The New Orleans Saints have competed in countless big games over the years, even if they only started counting since the last iteration of their NFC Southern dynasty in 2017, when the team picked Alvin Kamara, Ryan Ramczyk and Marshon Lattimore Design class.
These Tompa Bay Buccaneers have now played in a big game, although they didn’t last long in their 38-3 home loss to the Saints on Sunday night.
The Bucs’ no-show was a harrowing preview of the second half of this season, with the games gaining weight every week. If there’s one topic for the 2020 campaign that goes way beyond the high scores and COVID-19 complications, it’s predictability of everything. Most of the best teams are known and were the favorites of the season. New budding kings like the Bucs, Cardinals, and Dolphins are just beginning to test their skills with meaningful games.
A result does not lower the ceiling of a Bucs team that remains as complete on paper as any squad in football, but rather puts it in a back position that now relies on the Saints’ losses to win the NFC South. (The Bucs’ tougher schedule won’t help.) It also reduces the likelihood of a team running away and hiding in an incredibly crowded NFC playoff picture.
Only one loss separates the NFC’s current top seed, the Saints, from the seventh seed Rams. The big games are just getting started and the number 1 holds more meaning than ever as only one team can skip the wild card round in any conference. On the other hand, the home advantage is no longer what it used to be: The home teams have a record loss this season when they join the week 9 Monday night soccer game.
Add it all up, throw in the increasing weekly challenges of COVID-19 and injury, and that promises to be a complicated second half.
