Sunday Night Football open thread: Saints at Buccaneers

It’s a tale of two NFC South teams going in opposite directions on Sunday Night Football.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter tonight’s matchup as one of the NFC’s best. Not only have the Buccaneers won four games in a row, they’ve topped 30 points in each of those victories. Leonard Fournette rumbled for 113 yards last week, while the passing attack is still flourishing with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Rob Gronkowski. Tom Brady is an MVP frontrunner down the stretch, and the Buccaneers are looking like a candidate to repeat as Super Bowl champions. They would much rather acquire the top seed this time around, however, after winning it all as a Wild Card team in 2020.

Things are murkier for the New Orleans Saints. While they won last week against the New York Jets, it marked the end of a five-game skid. The Saints did win their previous game against the Buccaneers, but that 36-27 win was many weeks ago—and many quarterbacks ago. That game featured an injury to Jameis Winston, whose starting spot was taken by Trevor Siemian. Siemian, however, struggled in the ensuing weeks, forcing the Saints to turn to Sean Payton’s favorite gadget player Taysom Hill. While Hill is doing wonders as a fantasy player, his stock as a passer remains questionable. After a four interception performance against the Cowboys, he had a clean game against the Jets, albeit to the tune of just 175 passing yards. Still, Hill can be dangerous with his legs, and there’s a chance he runs wild tonight.

Can the Buccaneers stave off the upset, or will the Saints regain some ground in their own playoff hunt?

Here is how to watch tonight’s game:

Date: Sunday, December 19, 2021
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: Raymond James Stadium—Tampa, FL
TV: NBC
Announcers: Al Michaels (play-by-play), Cris Collinsworth (analyst), Michele Tafoya (sidelines)
Online: NBCSports.com