The Black and Gold were coming off a 21-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins last week. This Sunday, New Orleans returned to Florida, this time going to Tampa to take on the Buccaneers. Sunday’s rain game in the sunshine state concluded with the Black and Gold being victorious for the third time this season, winning 24-20.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
New Orleans began with the football and opened with a scoring drive. Mason Tipton returned the opening kickoff 54 yards to the Tampa 45-yard line. Tyler Shough completed passes to DeVaughn Vele and Juwan Johnson for a combined 28 yards then rushed for 11 yards. That set up rookie running back Devin Neal to rush for his career touchdown from three yards out. The Saints were ahead by seven two and a half minutes into the game.
On Tampa’s first possession, Chase Young extended the drive with a neutral zone infraction on 3rd & 5. Four plays later, Baker Mayfield found Chris Godwin for a 21 yard gain, setting up a screen to Bucky Irving that resulted in a 24-yard touchdown. That tied the game at seven with 7:57 left in the first quarter.
Late in the opening period, the Buccaneers decided to go for it on 4th & 1 from the Saints’ 45-yard line. Carl Granderson blew up Irving for a seven-yard loss to set up the Saint offense in plus territory. New Orleans set up Charlie Smyth to kick a 48-yard field goal. Smyth missed the attempt early on in the second.
A couple minutes later, Zyon McCollum intercepted Shough’s pass, putting the Bucs’ offense at the Saints’ 40-yard line. Tampa marked for the 17 yards before Chase McLaughlin kicked a 41-yard field goal.
The final three drives of the first half resulted in turnovers on downs and the Saints were down 10-7 going into the locker room.
On the four play of the second half, Alontae Taylor picked off Mayfield and returned the football to the Tampa 47-yard line. After a pair of runs by Neal, Shough took a designed quarterback run 34 yards to the house to take the four-point lead. That lead vanquished on the following Bucs possession.
Tampa went 65 yards in seven plays that ended with a one-yard Sean Tucker rushing touchdown. Jonas Sanker’s pass interference penalty on Tez Johnson for 28 yards was the big play on the drive. The Buccaneers were up 17-14 with 7:37 left in the third quarter.
New Orleans responded with another scoring drive. Neal had a big 21-yards run to help set up a 30-yard kick by Smyth. The Saints I itally went for it on fourth down and moved the sticks but the play was called back after Cesar Ruiz was illegally 11 beyond the line of scrimmage.
For a fourth time, Tampa elected to go for it on fourth down and failed to move the sticks. This time, Kool-Aid McKinstry hit Godwin out of bounds before he could complete the catch. That play set up the Saints offense at their 47-yard line.
Shough completed multiple passes to Chris Olave for 22 yards and had another 14-yard completion to Neal to set up 1st & 10 from the 13-yard. On the next play, Shough reached paydirt to give New Orleans the seven-point lead with 8:26 to go in the fourth quarter.
Irving set up another McLaughlin field goal with a 32-yard run on the first. McLaughlin’s 37-yard field goal made it a four-point difference with under five minutes to play.
The Bucs failed to move the chains on fourth down one final time as Demario Davis tackled Cade Otton a yard short of the first down line. New Orleans went into victory formation to secured the 24-20 win over the Bucs, their third of the season.
BIG NUMBER: 6
There was an abnormal amount of turnovers on down in Sunday’s game with six. Tampa was responsible for five of them and each team’s quarterbacks were intercepted once in the game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Tyler Shough
Shough didn’t “ wow” many through the air with 144 yards on 13 completions, but the rookie rushed for 55 yards on seven carries that resulted in a pair of rushing touchdowns. That performance helped the Saints improve to 3-10 on the season.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Saints will return home for another NFC South matchup, this time they’ll face the Carolina Panthers. Kickoff inside the Caesars Superdome is set for 3:25 PM on Sunday, December 14th.