Bucs’ troubling statistical trend could be an opening for Saints’ Alvin Kamara to break out of his slump
Tampa Bay has had a tough time containing opposing running backs in 2025.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will head to New Orleans on a short week to take on the Saints after falling to the Detroit Lions 24-9 on Monday Night Football. In the Motor City, an ugly trend continued for the Bucs’ defense.
Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs totaled 136 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 carries while adding 82 yards on 3 receptions. He juked and got past SirVocea Dennis on the Lions’ first drive for a 30-yard catch and run. The Bucs simply forgot about him later in the first quarter, and he took a swing pass and turned upfield for a 24-yard gain.
And that’s been a microcosm of a problem for the Tampa Bay defense this season. Per FOX Sports’ Greg Auman, the Bucs have been the worst in the league at allowing opposing running backs yards in the passing game.
Saints RB Alvin Kamara could be in position for a bump in production against Bucs’ defense
It’s been a rough start to the 2025 season for Alvin Kamara and the Saints. The normally impactful former All-Pro has looked anything but that this year as New Orleans has slumped to a 1-6 start. Across 7 games, he’s totaled just 394 rushing yards (career-low 3.7 yards per carry) and 29 catches for 123 yards (career-low 4.9 yards per catch).
However, Kamara was still productive last year with a career-best 952 rushing yards and 1494 yards from scrimmage, so the potential is still there. With Kendre Miller – who was in the midst of a strong start to the season – suffering an ACL tear against Chicago last weekend, the onus will be back on Kamara even more so, and Kellen Moore will very likely try to take advantage of Tampa Bay’s difficult in corralling opposing running backs in the short passing game.
Gibbs, Christian McCaffrey, and Bijan Robinson are perhaps three of the top five dual threat running backs in the league, with Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving included among them. They’re slippery in space and hard to tackle. But if the Bucs don’t find an answer to the problems they’ve had in limiting opposing running backs in the passing game, then Kamara still has enough in the tank to make them pay on Sunday.
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