PFF: Saints 30, Buccaneers 10
 

Refocused: New Orleans Saints 30, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10
BY PFF ANALYSIS TEAM • NOV 5, 2017

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints torched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, 30-10 from the Mercedes Benz Superdome, in a game that was seemingly in hand for the Saints after a blocked punt was returned for a touchdown and a 9-0 lead in the first quarter. Brees connected on his first six pass attempts and finished the game with 263 yards through the air and two touchdowns in the rout.

Rookie RB Alvin Kamara made amends for an early fumble in this one, touting the ball 10 times for 68 yards and a touchdown, while hauling in six receptions for 84 yards and another score. His highlight-reel screen pass that he took to the house from 33 yards out pushed the Saints lead to 16-3 at halftime. New Orleans added two touchdowns in a span of :20 seconds in the third quarter to pad the lead to 30-3 as the Saints didn’t look back.

On the other side of the ball, Bucs QB Jameis Winston was knocked out of this game, re-injuring his throwing shoulder and journeyman QB Ryan Fitzpatrick filled in for the former Heisman Trophy winner valiantly once again, throwing for 68 yards and the Bucs first touchdown in eight quarters of football, on a throw to Luke Stocker for a score in the final quarter.

With that, we give you our PFF exclusive takeaways from the contest for each team.



TOP 5 GRADES:
S Vonn Bell, 90.1 overall grade

DI David Onyemata, 84.6 overall grade

LB Manti Te’o, 83.7 overall grade

S Marcus Wiliams, 83.7 overall grade

Edge Alex Okafor, 83.4 overall grade

PERFORMANCES OF NOTE:
QB DREW BREES, 56.4 OVERALL GRADE
Brees finished 22-of-27 for 263 yards with a sack and a dropped pass, and he also had a fumble on a sack and very nearly threw an interception to Lavonte David in the first half. While most of Brees’ completions were of short or intermediate range, he did complete two deep passes including a beautiful touchdown on a seam route to put the game away. Brees was 3-of-3 on play action passes for 62 yards and had a touchdown as well.

WR TED GINN JR., 78.7 OVERALL GRADE
Ginn caught all four catchable passes thrown his way for 59 yards and a touchdown. Ginn connected with Brees for a deep completion of 36 yards running a seam route to effectively put the Bucs away.

S VONN BELL, 90.1 OVERALL GRADE
Making the most of his three pass-rushing snaps, Bell got to the quarterback twice with a sack and a QB hit. The former Ohio State Buckeye was excellent in coverage as he broke up a pass while allowing just two catches on three targets for 15 yards. The second-year player has had an up and down short career but broke through with his best game yet against Tampa Bay.

EDGE DEFENDER ALEX OKAFOR, 83.4 OVERALL GRADE
The former Arizona Cardinal is having a career-year as Okafor has already matched his sack total (four) from 2016 while doubling his QB hits to two. Against Tampa Bay, Okafor racked up a sack, two hits, and two hurries while also getting four defensive stops. Okafor has been great as a pass-rusher but arguably more impressive as a run stopper as his 9.5 run stop percentage ranks second among all qualifying 4-3 defensive ends.


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PFF GAME BALL: VONN BELL, S
https://media.profootballfocus.com/2...NO-768x432.jpg
New Orleans Saints S Vonn Bell game ball

*Grades are subject to change upon review

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