Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs New Orleans Saints Prediction & Picks - NFL

Prediction published on 12/7/25, 9:11 AM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 1/16/26 at 4:51 AM in NFL Picks

A rematch of divisional foes takes place Sunday in Tampa. The New Orleans Saints (2-10) will take on the Tampa Buccaneers (7-5) and try to get one back after losing 23-3 at home back in late October. In the 1st game, Tampa led from start to finish despite being outgained in the game. The 4 turnovers that New Orleans committed made it nearly impossible for them to stay in that game.

Since that game, the Saints have gone just 1-3 and have been starting rookie Tyler Shough recently. Shough has been so-so with 5 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on the season, but overall, the Saints have only been averaging 15.2 points per game, which ranks them 30th in the league. They will need to find a way to put up more than 3 points as they did in the previous matchup to play spoiler here against the Bucs.

Tampa is finally starting to get a bit healthy. Chris Godwin has returned to action; Baker Mayfield remains a bit banged up, but Emeka Egbuka is at full strength, and Mike Evans could be returning soon. However, things have not gone great since their last game with the Saints. Tampa has gone just 1-3 with the lone win coming last week against an inferior Cardinals team. Tampa still holds a slim lead over the Panthers in the NFC South, but a loss here could change that.