Buccaneers vs Saints inactives: Week 18 injury report as Tampa fights for NFC South

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a clear task ahead of them in Week 18, the final week of the regular season. With the Atlanta Falcons suffering a brutal loss last week to the Washington Commanders, the Bucs come into the season finale in a win-and-in scenario. And as fate would have it, Tampa gets that opportunity against a rival New Orleans Saints team that's limping to the finish line in the 2024-25 season.

Even before Derek Carr's injury that has held him out for almost a month at this point, the Saints were in a freefall, one that led to the firing of head coach Dennis Allen. The Carr injury has only made that worse with Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener not looking up to the task. That's something that the Buccaneers will have working to their advantage in Week 18.

Of course, Tampa Bay doesn't come into this game as the picture of health either. They lost Chris Godwin to a season-ending injury months ago now but have still struggled to stay healthy otherwise as well. Case in point, they come into this Week 18 showdown wherein they control their own destiny without two crucial members of the secondary and likely without one of their best pass-catchers since the Godwin injury.

So let's take a look at the inactives for Sunday's game and see which players won't be able to help the Bucs clinch a playoff berth and which members of the Saints won't be on the field to try and prevent that.

Buccaneers inactives for Week 18: Cade Otton out on Sunday

Cornerback Jamel Dean and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. were already ruled out prior to Sunday but the big question mark — and not an optimistic one — was that tight end Cade Otton was listed as doubtful for this game with a knee injury. In the absence of Godwin, Otton has emerged as one of the primary pass-catching threats for Baker Mayfield in this offense. Without him, things could be tricky for the Tampa offense.

Otton was indeed officially ruled out on Sunday, leaving the Bucs without a massive weapon for the offense. If there's any good news in that regard, though, it's that veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard will play on Sunday after being listed as questionable throughout the week. That'll be critical for this team's offense, as will rookie Jalen McMillan continuing his surge into a prominent role with Godwin out of action.

Saints inactives for Week 18: Alvin Kamara won't play

To say things aren't going the way of New Orleans this season would be an understatement. There's a good chance that Carr, Alvin Kamara, and Chris Olave, a trio that many would've argued are the three best players on the Saints offense (at least in terms of skill position talent), all won't suit up in Week 18. It's honestly hard to expect much from that group but the injury report is even deeper than that.

The Saints injuries don't stop there, though they did receive good news that Olave, who was listed as questionable, is out. But along with Kamara missing time, Kendre Miller, the primary backup, is also out for this game with a concussion. On the other side of the ball, though, not having linebackers Willie Gay Jr. and Pete Werner on the field for the New Orleans defense doesn't bode well for their chances of playing spoiler against Atlanta.