The early read on the NFC South is pretty clear: New Orleans is building momentum, while Tampa Bay is already in a bad spot.
Through two games, the Saints have looked like a team that knows how to finish. ESPN NFL insider and Saints reporter Katherine Terrell pointed to a striking split in their performance, with New Orleans doing its best work after halftime. That late surge has helped fuel the idea that the Saints’ strong close to 2025 may have been the start of something real, not just a short-lived burst.
Terrell didn’t dance around it.
“The early surprise: The Saints are a second-half team.
The verdict: Real. The Saints have outscored their opponents by 22 points in the fourth quarter this season.
That's the good part. The bad part: They're having to do it because they haven't scored any points in the first quarter.
That's not a 2026 trend, but it's now a four-game streak dating to 2025. The Saints scored only 29 first-quarter points all of last season, Kellen Moore's first as coach.
They'll have to figure out how to start faster to avoid needing fourth-quarter comebacks.”
That’s the wrinkle with New Orleans right now. The production is there late, but the early-game slow starts are keeping them from being more comfortable.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is dealing with the kind of opening that raises immediate alarms. The Buccaneers are 0-2 for the first time since 2014, and the historical backdrop is ugly: since 2002, only 12% of teams that begin with that record have made the postseason.
The bigger issue, though, is how messy things have looked. Baker Mayfield has turned the ball over four times, and Terrell noted that he does not appear to be on the same page with his receivers.
On defense, there have been problems too. Alex Anzalone, who was expected to replace retired linebacker Lavonte David’s role, has already missed several tackles and even ran into his own teammates while trying to bring down Cleveland wideout Denzel Boston.
That led Terrell to a blunt assessment.
“The Bucs are 0-2 for the first time since 2014. Since 2002, just 12% of teams that have started off with that record have reached the postseason.
What's more alarming is just how disjointed everything looks. Baker Mayfield has turned the ball over four times and is clearly not on the same page as his receivers.
Defensively, Alex Anzalone -- who was supposed to step in and fill the void left by retired linebacker Lavonte David -- has missed a handful of tackles already, and he collided with his own teammates while attempting to tackle Cleveland wideout Denzel Boston. That's not good at all.”
For now, the contrast is sharp: the Saints are finding answers late, and the Buccaneers are searching for them everywhere. Whether those early trends stick is another matter, but New Orleans has put itself in a far better place as the 2026 season moves along.
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