In what promised to be one of the best quarterback duels of the postseason, the Saints-Bucs game in the divisional round of the playoffs was a complete defensive match. Both teams have top tier defenses so this isn’t exactly shocking, but in the modern NFL we have come to expect more from our quarterbacks. Neither Tom Brady nor Drew Brees passed for more than 200 yards in this game. The main storyline I saw from this week was how well the Bucs defense played. They were lights out creating multiple turnovers. Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting completely erased Michael Thomas from the field. He ended this match catching 0 passes on his four targets. Now this isn’t a small feat considering that he’s objectively a Top 3 receiver, so in this video, I wanted to focus on how exactly did the Bucs do that. Was it poor throws by Drew Brees? Was it bad routes by Thomas? Or was it just classic good coverage by the defense? In this video I started by looking at his targets first. Then I went over some of my other observations from Michael Thomas' game after tracking all of his routes and the coverages that the Bucs' defense played. For as bad as people think Drew Brees was in this game, Thomas had a pretty bad game too. He barely created any separation on his own. Carlton Davis straight up dominated him all over the field. He was extremely impressive in this one. The thing is that the Saints actually did try to get him the ball. They moved him around a bunch. They sent him on motions. They gave him reduced splits to get easier leverage. They put him in the slot to get match-ups against linebackers and zone droppers. They put on the sides of bunches to give him free releases. And frankly speaking, they pretty much did everything they could but the Bucs simply had his number. On his underneath routes, Davis and the other cornerbacks were patient waiting for his release and any time he ran anything deeper than eight yards down the field, the Bucs were ready and they clamped down on his routes. His backside routes also had no real opportunities either. Just simply put, the Bucs shut him out in this one. Now I do understand that Michael Thomas was injured, but he recently had good performances against the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, and Atlanta Falcons. To say that the injury was the sole reason why he had a poor performance would be a discredit to the game that Carlton Davis played. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamuelRGold Donate via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SamuelRGold The videos are considered to be used under the "Fair Use Doctrine" of United States Copyright Law, Title 17 U.S. Code Sections 107-118. Videos are used for editorial and educational purposes only and I do not claim ownership of any original video content. I don't use said video clips in advertisements, marketing or for direct financial gain. All video content in each clip is considered owned by the individual broadcast companies. michael thomas,new orleans saints,samuel gold,sam gold,sam's film room,michael thomas film,michael thomas vs,michael thomas vs carlton davis,sean murphy-bunting interception,michael thomas film room,bucs defense highlights,bucs defense film room,michael thomas playoffs,michael thomas drew brees,michael thomas nfl breakdown,michael thomas nfl,carlton davis film,carlton davis film room,michael thomas saints,michael thomas highlights,tampa bay buccaneers