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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, but will Leonard Fournette be suiting up? With Tampa Bay sitting precariously at 5-6 on the season, they can ill-afford any slip-ups during their playoff push.
New Orleans has won three of their last five meetings against the Bucs and that includes the 9-0 win that shocked the NFL world. But if Tampa Bay is to bounce back from the overtime loss to the Cleveland Browns, their running game will be paramount to getting a sixth win of the season.
At the time of writing, Leonard Fournette was officially listed as questionable for Monday night's game. Having missed last Sunday's loss to the Browns due to a hip injury, it is not known precisely how fit the running back is.
Through multiple sources, despite the running back's designation as questionable, it is expected that he will in fact take his place in the lineup barring anything extraordinary happening.
Given the Buccaneers' struggles running the ball (currently the league's worst rushing team), having Fournette back could be huge and might even tip the scales in Tampa Bay's favor.
Fournette was limited in practice for three consecutive days prior to the Browns game. Nonetheless, it appears that he has shown signs of improvement throughout this week.
Leonard Fournette crucial to running game's success
The Buccaneers' running game has been nothing short of pedestrian this season. Through 11 games, they have surpassed 100 rushing yards just twice (Week 1 vs. the Dallas Cowboys and Week 10 vs. the Seattle Seahawks).
The rushing attack has been held to 51 yards or less five times and that includes a total of 34 vs. the Green Bay Packers and just three against the Kansas City Chiefs.
If the Buccaneers are to have a shot at winning their sixth game of the season, Leonard Fournette, Rachaad White, and possibly Giovani Bernard will need to step up.
Tampa Bay fans will be hoping that Brady can exorcize the demons of playing against the Saints tonight with a win to take a stranglehold on the NFC South top seed.
