The New Orleans Saints will be without important pieces on both offense and defense Sunday afternoon when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a battle for first place in the NFC South. Via the Saints official team twitter feed, the inactives for New Orleans in their matchup with the Buccaneers:
Mark Ingram, RB
Jonathan Vilma, LB
Johnny Patrick, DB
Korey Hall, RB
Ray Willis, T
Adrian Arrington, WR
Jeff Charleston, DE
Ingram, New Orleans' first round pick, leads the team with 329 yards rushing and three touchdowns on the ground. He was also held out of last week's surprising loss 31-21 loss to the St. Louis Rams. Vilma will be missed on a defense that already struggles, particularly against the run, allowing 124.1 yards a game on the ground, ranking them 24th in the NFL.
For more on Tampa Bay, check out SB Nation's Buccaneers blog Bucs Nation. For more on the Buccaneers vs. Saints showdown, visit this StoryStream. For more on New Orleans, visit SB Nation's Saints blog Canal Street Chronicles.