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Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Jalen McMillan (15) pulls in a touchdown reception against New Orleans Saints safety Jordan Howden (31) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save TAMPA, Fla.
— With nothing else to play for in the final week of the 2024 season, the New Orleans Saints had a chance to spoil the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hopes for a fourth straight NFC South title. For a while, it looked like the extremely short-handed Saints were poised to do just that. And then the Buccaneers asserted themselves.
Tampa Bay (10-7) outscored the Saints 21-3 in the second half, erasing a 10-point halftime deficit to clinch the division title with a 28-19 win. The loss was the fourth straight for the Saints, whose 5-12 record to finish the season was their worst since 2005. Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield took the game over in the second half, using both his arms and legs to gash the Saints defense.
To go along with his two second-half touchdown passes, Mayfield converted several third downs as a runner, rushing for 61 yards in the second half alone. New Orleans dominated the first half, scoring on each of its first four possessions and nearly doubling Tampa Bay’s yardage and time of possession totals. Making his sixth professional start, rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler enjoyed a magnificent half as the Saints leaned on their passing game.
Playing without running backs Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller, New Orleans threw the ball on 28 of its 42 offensive plays (66.7 %) in the first half. Rattler completed 21 of his 28 attempts for 181 yards and a 5-yard touchdown to Dante Pettis.
He avoided some of the pitfalls that have derailed previous starts, taking zero sacks and not turning the ball over. He often looked for tight end Juwan Johnson, who caught each of his five targets in the first half for 69 yards. But when he wasn’t throwing to Johnson, Rattler spread the ball around — 10 different Saints players caught a pass in the first half alone.
But as much as the Saints controlled the game in the first half, they were not able to build up a substantial lead. Three of the four scoring possessions finished with short field goals from Blake Grupe, and when the Saints went into the locker room at halftime, their lead was only 16-6. The Buccaneers received the opening kickoff of the second half and immediately went to work erasing that lead.
With quarterback Mayfield leading the charge, Tampa converted three third downs on a 72-yard touchdown drive to start the third quarter, the last of which was a six-yard scoring strike from Mayfield to tight end Payne Durham that cut the Saints lead to 3. The first-half shine wore off for the Saints offense. They went three-and-out on their first possession, and then after Jordan Howden intercepted a deflected Mayfield pass on the next possession, New Orleans went three-and-out again and settled for Blake Grupe’s fourth field goal of the game to push their lead to 19-13.
Tampa Bay did not settle. After Grupe’s field goal, the Buccaneers took possession and went on a lengthy 12-play touchdown drive to take their first lead of the game. They did so despite numerous penalty setbacks — Tampa Bay lost 45 net yards in penalties on the drive, meaning they actually needed to gain 127 yards in order to score.
The key play came on a fourth and 8 near midfield, when Mayfield dropped a perfect over-the-shoulder pass to rookie Jalen McMillan for 33 yards. Referees penalized McMillan on the play for making what they determined to be a gun-related celebration. Tampa Bay was then penalized for holding on the next play, backing them up to the Saints 32.
It didn’t matter. Mayfield found room in the pocket to step up and fire toward McMillan in the endzone, and the rookie receiver made a brilliant toe-tapping grab for a 32-yard touchdown. Tampa Bay added some additional breathing room on their next drive — keyed by a 28-yard Mayfield scramble on third and 14 from his own 12 — on Bucky Irving's 11-yard touchdown run.
New Orleans took over with 1:51 remaining and drove deep into Buccaneers territory with an opportunity to tie the game.
