Buccaneers @ Saints · Week 18

WEEK 18 · FINAL

THE READ

Saints win the turnover battle and the game

Take care of the football or lose. Buccaneers did not, and did. Baker Mayfield threw for Buccaneers — 31/52, 335 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT — in a losing effort. Ted Hurst III moved the ball for Buccaneers — 9 catches, 113 yards, 2 TD. 4 in the league in passing yards, at 82 overall. Baker Mayfield is not supposed to be doing this. Total yards: Buccaneers 444, Saints 208.

Caleb Brooks Beat reporter

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Buccaneers	-8.6	-1.1	-7.5	-25
Saints	-5.2	-1.1	-4.1	+11

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Saints — in the hunt · 8-9 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Ava Collins Beat reporter

Baker Mayfield threw 3 interceptions and the Saints made him pay for it—New Orleans turned the ball over zero times and won a game where they had no running game to lean on, which means they won it on discipline alone.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Baker Mayfield

Buccaneers

31/52, 335 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT

Ted Hurst III

Buccaneers

9 catches, 113 yards, 2 TD

Yaya Diaby

Buccaneers

2 sacks

THE STORY SO FAR

💎 Baker Mayfield is 82 overall and sits 4 in the league in passing yards.

💎 Ted Hurst III is 80 overall and sits 5 in the league in receiving yards.

📈 Alvin Kamara is in form: 13 rushing yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 9.

📈 Chris Olave is in form: 91 receiving yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 63.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Buccaneers 444, Saints 208 Buccaneers

Through the air Buccaneers 335, Saints 195 Buccaneers

On the ground Buccaneers 109, Saints 13 Buccaneers

Giveaways Saints 0, Buccaneers 3 Saints

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 18 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 65% · Rush 35% · 24.8 scored, 32.2 allowed

8.2 yds/att 54.6% completions 5.0 yds/carry 375.8 yds/game 2.5 giveaways/game 6.3% sack rate last 5: 1-4

Primary weapon: Ted Hurst III WR — 33% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 51 · Aggressive Balance 85 Ball security 29 Back usage 32% QB runs 1.6/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 2.5 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 82 WR 82 TE 76 RB 84 OL 82 DL 84 LB 78 DB 84

Best: Tristan Wirfs LT 95 Fastest: Ted Hurst III WR 92 SPD 9 at star dev or better

Out: Demonte Capehart DT 72 · 6wk · JJ Roberts SS 65 · 4wk

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

AL-Saints

Saints · his last 8 games

Throws it Runs the quarterback Takes sacks

Pass / run82% / 18% Points for / against32.2 — 29.0 Margin+3.2 Giveaways a game1.0 Sacks taken11.9% of dropbacks Lead backAlvin Kamara · 0.5/g Top targetChris Olave · 35% QB carries4.8 a game

Bigdaddyray

Buccaneers · his last 8 games

Throws it Gives it away

Pass / run65% / 35% Points for / against21.1 — 31.6 Margin-10.5 Giveaways a game2.1 Sacks taken8.2% of dropbacks Lead backBucky Irving · 13.0/g Top targetEmeka Egbuka · 35% QB carries1.6 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES Bigdaddyray against AL-Saints — the men, not the teams

AL-Saints leads it 2-0. AL-Saints has won 2 straight.

2 meetings avg 20.5 — 28.0 biggest: 8 pts to AL-Saints

S1 · week 18 Bigdaddyray 20 — 27 AL-Saints AL-SAINTS

S1 · week 15 Bigdaddyray 21 — 29 AL-Saints AL-SAINTS

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Buccaneers receivers vs Saints secondary 82 v 80 EVEN

Saints receivers vs Buccaneers secondary 81 v 84 BUCCANEERS

Buccaneers line vs Saints front 82 v 79 BUCCANEERS

Saints line vs Buccaneers front 81 v 84 BUCCANEERS

Buccaneers backs vs Saints run defence 84 v 79 BUCCANEERS

Saints backs vs Buccaneers run defence 75 v 82 BUCCANEERS

Buccaneers passer vs Saints secondary 82 v 80 EVEN

Saints passer vs Buccaneers secondary 81 v 84 BUCCANEERS

TOP PERFORMERS

Baker Mayfield QB Buccaneers 335 pass yds

Tyler Shough QB Saints 195 pass yds

Ted Hurst III WR Buccaneers 113 rec yds

Emeka Egbuka WR Buccaneers 97 rec yds

Chris Olave WR Saints 90 rec yds

Bucky Irving HB Buccaneers 74 rush yds

Cade Otton TE Buccaneers 66 rec yds

Yaya Diaby REDG Buccaneers 2 sacks

Josiah Trotter MIKE Buccaneers 1.5 sacks

Kool-Aid McKinstry CB Saints 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Baker Mayfield QB	31/52	335	2	3	2	26	67.3

SAINTS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Tyler Shough QB	17/29	195	0	0	5	24	78.9

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG
Bucky Irving HB	12	74	6.2	5	34	19
Kenny Gainwell HB	11	21	1.9	0	0	7
Baker Mayfield QB	3	9	3	0	0	5
Payne Durham TE	2	3	1.5	0	0	5
Sean Tucker HB	2	2	1	0	0	1
Cade Otton TE	0	0	0	1	0	0

SAINTS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Alvin Kamara HB	2	13	6.5	1	1	1	9	0
Tyler Shough QB	4	0	0	1	0	0	6	0

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Ted Hurst III WR	9	113	12.6	2	23	0	26
Emeka Egbuka WR	7	97	13.9	0	15	1	24
Cade Otton TE	6	66	11	0	27	1	17
Kenny Gainwell HB	4	22	5.5	0	21	0	9
Payne Durham TE	3	20	6.7	0	9	0	13
Chris Godwin Jr WR	1	13	13	0	4	0	13
Bucky Irving HB	1	4	4	0	0	0	4

SAINTS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	YAC	LNG
Chris Olave WR	7	90	12.9	20	24
Bryce Lance WR	3	48	16	4	24
Oscar Delp TE	3	32	10.7	2	20
Jordyn Tyson WR	2	18	9	6	11
Juwan Johnson TE	1	4	4	2	4

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD	FF	CMP ALW
Alex Anzalone WILL	5	0	0	0	3
Zyon McCollum CB	5	0	0	0	5
Keionte Scott CB	4	0	1	1	2
Josiah Trotter MIKE	4	1.5	0	0	2
Antoine Winfield Jr FS	4	0	0	0	4
Rueben Bain Jr. LEDG	3	1	0	0	0
Yaya Diaby REDG	2	2	0	0	0
Demonte Capehart DT	1	0	0	0	0
Calijah Kancey DT	1	0	0	0	0
Al-Quadin Muhammad REDG	1	0	0	0	0
Jacob Parrish CB	1	0.5	0	0	1

SAINTS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	CMP ALW
Jordan Howden FS	9	1	0	0	5
Beanie Bishop Jr CB	8	0	0	0	6
Martin Emerson Jr CB	6	0	0	0	4
Danny Stutsman MIKE	5	0	0	0	4
Lorenzo Styles Jr. SS	5	0	1	0	3
Pete Werner MIKE	5	0	0	1	2
Kool-Aid McKinstry CB	4	0	1	0	3
Jonas Sanker SS	4	0	1	0	2
Chase Young LEDG	3	0	0	0	0
Bryan Bresee DT	2	0	0	1	0
Davon Godchaux DT	2	0	0	0	0
Anfernee Jennings LEDG	2	0	0	0	1
Christen Miller DT	2	0	0	0	0
Kaden Elliss WILL	1	0	0	0	0
Carl Granderson REDG	1	1	0	0	0
Quincy Riley CB	0	0	0	0	1

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Chase McLaughlin K	2/3	2/2	51

SAINTS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Charlie Smyth K	2/2	3/3	50

RECENT FORM

Buccaneers

W 23–17 vs Rams WK 17

L 10–19 vs Falcons WK 16

L 21–29 vs Saints WK 15

Saints

W 30–28 vs Falcons WK 17

L 20–42 vs Cardinals WK 16

W 29–21 vs Buccaneers WK 15

TEAM STATS

Buccaneers		Saints
444	TOTAL YARDS	208
335	PASSING YARDS	195
109	RUSHING YARDS	13
2	SACKS ALLOWED	5
5	SACKS MADE	2
3	GIVEAWAYS	0
1	TAKEAWAYS	3

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

0 BUCCANEERS — 2 SAINTS

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