With a chance to clinch the division on Sunday, the Bucs put up one of their worst performances of the season as they were shut out at home, losing to the Saints 9-0. Tampa Bay failed to move the ball much, especially after Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Leonard Fournette left the game due to injury. Tom Brady turned the ball over twice while getting sacked four times.

The defense had a strong performance, only allowing nine points and preventing the Saints from reaching the end zone. They’ll be the majority of the most impressive players from a very ugly loss.

LB Lavonte David

He was looking like a vintage Lavonte David, making plays all over the field. David brought his A-game to this divisional match-up, forcing a fumble early on and later recording a sack. The Bucs did a solid job in the run game containing Taysom Hill, and he was a large part of that. David finished the game leading the team with 11 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, a sack and a forced fumble. He left late in the fourth quarter with a foot injury, but hopefully he won’t have to miss time.

WR Chris Godwin

Up until his knee injury, Godwin was having another typical performance. He made six receptions for 49 yards, which still led the Bucs despite exiting in the second quarter. He was instrumental helping the Bucs move the ball and get first downs, before absorbing a nasty hit directly to his knee. The Bucs need him down the stretch, and that was a scary incident.

S Jordan Whitehead

It was really beneficial to get Whitehead back in the lineup, as he excelled in stopping the run, per usual. Whitehead does such a good job playing up at the line of scrimmage and flying around. He was second on the Bucs with eight tackles and one tackle-for-loss. Whitehead knifed into the backfield several other times, creating stops for teammates.

OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka

Tryon-Shoyinka looks to be getting more comfortable as his season rolls on. He used his speed to his advantage tonight, chasing down Hill to record the Bucs’ second sack. When he was getting snaps, Tryon-Shoyinka did a nice job of keeping the elusive Hill inside the pocket, not allowing him to scramble outside and move up the field. He made four tackles, two tackles-for-loss and a sack.

LB Devin White

Over the past month or so, White has really rounded his game into form. That continued again on Sunday night, as he seemed to be in the middle of every play that the Bucs were making on defense. When you keep a team out of the end zone, it’s usually your star players that are the reason for it, and that was the case for White. White recorded eight tackles, with two of them going for a loss.

RB Ronald Jones

RoJo got the bulk of his carries in the third quarter when Fournette left the game with a hamstring injury. He ripped off runs of 12 and 30 yards for what was Tampa Bay’s most explosive plays of the second half. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate into points, as the Bucs fumbled while trying to get into the red zone. Jones might be the starting running back as early as next week, depending on Fournette’s injury, but he looked ready for the job moving forward. Jones rushed eight times for 63 yards and had two catches for eight yards.