Arians: Buccaneers' confidence not 'shaken one bit' by blowout

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the receiving end of a humbling loss on Sunday Night Football, but head coach Bruce Arians doesn't expect it to be too deflating.

"I don't think our confidence is shaken one bit," Arians said Monday, per The Athletic's Greg Auman.

Tampa Bay lost 38-3 to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night, continuing a trend of inconsistent performances in prime time. The Buccaneers lost a Thursday Night Football matchup against the Bears in Week 5 and barely defeated the Giants on Monday night last week.

Arians admitted that he will examine the team's preparation after the string of poor showings, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

Sunday night's 35-point loss marked the biggest margin of defeat in Tom Brady's career. He struggled to get anything going against the Saints, finishing with three interceptions, and his connection with receivers Mike Evans and Antonio Brown was also notably faulty. The duo combined for just seven catches and under 100 yards.

Arians said Evans is not struggling even though his targets are far below expectations.

"Mike was open a bunch in that ballgame. He didn't get targeted. That's all. Mike was open," the head coach said.

The Buccaneers coach didn't fault Brown for an intercepted pass that was headed in his direction, calling it "just a poor throw," according to Auman.

The loss moved Tampa Bay to second in the NFC South with the Saints overtaking the Bucs for the top spot in the division.