New Orleans Saints 20 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26
- After laying an egg last week against the Buccaneers, few expected them to beat the Saints on Sunday afternoon. I had them winning the game though, because they aren't nearly as bad as they played in San Francisco. They did a good job moving the ball through the air, getting Josh Freeman over 300 yards passing for the first time this season, even without LeGarrette Blount in the lineup to make the defense worry about the threat of the run.
- The Tampa defense also did a great job, picking off Drew Brees three times and recovering a Pierre Thomas fumble. The Buccaneers and Coach Raheem Morris are all about winning games when they win the turnover battle by a +4 margin.
- It also helped Tampa that Sean Payton was injured during the game. It's hard to be a great playcaller when you have a fractured kneecap and torn knee ligaments.
Fantasy Realities
- Earnest Graham did a more than effective job filling in for LeGarrette Blount on the day. He continued to contribute in the passing game, nabbing two balls for 22 yards, and was very efficient running the ball, running for 109 yards on just 17 carries. If Blount misses another week, Graham is a more than capable fill-in for your fantasy roster
- The Saints backfield continues to be a fantasy mess. Pierre Thomas even managed to score -1 this week. I'm dodging them if I can, but you have to do what you have to do to get through the bye weeks, and all of the Saints players have high upside in any given week.
- Jimmy Graham is clearly the number one tight end right now, the way he is being featured in the Saints offense. I might sell high here though, as the Saints targeting one player this much for three weeks is screaming anomaly to me.
Feedback is welcome and appreciated, either in the comments or via email at bigderfsports@gmail.com.
-Fred "Big Derf" Tobin
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