Buccaneers at Saints stream, odds, pick and prediction

The Buccaneers face a tough start to the season with an opening weekend trip to New Orleans. The Saints are ready to start 1-0.

Expect to hear a lot of talk about how challenging this game will be for the Buccaneers without Jameis Winston under center. His suspension certainly limits what Tampa Bay can do on offense, but it’s not as if they were going to be favorites with him leading the offense.

In contrast, the Saints enter this game with one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history at the controls. Drew Brees will like his chances to put up big numbers against the Buccaneers defense. New Orleans needs to pay close attention to blocking Gerald McCoy up front, but this secondary will be vulnerable to the Saints’ high-octane passing game all day long.

This game doesn’t have the cache to be a national game, but you can watch it if you’re in either team’s viewing areas. See all the details on how to monitor the action below.

TV: Fox
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Announcers: Chris Myers and Ronde Barber
Online streaming: Try Fubo TV Free for 7 Days
Saints blog: WhoDatDish
Buccaneers blog: The Pewter Plank

The reality of this game is that the Saints need to win if they want to keep pace with the rest of the NFC South. They will almost certainly be in a dogfight with the Panthers and Falcons all season long. Sean Payton and company can’t afford to stub their toe in this one.

For the Buccaneers, they just want to show signs of life. This happens to be one of the most difficult games on their schedule. In a way, this is a good game to play without Winston. Having Ryan Fitzpatrick in the game doesn’t really reduce their chances of winning very much. This game should be all about establishing momentum for Dirk Koetter.

The oddsmakers predictably have the Saints as a strong favorite. Read on to find out just how many points you have to give up to take New Orleans.