Neal had trouble fielding the ensuing kickoff and was dropped at the 23, but two plays later Rattler scrambled and found Olave on the right sideline for a gain of 28. An incompletion and a screen to Olave left the Saints in third-and-eight, and a quick reaction by CB Jacob Parrish on a swing pass made it fourth-and-seven. The resulting punt was fair caught at the Bucs’ 13.
Tucker had to fight through multiple tackles to get three yards on first down, after which Mayfield and Otton hooked up again for a short game to make it third-and-two. The third down got harder after a second Wirfs false start, and Mayfield was able to escape a sack but couldn’t complete his running throw to Otton. After the two-minute warning, Dixon blasted a 58-yard punt and Shaheed got eight yards back to the Saints’ 34.
The ensuing drive lasted just one play. Rattler hit Shaheed on a quick slant but Dean punched the ball out and Winfield picked it up off the turf. Winfield ran 53 yards for an apparent touchdown but the return part of the play was brought back due to an inadvertent whistle. Even worse, the Bucs gave the ball right back, as Mayfield was sacked on consecutive plays, losing the ball on the second one. Chase Young recovered for the home team, giving the Saints the ball back at the Bucs’ 41. The Saints had 47 seconds to work with and got eight yards on a completion over the middle to Johnson before using their second timeout. Parrish blitzed on the next play and tripped Rattler up for a five-yard sack. New Orleans used its final timeout with 31 seconds left. A 14-yard catch-and-run by Kamara took it dwn to the 30 and Rattler spiked the ball to stop the clock with 11 seconds left. Rattler tried to throw a fly to Shaheed but Zyon McCollum had tight coverage and broke it up. Blake Grupe came on to put the Saints on the board with a 48-yard field goal.
The Bucs got the ball to start the second half, with their opening drive beginning at the 27. Mayfield got the drive started off well with a play-action rollout left and a 16-yard sideline hit to WR Tez Johnson. Two plays later, White took a swing pass out to the left and slipped through a seam for a gain of 17 to the Saints’ 37. Mayfield got it down to the 25 by scrambling left and then throwing back to the middle to Johnson for 12 more. After a three-yard Tucker run, Mayfield found Otton wide open on the left side and the tight end dashed toward the end zone and dived over a defender to get the ball down to within inches of the goal line. History nearly repeated itself as the Bucs’ first three tries from the one failed, but this time Tucker was able to power over right guard to get the touchdown.
A holding on the ensuing kickoff return forced the Saints to start their first drive of the half at their own 15. The Saints also committed a holding call on their first offensive snap, making it first-and-16, and Rattler’s first pass attempt down the left sideline to Olave was incomplete. After a delay-of-game moved the ball back to the five before a scrambling Rattler got the ball to Olave to make it third-and-10. LB SirVocea Dennis stopped Rattler a yard short of the line to gain on a scramble but the Bucs accepted a holding penalty to make it third-and-17. A deep shot to Vele was out of reach and the Saints punted it away, with Kam Johnson getting his return back to the Bucs’ 45.
After two-yard gain by rookie RB Josh Williams on his first career carry, Mayfield completed passes of four yards to Egbuka and 11 to Otton, with the latter bouncing off a tackler to gain extra yards. Williams’ second carry went for four yards, but his next run came back on a holding call on G Ben Bredeson. After an incompletion in Egbuka’s direction left the Bucs in third-and-16. Mayfield got it to the rookie wideout on the next play, but only for seven yards, so the team sent out Chase McLaughlin to try a 55-yard field goal. He drilled it with ease to give the Bucs a 17-3 lead with four minutes left in the third quarter.
Shough came on to direct the next drive, which started at the Saints’ 30. His first NFL pass was a quick swing out to TE Taysom Hill for six yards. After a two-yard Kamara run, the Saints burned a timeout before the next snap. After the pause, Hill took a direct snap and powered his way past the line to gain to extend the drive. Another apparent fumble was overturned into an incompletion, and a tunnel screen to Shaheed worked for seven yards. On third down, Shough tried to get the ball to Olave on a short pass out right but Winfield arrived at about the same time as the ball and was able to rip it away from the receiver for an interception.
The Bucs’ offense took over on the midfield stripe with a minute and a half left in the third period. White got two up the middle and Egbuka couldn’t hold on to an out pass near the left sideline. On third-and-eight, Mayfield leaked out to the right and threw to the middle of the field to Tez Johnson for 14 yards and a first down to bring the quarter to an end. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Mayfield threw deep to Egbuka in the end zone but CB Altontae Taylor just managed to break it up at the last second. Two plays later, on third-and-10, Mayfield tried to find Tez Johnson again over the middle but it went through his hands to bring up fourth down. McLaughlin slipped his 52-yarder inside the right upright to increase the Bucs’ lead to 20-3 with 14 minutes left in regulation.
The Saints’ next drive started at their 23 and Shough threw a quick out to Olave for nine yards. Shough then tried a deep shot down the left sideline but rookie CB Benjamin Morrison had good coverage and it was incomplete, leading to a short run up the middle by Kamara for a first down. Shough followed with a quick slant to Vele but McCollum got a hand in the way to break it up. Shough escaped a collapsing pocket on second down but slid down for a two-yard gain as the defense converged. On third-and-eight, Shough got the ball to Shaheed but Smith pulled him down two yards shy of the sticks. The Saints went for it on fourth down but Smith was there again and he broke up a pass intended for Johnson.
That gave the ball back to Tampa Bay’s offense at the Saints’ 44. Tucker bounced a first-down carry around to the right to get seven yards, and two plays later on third-and-three, an underneath handoff to Tucker was stopped for just one yard. McLaughlin simply drilled a 54-yarder to increase the Bucs’ lead to 20 points with nine and a half minutes left.
The Saints got the ball out to their 33 on the ensuing kickoff but quickly faced a third-and-three. Shough completed this one by lobbing a 15-yard pass to Johnson. Short passes to Olave and Johnson got the ball across midfield and made it first down at the Bucs’ 34. Shough threw quickly downfield in the face of a big blitz and had Shaheed behind the defense but overthrew it. Two plays later, Shough converted a third-and-seven with a dart to WR Brandin Cooks on a quick slant. DL Vita Vea batted the next pass down at the line, and on the next down Nelson broke free into the backfield and combined with Diaby for a 10-yard sack. A quick-hitter to Shaheed on third-and-20 picked up nine and the Saints went for it on fourth down. Quick pressure by Diaby forced the rookie passer to throw a desperation pass out to the left to TE Jack Stoll but it was incomplete for a turnover on downs with five minutes left.
Concerned only about the clock, the Bucs handed off three times to Tucker and Williams and gained six yards before puntin the ball away. Bridgewater replaced Mayfield on the second snap of the drive. Dixon’s punt went out of bounds at the Saints’ 19.
Shough got the ball to an open Johnson the left sideline but the ball was dropped, and a six-yard catch by Shaheed brought on the two-minute warning. After the break, Shough got the ball to Olave but only for one yard. The Saints kept the offense out on fourth down and Shough scrambled for a first down. Completions of 10 and eight yards to Shaheed sandwiched around a neutral zone infraction on the Bucs got the ball across midfield. The Saints burned their final timeout with 57 seconds left and Shough then scrambled for five yards after being pressured by OLB Chris Braswell. A scrambling incompletion made it fourth down again but Shough converted that one, too, with an 11-yard strike to Cooks. Two plays later, a 16-yard catch by Johnson brought the ball down to the 15 with 10 seconds to go, but an incompletion and a sack split by Logan Hall and Markees Watts brought the contest to an end.