Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 New Orleans Saints 19 Sunday 5 January 2025 at Raymond James Stadium
NFC SOUTH STANDINGS Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10-7 Atlanta Falcons 8-9 Carolina Panthers 5-12 New Orleans Saints 5-12
FOX COMMENTARY CREW Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady
The Bucs clinched their fourth straight division title but made their fans suffer with a spotty first-half performance against a Saints team missing most of their big-game offensive weapons. But Baker Mayfield brought his team back and the defense held the Saints to three points in the second half. Mayfield’s scoring pass to Jalen McMillan followed a huge play on 4th down between the same combination. And with the final play of the game, Mike Evans got the five yards he needed for his 11th straight 1,000-yard season.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 78 Wirfs DL 94 Kancey LG 68 Brederson NT 50 Vea C 62 Barton DL 90 Hall RG 69 Mauch OLB 98 Nelson RT 67 Goedecke ILB 54 David TE 88 Otton ILB 51 Russell WR 17 Shepard OLB 0 Diaby WR 13 Evans CB 27 McCollum WR 15 McMillan CB 32 Hayes QB 6 Mayfield S 26 Merrriweather RB 7 Irving S 21 Edwards PLAYED 1 White, 4 McLaughlin, 5 Browning, 9 Tryon-Shoyinka, 10 Palmer, 18 Jarrett, 23 Smith, 24 Funderburk, 28 Flowers, 36 Neal, 37 Thomas, 41 Kieft, 43 Braswell, 44 Tucker, 45 Jones, 52 Britt, 56 Barrett, 70 Hainsey, 77 Skule, 79 Klein, 81 Miller, 82 Culp, 86 Deckers, 92 Gholston, 96 Gaines DID NOT PLAY 2 Trask INACTIVES 19 Johnson, 31 Winfield, 33 Ramirez, 35 Dean, 64 Newman, 88 Otton, 95 Brewer
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the big plays Jalen McMillan’s toe-tapping play came just after his great 4th down catch Bucky Irving sealed the deal with his late touchdown And on the final play, Mike Evans reached his 1,000-yard plateau
GAME SCORING NO 9:16-1Q Grupe FG35 TB 4:51-1Q McLaughlin FG52 NO 14:52-2Q Grupe FG39 NO 6:14-2Q Pettis 5 pass from Rattler (Grupe kick) TB 1:03-2Q McLaughlin FG21 NO 0:07-2Q Grupe FG39 TB 10:27-3Q Durham 6 pass from Mayfield (McLaughlin) NO 5:53-3Q Grupe FG49 TB 10:09-4Q McMillan 32 pass from Mayfield (McLaughlin) TB 1:51-4Q Irving 11 run (McLaughlin kick)
GAME REPORTS The story of the game from the Associated Press Jalen McMillan points the way as Bucs beat Saints to clinch NFC South Baker Mayfield ain't the best QB in the NFL, but he may be the baddest Mike Evans ties Jerry Rice's receiving record in grand fashion A fab finish, a special record and what the future holds for the Bucs Scott Smith’s official game report Click here for the play-by-play and the NFL gamebook
NFL RESULTS - WEEK 18 Tampa Bay 27 New Orleans 19 Baltimore 35 Cleveland 10 Cincinnati 19 Pittsburgh 17 Carolina 44 Atlanta 38 Washingon 23 Dallas 19 Chicago 24 Green Bay 22 Indianapolis 26 Jacksonville 23 New England 23 Buffalo 16 Philadelphia 20 NY Giants 13 Houston 23 Tennessee 14 Arizona 47 San Francisco 24 Denver 38 Kansas City 0 Seattle 30 LA Rams 25 LA Chargers 34 Las Vegas 20 NY Jets 32 Miami 20 Detroit 31 Minnesota 9
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Irving 19-89, Mayfield 8-68, Tucker 2-16, McMillan 1-6. SAINTS: Edwards-Hilaire 8-26, Williams 8-26, Mims 2-12, Rattler 1-11. PASSING BUCS: Mayfield 32-21-221-1-2. SAINTS: Rattler 42-26-240-0-1. RECEIVING BUCS: Evans 9-89, McMillan 5-74, Culp 2-36, Durham 2-16, Irving 2-(- 5), Shepard 1-11. SAINTS: Johnson 6-80, Moreau 4-31, Valdes-Scantling 3-33, Wilson 3- 22, Mims 3-13, Pettis 2-16, Holker 2-11, Edwards-Hilaire 1-14, Austin 1-13, Williams 1-7. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: none. SAINTS: Howden 1-3. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Tucker 3-88. SAINTS: none. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Palmer 1-0. SAINTS: Pettis 1-9. SACKS BUCS: Vea 1-8, Diaby 1-4. SAINTS: Sewell 1-5.