The New Orleans Saints defended the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in their first NFC South rivalry game of the year, sending Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers away with a loss. It was a team effort, with the offense consistently putting up points and forcing Tampa Bay to play from behind — at the same time, the defense stepped up and into the Buccaneers’ faces, smothering the run game and pressuring Winston often. Here are our three main takeaways from the Week 5 game.
Marshon Lattimore is back to his old self
There were signs that Lattimore was recovering from his early-season struggles last week, when he limited Dallas Cowboys star Amari Cooper to just a couple of catches. But he reasserted himself as a top-shelf cornerback in the NFL against Buccaneers phenom Mike Evans, who entered the game as a top-ten receiver by any measure. Evans is leaving the Superdome with just as many catches, yards, and touchdown scores as he had going into it because Lattimore shut him down, allowing neither of the two passes thrown to Evans inside his coverage to be completed. Lattimore’s big bounce back to greatness elevates the entire defense, allowing the Saints to play different coverages and put his teammates in better position to succeed. Here’s hoping he keeps it up.
Teddy Bridgewater really might be the heir-apparent
Few people doubted that Bridgewater had the arm to throw deep on opposing defenses. What many questioned were his want-to; or, his willingness to pull the trigger and take a chance on passes out past the first-down marker. Bridgewater proved Sunday that he can do that abundantly, completing all three of his attempts that traveled 20-plus yards through the air for a combined 109 yards and a touchdown catch. When the right look is there and Bridgewater has faith in his receiver to go out and make a play, he’ll take a shot. This kind of success is a real confidence-builder moving deeper into the schedule.
Deonte Harris is so close to being great — or being cut
Here’s the good news: after five games, Harris’s single-season punt return yardage ranks ninth-best in Saints history since Sean Payton was hired to coach the team. The rookie is a real weapon in the third phase of the game and might be the answer at a position the Saints have neglected for almost two decades, lacking any consistent threats to return punts and kickoffs ever since Michael Lewis played his last down.
But there’s bad news, too. Harris fumbled one punt and muffed another, being fortunate to recover each of them. That’s not good enough for Payton, who is notoriously strict with his returns specialists. There are some mistakes he’ll forgive, but lacking ball security isn’t one of them. If Harris continues to have these kind of issues (he fumbled another punt back in Week 2, against the Seattle Seahawks) he may not last long enough to reach his potential with New Orleans. The small-school breakout must clean it up.
