The Bucs had a long 10-day break between their Thursday night loss to the Falcons in Week 5 and Sunday’s Week 6 matchup against the Saints in New Orleans, and those 10 days were far from normal. With Hurricane Milton barreling toward the Tampa Bay area, the team had a large traveling party in New Orleans for much of the week. But as that week came to a close, the Bucs managed to bounce back and earn a badly needed 51-27 win over the Saints.

Tampa Bay started extremely fast, scoring an opening-drive touchdown and getting a defensive touchdown from Antoine Winfield Jr. on its way to a 17-0 first-quarter lead. But New Orleans came back quickly and scored 20 straight points, making it a ball game. The Bucs trailed 27-24 at halftime, but the defense took control of the second half and the offense strung together some explosive plays to rally back. Tampa Bay outscored New Orleans 27-0 over the final 30 minutes to pick up a massive divisional win.

With the win, Todd Bowles’ team is now 4-2 overall and 1-1 in NFC South play. The Saints, on the other hand, dropped their fourth straight game and fell to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in divisional play.

Here’s a recap of all the action from Tampa Bay’s massive victory on Sunday afternoon at the Caesars Superdome.

Bucs 51, Saints 27

For the third straight week, the Bucs offense got going with a completion from Baker Mayfield to Mike Evans on the first play of the game. A couple of Chris Godwin catches kept the drive going, then Mayfield linked up with both Sterling Shepard and Evans again to keep the chains moving. Bucky Irving, getting the start with Rachaad White out, then got Tampa Bay inside the 5-yard line with a 15-yard run.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

One play later, Mayfield and Godwin connected for a 4-yard touchdown to give the offense its third opening-drive touchdown in three weeks. Mayfield was 6-of-6 for 62 yards and a touchdown on the drive, which went for eight plays and 74 yards while taking 4:55 off the clock. With that, the visitors were up 7-0 early.

The Bucs defense kept the momentum rolling from there. On the third play of the Saints’ opening drive, rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler completed a pass to Chris Olave before rookie Tykee Smith knocked the ball loose for a fumble. And in his return to the lineup, Antoine Winfield Jr. was there to scoop it up and return it 58 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, Tampa Bay was up 14-0 on New Orleans.

Rattler and the Saints offense quickly went three-and-out after that and sent the ball right back to Mayfield and the Bucs offense.

With help from two defensive penalties, Tampa Bay moved right down the field again. Sean Tucker had an 11-yard run and a 15-yard catch on the drive, but things eventually stalled inside the 10. Nonetheless, Chase McLaughlin came on to drill a 26-yard field goal to put the Bucs up 17-0 with 4:01 left in the first.

Rattler and the New Orleans offense moved the ball well on their next possession, but the first quarter came to an end with a Calijah Kancey tackle for loss. Through 15 minutes, Tampa Bay had a 17-0 lead. Of note at this point, Olave was ruled out for the Saints while Jamel Dean was ruled out for the Bucs.

Early in the second quarter, the Saints settled for a 42-yard Blake Grupe field goal to get within 17-3.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

The home team rode some momentum from there and got some help from the Bucs. Two penalties backed the Tampa Bay offense up and the drive never got started, then Jake Camarda unloaded a 47-yard punt only for Rashid Shaheed to return it 54 yards for a touchdown to get the Saints within 17-10.

After another penalty on Shepard backed the offense up again, Mayfield threw a pass intended for Mike Evans that was intercepted by Paulson Adebo. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Alontae Taylor backed New Orleans up, but nonetheless, Rattler and the offense still took over at the Tampa Bay 28. A Vita Vea third-down sack eventually limited the damage to another Grupe field goal. Still, what was once a 17-0 lead was down to 17-13 midway through the second quarter.

Tampa Bay’s implosion continued early on the offense’s next drive. A Mayfield pass went off the hands of Jalen McMillan, leading to a Johnathan Abram interception. And one play later, Rattler found Bub Means for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Saints a 20-17 lead.

Mayfield and Ryan Miller connected for a 39-yard gain to the Saints’ 40 to spark the next drive, then the Bucs regained the lead on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Sean Tucker. With 5:39 to go in the first half, Tampa Bay was on top once again at 24-20.

Saints QB Spencer Rattler – Photo by: USA Today

The Saints were quick to respond again, though, with Rattler finding Foster Moreau for a 41-yard gain to the Bucs’ 7-yard line before Kamara found the end zone two plays later. With the Grupe PAT, it was a 27-24 New Orleans lead with 2:47 to go in the second quarter.

A third Mayfield interception – this one by Cameron Jordan after the ball was tipped at the line – gave Rattler and his offense a chance to build on their lead to end the first half. But the Bucs came up with a stop to stop the bleeding, sending the game to halftime with the Saints up 27-24.

The two sides traded punts to start the second half, then the Buccaneer defense stepped up with a pair of sacks. Chris Braswell and K.J. Britt split one, then Calijah Kancey and Logan Hall split another to force another punt.

After some tough running by Sean Tucker got the Bucs out of the shadow of their own end zone, Chris Godwin struck for another big play. He caught a short pass from Mayfield and broke a few tackles on his way to a 55-yard touchdown that put the visitors up 31-27.

The Bucs defense got a stop from there, but the offense wasn’t able to add to the lead on its next possession. To make matters worse, Mayfield went down hard on a third-down scramble and had to be evaluated in the medical tent. A short while later, the third quarter came to an end with Tampa Bay leading 31-27.

To start the fourth quarter, the Bucs got a key takeaway. Zyon McCollum made a spectacular interception on a pass intended for Rashid Shaheed, getting the ball back to the Buccaneer offense.

Bucs RB Sean Tucker – Photo by: USA Today

Mayfield was able to return to the game to start the drive, which was a welcome sight. But it was the Bucs run game that got them in position to add to the lead. Bucky Irving delivered a nasty stiff arm and changed direction several times on his way to a 31-yard run, then Sean Tucker ran for another 18 yards before drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty to set up 1st & Goal.

The Bucs were backed up by a Shepard penalty after that, but on 3rd & Goal, Mayfield found Cade Otton for an 8-yard touchdown. That made it a two-score game and even after a missed two-point conversion, Tampa Bay was up 37-27.

Todd Bowles’ defense continued to hold strong on the next drive, getting the ball back to Mayfield and Co. to give them a chance to kill some clock. They did that, plus they added to their lead. After a Mayfield to Irving pass moved the chains on 3rd & 16, Irving got into the end zone to make it a three-score game at 44-27 with 5:33 to go.

Tykee Smith quickly ended the next Saints drive with his first career interception (his second turnover of the day), then Sean Tucker found the end zone again to make it a 50-burger for the Tampa Bay offense. By the end of it, the Bucs came away with a 51-27 win to end a trying week.

GOT THE JOB DONE. pic.twitter.com/NPy9DtHdat

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 13, 2024

Baker Mayfield finished the day 24-of-36 for 325 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Chris Godwin did most of the damage for the receiving corps, catching 11 of his 13 targets for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today

The run game exploded for the Bucs in the second half. Overall, the combination of Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker (as well as Mayfield and Sterling Shepard) ran for 277 yards and a 7.9 yards per carry average. Irving ran for 81 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while Tucker ran 14 times for 136 yards and a touchdown in addition to catching three passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.

The Buccaneer defense racked up five sacks and three turnovers and went on to pitch a second-half shutout. Tykee Smith had a forced fumble and an interception, while Zyon McCollum had a key second-half interception as well. And, lost in the chaos of the rest of the game, Antoine Winfield Jr. had that 58-yard scoop-and-score on his return to the field.

The Bucs (4-2) will now return home to Raymond James Stadium in Week 7 for a Monday Night Football matchup against the Ravens (4-2). Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m.