Tampa Bay opened its season by beating the New Orleans Saints 48-40 on Sunday, even though the Buccaneers played without Jameis Winston, their starting quarterback for the previous three seasons.
With the former Hueytown High School standout suspended by the NFL for the first three games of the regular season, Ryan Fitzpatrick stepped in under center. He threw for 417 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a score against the Saints.
Tight end O.J. Howard caught two of Fitzpatrick's passes for 54 yards.
"We had a chance to study their film a lot," Howard said.