Buccaneers overcome mental adversity, furious comeback to dispatch Saints

At the end of a tumultuous week, the Buccaneers’ 51-27 win at New Orleans Sunday was a tale of two halves. It was also a tale of mental resilience.

“It makes it extra special for these guys,” said head coach Todd Bowles after Tampa Bay (4-2) kept pace with Atlanta atop the NFC South. “A lot of them were playing with heavy hearts, seeing what was happening in Tampa Bay.”

Hurricane Milton happened in Tampa Bay late Wednesday night. A day earlier, the Buccaneers’ ownership evacuated the entire organization, including 350-plus players and families and more than 30 pets, to New Orleans.

“Our hearts pour out to the city,” Bowles said. “It’s a tough city. It’s a strong city. We don’t know what we’re going back to but we wanted to do our small part. This time, we wanted to win one for the city and we’re going to try and help any way we can when we get back.”

On their way back, they can look back on Sunday. The Bucs withstood a furious first-half barrage from New Orleans (2-4) and rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler, making his first NFL start. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 14-0 lead when Antoine Winfield returned an early fumble 58 yards for a touchdown. But pre-snap penalties hindered the Bucs, and Klint Kubiak’s New Orleans gameplan allowed Rattler to hit screens and move the pocket, keeping him clean with bootleg passes and quick releases.

Over a mind-blowing stretch early in the second quarter, the Saints needed just four minutes and 37 seconds to erase a 17-0 deficit and take a 20-17 lead. They did it with an 11-play drive engineered by Rattler, Rashid Shaheed’s 54-yard punt-return touchdown and a Paulson Adebo interception that set up a Blake Grupe field goal. Then, Johnathan Abram picked off Mayfield again, returning the interception 30 yards to the Bucs’ 10-yard line. One play later, Rattler hit fellow rookie Bub Means for a go-ahead touchdown with 8:37 left before half.

Then, after Mayfield’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Sean Tucker put Tampa Bay back in the lead, Alvin Kamara caped another long Saints drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.

But after Mayfield’s third interception of the quarter – this one picked off by All-Pro Cam Jordan – the game took an unmistakable turn in Tampa Bay’s favor, led by a Buccaneers defense that shut out New Orleans over the game’s final 32 minutes.

“It says a lot about the growth of the team, the leadership of the team,” Bowles said. “Obviously the guys accepted coaching and making adjustments in the second half, and coming out understanding what they’ve got to do. We didn’t finish that game against Atlanta; we finished this one.”

They finished with only the second game of 50-or-more points in franchise history, and wide receiver Chris Godwin finished with 11 catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard third-quarter score that set the tone for the rest of the game.

Tucker, a non-drafted free agent in his second year out of Syracuse, exploded for 192 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 9.7 yards per carry (136 yards on 14 attempts), including a late 5-yard scoring run that pushed the Bucs past the 50-point mark.

Things don’t get much easier for the Buccaneers, who return home not only to assess hurricane damage but also to prepare for the Baltimore (4-2), who looked unstoppable in a 30-23 win over Washington on Sunday. Tampa Bay goes back on the road to face the Ravens this week.

Prior to the game, the Saints held a fundraiser for victims of the recent Florida hurricanes. The United Way is also accepting donations, which can be made at this link.