The Tampa Bay Buccaneers rallied from behind to defeat the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, 27-19, to secure their fourth consecutive division crown with a historical punctuation in the final 36 seconds. The Bucs put up 14 unanswered points in the second half to capture the win and clinch the division title en route to a 10-7 finish to the 2024 slate.
"There were a lot of obstacles but at the same time, the games we lost were self-inflicted," said Head Coach Todd Bowles on the 10-7 finish. "Even with the injured guys playing, we felt like we were in those ballgames so there was a lot of hope and a lot of promise that way. We felt like if we could come out in the second half of the season and correct those little things, we'd have a shot to win a bunch of ballgames, and we won six out of seven. Credit to the guys for believing and buying in and working on themselves for us to be a better team."
Offensive Surge
Baker Mayfield put on a show, leading two methodical scoring drives in the fourth quarter, completing seven of seven passes for 114 yards, a touchdown and a perfect 158.3 passer rating while also rushing for 34 yards. Known for his charisma and moxie, Mayfield went face first into two linebackers for a first down and extended drives using his legs when necessary. The Bucs totaled 186 yards of offense in the final period and two touchdowns from rookie phenoms Jalen McMillan and Bucky Irving put Tampa Bay in the drivers' seat. A fourth-and-eight conversion by McMillan on a 33-yard gain off a corner route set up the touchdown. Mayfield stood in the pocket and hit a rocket to McMillan. The rookie perfected his angle to gain leverage on the Saints' defender on the corner route. Then versus a three-man rush, Mayfield had two options with Evans and McMillan and he layered the ball to the deep target, giving the Bucs a 20-19 advantage. McMillan managed to get both feet down in a toe-drag motion to build momentum. Later in the fourth, Mayfield faced pressure and passed the ball to Bucky Irving, who was behind the line of scrimmage so the touchdown was ruled a run play. Irving quickly accelerated north and crossed the goal line, a microcosm of his magical year.
Mike Evans accumulated nine catches for 89 yards in the win over New Orleans and made history in the process on the final play of the clash. After the Tampa Bay defense got a stop to halt a potential Saints rally, including Lavonte David getting his fingertips on a second-down pass attempt to force an incompletion and stout coverage by Josh Hayes on fourth-and-five against Cedrick Wilson Jr., Mayfield and the offense had an opportunity to run another play for Evans to eclipse 1,000 yards. He needed five yards to reach the coveted accolade and Evans got nine to hit 1,004 on the season. Evans motioned from the slot on the right side of the formation to the left and ran a flat route behind McMillan and Sterling Shepard's slants – a play specifically designed so he could not be doubled and the chances of an interception would be close to zero. Evans caught the ball just 1.6 yards past the line of scrimmage but was able to turn upfield and get the rest after the catch. With the grab, he tied Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for the longest streak of 1,000-yard receiving seasons in NFL history.
Overall, Mayfield completed 21 of 32 passes (65.6%) for 221 yards and two passing touchdowns to earn a passer rating of 93.4. Mayfield's two passing touchdowns gave him 41 on the season, surpassing Tom Brady (40 in 2020) for the second-most in a single season in franchise history, trailing only Brady in 2021 (43). He connected with Payne Durham on a touchdown in the third quarter. Mayfield tried to hit Evans on a slant but he had defensive backs draped on him, so he kept his composure, looked to the right and found Durham wide open in the back of the end zone.
McMillan hauled in five receptions for 74 yards and a receiving touchdown. It marked his fifth straight game with a receiving touchdown, tied for the second-longest streak by a rookie in NFL history, trailing only Randy Moss (seven games). McMillan's seven touchdowns over his final five games of the season were tied for the most by any Buccaneer over a five-game span in club history, joining Mike Evans and Jimmie Giles. He became the second player to record seven-or-more touchdown catches over a five-game span this season, joining Ja'Marr Chase.
Irving logged 19 carries for 89 yards (4.7 avg.) and one rushing touchdown. Irving's score was his eighth rushing touchdown of the season, surpassing Errict Rhett and Lars Tate (7) for the second-most rushing touchdowns by a rookie running back in team history, trailing only Doug Martin (11 in 2012). In the second quarter, Irving picked up 25 yards on a rush as Ko Kieft cleared the way on a pull. With short-area quickness and rare lateral movement ability, Irving sparked the offense.
Defensive Review
Without starting quarterback Derek Carr and offensive weapons Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave, the Saints moved the ball well in the first half with a dink-and-dunk game featuring trick plays and RPOs that benefited Spencer Rattler. Rattler concluded the game with 240 passing yards and a touchdown, with the majority coming in the first two frames. For the fifth game in a row, Tampa Bay's defense held its opponent to three points or fewer in the second half.
Hayes was the Bucs' leading tackler, recording 11 stops. David posted nine tackles, and a pass defensed. The team's two sacks were produced by outside linebacker Yaya Diaby and nose tackle Vita Vea. The Bucs held New Orleans to 64 rushing yards on 19 carries, marking the fourth straight opposing ground game they have held below 65 yards. Diaby tallied five tackles (a career-high four for loss), a career-high four quarterback hits and 1.0 sack. Diaby became the fourth player this season to record four-or-more quarterback hits and tackles for loss in a game this season, joining Nick Bosa in Week 17, Trey Hendrickson in Week 9 and Aidan Hutchinson in Week 2. He became the second Buccaneer to accomplish the feat, joining Michael Bennett in Week 14 of the 2012 season. Vea contributed three tackles (one for loss), one quarterback hit and 1.0 sack on Sunday. Vea's sack increased his season total to a career-high 7.0. On his knockdown, Vea overpowered the double team, then worked inside on the single block to collapse the pocket around Rattler.
