No one saw this coming.
I didn't. You didn't. The experts predicting a New Orleans Super Bowl run didn't. And safe to say, the Saints didn't.
A 48-40 setback. To the Tampa Bay Bucs. At home.
Losses don't get much worse than this.
It wasn't so much what the Bucs did as how they did it that made this setback so dispiriting for the Saints and their legion of loyal fans. They embarrassed the Saints and stunned a sellout crowd by piling up 529 yards and a franchise-record-tying 48 points.
It was the second most points ever allowed by the Saints in an opening game and tied for the seventh most allowed in the history of the franchise.