After playing in a prime-time spotlight on Monday night in Week Three, the Buccaneers return to Sunday football in Week Four and will hit the road for their first game of 2023 against an NFC South opponent.
First place in the division will be on the line when the 2-1 Buccaneers take on the 2-1 Saints in New Orleans. (The Atlanta Falcons also enter Week Four with a 2-1 record and will play at Jacksonville.) Kickoff for the game at the Caesars Superdome is set for 1:00 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast locally by FOX.
The Buccaneers saw their unbeaten record come to an end on Monday night in a 25-11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The offense started slowly and Philadelphia's powerful rushing attack eventually took over the game. That outcome snapped a four-game winning streak for the Buccaneers in the head-to-head series.
The Saints also won their first two games of 2023 before losing for the first time in Week Three at Green Bay. New Orleans took a 17-0 lead into the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field but gave up 18 unanswered points to fall by one to the Packers. The Saints also lost their starting quarterback, Derek Carr, to a right shoulder injury during the game, and have since described him as week-to-week with a sprained AC joint. Former Buccaneer Jameis Winston finished the contest and could get the start on Sunday. Winston completed 10 of 16 passes for 101 yards during his relief effort in Green Bay and did get the Saints in position for a potential game-winning field goal, but rookie kicker Blake Grupe missed a 46-yard attempt with a minute to go.
The Saints' offense with Carr at the helm is off to a relative slow start, ranking in the league's bottom half in terms of both points scored and yards gained, but the team's defense has been one of the league's best through three games. New Orleans is allowing just 288.0 yards per game and 16.7 points per game, the latter figure ranking sixth in the NFL. Carl Granderson leads the way with 2.5 sacks and four different Saints defenders have already picked off a pass.
The Buccaneers won both games against the Saints in 2022, their first season sweep in the series since 2005. That included a 20-10 Week Two victory in the Superdome in which the Buccaneers used five takeaways in the last 18 minutes of the game to pull away from a 3-3 tie.
View the top photos of Tampa Bay's Week 3 matchup vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.
