feel like we haven't peaked yet. ... I feel like the sky's the limit for this team. It only gets harder. By no means can we sit back on what we've accomplished thus far. Every team we face would love to give us that first loss."

Brees said that his team needed a big win to get back in sync:

"The last four games, we kind of got back to some old habits that we didn't want to, which was the turnovers and negative plays. We needed a game like this, to come out and look sharp in all phases."

The ten game winning streak is the longest in franchise history, and earned the praise of head coach Sean Payton:

"I like where we're at. We're 10-0 and we beat a division opponent on the road. I thought we got better today."

Bucs’ QB Josh Freeman said his team had a good strategy but couldn’t sustain the execution:

"We knew how potent their offense was, and we knew that really the best defense was our offense being able to sustain drives. The tough thing is that only lasted our first drive."

The Saints now face perhaps their toughest test remaining this year as they host the New England Patriots next Monday night.  New Orleans is a -3 home favorite with the total set at 56.  After that they’ll play two straight on the road against the Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons.  The Bucs play two straight on the road starting this Sunday at Atlanta.  Tampa Bay is a +11’ road underdog against the Falcons with the total set at 46.  They’ll play at Carolina the following Sunday before returning home to face the New York Jets on Sunday, December 13.