The Tampa Bay Buccaneers grinded out a tough 20-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints in Week 2 of the NFL season. It was a defensive battle for most of the day, as both offenses dealt with key injuries that ended up limiting their production. In the end, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers offense was able to get a bit more going than the Saints offense was, and they ended up winning as a result.
This game wasn't a reassuring bounce back performance from Brady and the offense after their struggles to start the season in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys. Granted, Tampa was shorthanded on offense for much of the day, and became even worse for wear once Mike Evans ended up getting ejected, but it still wasn't the most encouraging performance we've seen from Brady, and there are still a lot of questions on offense for this team right now.
Luckily for Tampa, their defense stepped up in a big way in this one, and led the Bucs to their second win of the season. It's not surprising that the three Buccaneers players most responsible for this win were on the defensive side of the ball, so let's take a look at who those three players are and analyze their impact on Tampa Bay's big win over the Saints in Week 2.
3. Shaquil Barrett
The Buccaneers defense did a great job at suffocating Jameis Winston under center for New Orleans all throughout this game. One of the people Winston became all too familiar with was Shaquil Barrett. Barrett lived in the Saints backfield in this game, and he was the leader of the crew that kept Winston uncomfortable all day long.
Shaquil Barrett picked up two of the Buccaneers six sacks on Winston in this one, and recorded five tackles, two tackles for loss, three QB hits, and a forced fumble as well throughout the day. Barrett was simply unstoppable in this one, and Winston, who is dealing with a pretty severe back injury and was without star running back Alvin Kamara, was pretty much defenseless to Barrett's pass-rushing prowess.
Tampa got a lot of strong play from their defense, but without Barrett leading the pass-rushing charge, the Saints offense may have had more success than it did throughout the day. After a fairly quiet opener against the Cowboys in Week 1, Shaquil Barrett turned in a huge performance against the Saints to help Tampa exorcize some of their recent demons against New Orleans.
2. Mike Edwards
Mike Edwards simply seems to have a nose for the end zone on defense. He scored two defensive touchdowns last season (in the same game against the Atlanta Falcons, nonetheless) and found his way back into the end zone against the Saints with a game-sealing 68-yard pick six.
Prior to Edwards' big play, the Buccaneers had largely taken control of this game, as Tampa had established a 13-3 lead. Edwards put the game to bed with his touchdown, and ensured Tampa Bay would escape New Orleans with an ugly victory in their back pocket. Edwards jumped a pass from Winston intended for Jarvis Landry at the perfect time, and had a clear path to the end zone despite being nearly 70 yards away from it.
Compared to some of Tampa's other defenders, Edwards had a quiet all around day, as he only had three tackles and a pass deflection to go along with the touchdown. Still, without his touchdown, the Saints could have very well gone down and gotten points on that drive, which would have made things a bit dicey for Tampa. For that reason, Edwards' timely touchdown has earned him a spot on this list.
1. Devin White
Devin White was all over the field for Tampa Bay in Week 1, and he continued his stellar play to open the season in Week 2. White was once again the Buccaneers best all-around defensive player, and he may be in the process of taking a step forward this year, even after his two stellar seasons in 2020 and 2021.
On the day, Devin White racked up 11 tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, one pass deflected, one QB hit, and a forced fumble. For the second straight game, White did a bit of everything. He tackled well, rushed the quarterback, and held up well in pass coverage. It was clear before this season that White was a fantastic defender, but he's taking things to the next level early on here in 2022.
White did a great job at slowing down not just Winston, but every Saints player he came in contact with yesterday afternoon. There aren't many players who can make the type of impact he makes on a weekly basis, and the Buccaneers are certainly thrilled to have him on their team. If their offense continues to struggle, they may need Devin White to continue to perform at this incredibly high level, and early on, it seems like he may be able to do just that.
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