How the Bucs offense beat itself with turnovers vs. Saints In just a few seconds, Trey Palmer made the play of the game and the play that summed up the Bucs offense's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Baker Mayfield launched a 54-yard pass to the rookie on first and 10 from the Tampa Bay 40-yard line with just under four minutes to play. Palmer grabbed it but struggled to get his footing. He took six wild steps before falling on his own and the ball squirted out. The defensive back, Isaac Yiadom, he'd beat to make that spectacular catch scooped up the fumble. "Just one of those days where nothing seemed to get going," Mayfield said of that play. "And then we had a chance, but we couldn't get it. So one of those days that you look at it and see the things that went wrong and we've got to get it fixed." It was just "one of those days" the Bucs can't afford to have again. The Saints outplayed them physically and mentally, and denied the Bucs a chance to clinch the NFC South and a playoff spot in the 23-13 defeat at Raymond James Stadium. "We turned the ball over and had penalties recipe for disaster," receiver Mike Evans said. "We didn't deserve to win." To break it down: New Orleans forced four turnovers while the Bucs defense produced none. Heading into Sunday's game, Tampa Bay had done a tremendous job of protecting the ball. The Bucs were tied with the Steelers with a plus-10 differential in turnovers to lead the NFL. That fell apart against New Orleans. Mayfield threw two interceptions for the first time in a game this season. In addition to Palmer's miscue, running back Rachaad White fumbled after a 16-yard gain to end the first significant Bucs drive of the third quarter. Palmer, who also caught a 22-yard touchdown pass and finished with four receptions for a team-high 84 receiving yards, left the locker room without talking to reporters. Mayfield and White said that mistakes happen and need to be corrected before next week's second chance at a win-and-clinch of the division. "The first one, I've got to give Trey a better chance to run under it," Mayfield said of his second-quarter attempt to Palmer that was picked off by Alontae Taylor at the Saints' 2-yard line. "One-on-one ball and Alontae Taylor had a hell of a play, to be honest with you." In the fourth quarter, Mayfield was also picked off by Johnathan Abram on a short pass intended for David Moore. He took all the blame again. "Just a horrible throw. I didn't get my feet over the right side. I think we'll see the footwork on that when we see the video, that was probably the main issue," Mayfield said. "And then we've just got to take care of it. Obviously (White's) trying to make a big play, but they swarm to the bottom. That's their physical defense. They rally to the ball and so we've got to take care of it, too." It was White's third fumble of the year, matching last season, and just his second since Week 4. "The guy just come from behind. I've just got to be more aware in that situation," White said. "The guy made a good play, just a swipe on the ball as he was attacking me and it ended up coming out. "It was crazy because I was more like one inch off the sideline and the ball bounced right there back in," White continued. "It was just one of them days. One of them days." The Bucs have to hope it's just one sloppy day that doesn't carry over to next weekend. Kristie Ackert, Tampa Bay Times, published 1 January 2024