Sean Payton explains Marcus Davenport's low snap count vs. Bucs

The New Orleans Saints handled their Week 11 game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with ease, but did so largely without second-year pass rusher Marcus Davenport. The starting defensive end played just 23 snaps against Tampa Bay, with backup Trey Hendrickson appearing on 34 plays. That’s obviously not the kind of disparity Saints fans would hope to see out of that duo.

However, it makes sense in context of New Orleans’ game plan for the Buccaneers. Saints coach Sean Payton noted that his defense spent a lot of time in their sub-package with three down linemen rather than four. With Tampa Bay playing from behind for most of the game and dialing up so many dropbacks for Jameis Winston, the Saints…