The 9-7 Bucs came into the final day of the 2024 regular season with a simple scenario: beat the 5-11 Saints at Raymond James Stadium and clinch a fourth straight NFC South title and a fifth consecutive playoff appearance.

It was clear from the start that it wasn’t going to come easily, though. The Saints controlled possession for much of the first half and took a 16-6 lead into the locker room at halftime, putting the Bucs’ playoff hopes in serious jeopardy, especially with the Falcons leading the Panthers at halftime in Atlanta.

It still didn’t come easily for the Bucs in the second half, either. There was no switch flipped like some other second halves in recent weeks. Instead, they clawed back with three second-half touchdowns, with the go-ahead not coming until the 10:09 mark in the fourth quarter when Baker Mayfield found Jalen McMillan for a 32-yard score. Bucky Irving added an 11-yard touchdown with 1:51 to go and with one last stop from the defense, Tampa Bay finished off a 27-19 win.

It didn’t even matter that Atlanta went on to lose 44-38 to Carolina in overtime, though that result did mean that Todd Bowles and his team won the NFC South by two games. And now, they’ll have their sights set on Super Wild Card Weekend.

Here’s a recap of all the action from a wild Sunday afternoon at Ray Jay:

Bucs 27, Saints 19

Saints QB Spencer Rattler – Photo by: USA Today

The Saints won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, pitting Spencer Rattler and the New Orleans offense against the Bucs defense to open things up. The opening drive was smooth for the visitors, with a 19-yard pass from Rattler to Juwan Johnson and a 12-yard run by Clyde Edwards-Helaire serving as the key plays. But after a third-down stop just inside the red zone, the Saints settled for a 35-yard Blake Grupe field goal.

So, if the Bucs were going to win and clinch the NFC South, they were going to have to do something they hadn’t done all season: win a game without scoring first.

Tampa Bay’s offense managed to answer back, with a big third-down conversion from Baker Mayfield to Devin Culp keeping the drive going at one point before a running into the kicker penalty on a Jack Browning punt led to a 52-yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin. With that, the Bucs and Saints were tied at 3-3.

The Saints offense continued to dominate possession as the first quarter wound down, driving into Buccaneer territory to set up a 3rd & 3 at the 21-yard line before the first quarter came to an end with the game tied at three.

After Zyon McCollum came up with a third-down pass breakup to open the second quarter, New Orleans retook the lead with a 39-yard field goal by Grupe.

Bucs DT Vita Vea and the defense – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs offense went three-and-out on their second possession, which left the Saints to continue dominating time of possession. Rattler led them on a 14-play, 79-yard drive that featured two fourth-down conversions, killed 7:36 off the clock and ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis. With that, New Orleans led 13-3 with 6:14 left in the first half. At that point in the game, the visitors had an 18:19-5:27 in time of possession and were outgaining the Bucs 182-44.

Tampa Bay’s offense needed to respond before the deficit grew any more, and it unsurprisingly got a spark from Bucky Irving, who broke free for a 25-yard run thanks in large part to a great downfield block by Luke Goedeke. A couple of third-down throws to Mike Evans moved the chains from there, but the Bucs eventually stalled inside the 10-yard line. A 25-yard McLaughlin field goal got them within 13-6 with 1:03 left before halftime, but the Saints got a chance to build the lead before Mayfield and Co. were set to get the ball back out of the break.

The Saints took that chance, too, easily driving down the field on Todd Bowles’ defense. Rattler was 7-of-7 for 49 yards at one point on the drive, taking just 43 seconds off the clock in the process. He eventually missed on third down, but another Grupe field goal extended the New Orleans lead right back to 10 at 16-6 heading into halftime.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs offense came through with a big response to open the second half. Spurred on by a skirmish, a big third-down catch by Sterling Shepard and a couple of personal foul penalties on the Saints, Mayfield led a 10-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Payne Durham.

The Buccaneer defense got the stop it needed on the ensuing Saints possession, forcing a three-and-out to get the ball right back to the offense with a chance to take the lead.

But just when it seemed like the home team was capturing some momentum, Mayfield threw a third-down interception to give the ball right back to the Saints, already in scoring position at the Bucs’ 37.

The Tampa Bay defense made sure the ball didn’t go much further than that, but a Grupe field goal from 49 yards out made it a 19-13 game after the turnover. Still, the Buccaneer offense got the ball back down six with a chance to take its first lead of the day.

But Mayfield’s shaky day continued instead. Despite having an open Mike Evans on 3rd & 9, Mayfield missed what would’ve been an explosive play and a potential go-ahead touchdown that would’ve also taken Evans over the 1,000-yard mark. Instead, things went from bad to worse as Jack Browning dropped the snap on the punt and only got the kick off for a 14-yarder.

The Bucs defense got another stop, though, with a personal foul backing the Saints up before Yaya Diaby got to Rattler for a sack. That eventually led to a New Orleans punt, giving Tampa Bay yet another chance to take its first lead of the day.

After a holding penalty and a false start backed Tampa Bay up to its own 8-yard line, a scramble by Mayfield and a 20-yard catch by Devin Culp on 3rd & 6 brought the game to the end of the third quarter with the Bucs trailing 19-13.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The game reached peak insanity later on the drive, as the Bucs converted a 4th & 8 from the 42-yard line with a 34-yard dime from Mayfield to McMillan. But after McMillan signaled for a first down with what the officials deemed to close to a gun gesture, Tampa Bay was backed up to the 24 instead of having 1st & Goal from the 8. A holding penalty on Luke Goedeke backed the ball up even further, but in the end, it didn’t matter. On the next play, Mayfield found McMillan for a 32-yard touchdown. With McLaughlin’s PAT, the Bucs went up 20-19 with 10:09 to go.

The Tampa Bay defense kept the momentum rolling, with Vita Vea sacking Rattler to kill the ensuing New Orleans possession. A penalty on the punt backed the Bucs way back, but a 3rd-&-9 conversion by Evans and a 27-yard scramble by Mayfield on 3rd & 14 kept the drive alive and kept the clock going. And as the drive wore on, Evans got closer and closer to the 85 yards he needed to break 1,000 yards for the NFL-record-tying 11th straight season.

But just after the two-minute warning, Mayfield scrambled in the pocket and pitched the ball back to Bucky Irving, who had a free lane to the end zone. He took it, scoring to put Tampa Bay up 27-19 with 1:51 to go and leaving Evans five yards shy of 1,000.

True to the flow of the game, the Saints didn’t go quietly, though. They quickly moved into Buccaneer territory, getting inside the 35 down just eight. But on a 4th & 5 at the 32, Rattler’s pass was incomplete and the party was on inside Raymond James Stadium.

The party didn’t stop there, though, as the Bucs offense came back on to the field and Mayfield got the ball to Evans, who found nine more yards and broke 1,000 for the 11th straight season.

From there, Mayfield killed the clock with one kneel-down and the Bucs officially claimed the NFC South title for the fourth straight year.

It wasn’t the prettiest game for Baker Mayfield, but it was one of his grittiest. He completed 21 of his 32 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns to one interception, plus he ran for a career-high 68 yards on nine carries. Bucky Irving ran 19 times for 89 yards and a touchdown, while both Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan proved to be the key factors in the passing game. Evans caught nine passes for 89 yards, while McMillan caught five of his six targets for 74 yards and a touchdown.

The Buccaneer defense struggled to contain Spencer Rattler in the first half, as the rookie went 21-of-28 for 181 yards and a touchdown. But the unit was much better in the second half, holding New Orleans to just three points in the second half. Yaya Diaby and Vita Vea both notched sacks, while Zyon McCollum finished with four pass breakups.

The Bucs (10-7) will now wait to find out their opponent, date and kickoff time for their Super Wild Card Weekend matchup next weekend.