The Worksheet, a fantasy football overview by Rich Hribar, breaking down everything you need to know for the Week 8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints Sunday afternoon game.
| Tampa Bay | Rank | @ | New Orleans | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -5 | Spread | 5 | ||
| 28 | Implied Total | 23 | ||
| 33.3 | 3 | Points/Gm | 23.3 | 17 |
| 21 | 10 | Points All./Gm | 16.8 | 3 |
| 69 | 4 | Plays/Gm | 58.8 | 29 |
| 60.9 | 9 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 64.3 | 21 |
| 6.1 | 6 | Off. Yards/Play | 5 | 27 |
| 5.5 | 13 | Def. Yards/Play | 5.2 | 6 |
| 34.16% | 31 | Rush% | 52.97% | 1 |
| 65.84% | 2 | Pass% | 47.03% | 32 |
| 29.81% | 1 | Opp. Rush % | 37.82% | 8 |
| 70.19% | 32 | Opp. Pass % | 62.18% | 25 |
- New Orleans and Tampa Bay are both tied for second in the NFL expected points added per play as a rushing defense.
- New Orleans is allowing 3.3 yards per first down rushing attempt, second in the league.
- Tampa Bay is allowing 3.6 yards per first down rushing play, third in the league.
- Tampa Bay leads the league in the rate of first down plays (28.1%) to result in a new first down or touchdown.
- Tampa Bay leads the NFL with 23 plays run inside of the opponent’s 5-yard line.
- Tom Brady leads the NFL with 38.9 fantasy points scored inside of the 5-yard line, where he is 9-of-12 passing with eight touchdown passes to go along with a rushing score.
- The Buccaneers lead the league with 3.1 touchdowns scored in the red zone per game.
- The Saints have allowed opponents to convert 35.7% (5-of-14) of their red zone possessions for touchdowns, the lowest rate in the league.
Quarterback
Tom Brady: Brady has had a near-perfect run here to open the season outside of a QB27 scoring week against his former team in Week 4. He leads the NFL with 21 touchdown passes after another four last week in a game where had just 211 passing yards and 5.9 yards per pass attempt.
New Orleans is second in the league in the passing points allowed per attempt (0.31) and is allowing just 11.6 passing points per game (second). The Saints have had a light schedule facing Mac Jones, Taylor Heinicke, and Geno Smith in half of their games. They also shut down Aaron Rodgers in the season opener, who has been excellent since. Then we have mixed bag performances in allowing 305 yards passing to Sam Darnold and 402 yards to Daniel Jones.
Brady was not particularly good in any of his three games against the Saints a year ago, throwing for 239, 209, and 199 yards in those games with four touchdown passes and five interceptions. Brady is playing so well that it is hard to treat him as anything other than a QB1, but this is a spot where chasing a ceiling week should come with pause.
