“It was huge,” said Bowles of McCollum’s takeaway. “I think it was a three or four-point game at that time. To get it in the plus side of the field and get some momentum going and then going for another score right there was huge.”
Rattler, making his first career start in place of the injured Derek Carr showed poise in the first half and frequently made downfield plays on designed rollouts. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown in the first half as the Saints gained 196 total yards before halftime. The second half was a different story, with Bowles throwing an endless variety of blitzes and simulated pressures at the rookie, who was 11 of 26 for 103 yards, one touchdown and two picks after halftime. The Saints gained just 107 yards and did not score in the second half
“It was composure, more or less,” said Bowles. “And then we were setting the edge more with our outside guys instead of trying to drop him. We knew if we could cut him off from [escaping] the pocket and just keep him as a pocket passer we had a chance to get a little bit of pressure on him.”
The Buccaneers and Saints combined to score 51 points in the first half, tying for the most in any NFL game this season. Tampa Bay hit halftime with a 288-196 yardage advantage but were down 3-1 in turnover ratio. Winfield’s touchdown return and Shaheed’s punt return score essentially cancelled each other out but the Bucs fell behind thanks to those three turnovers and nine costly first-half penalties.
Irving brought the opening kickoff out to the Bucs’ 26 and Mayfield started the opening drive with a quick strike over the middle to Evans for 12 yards. A false start pushed the offense back five yards, but Mayfield scrambled left and threw on the run to Godwin in traffic for eight yards. Two plays later, on third-and-five, Godwin ran a quick curl on the right side and Mayfield found him for seven yards and a first down. The Bucs’ QB stayed hot, finding WR Sterling Shepard on the left side for nine and then hitting Evans on a corner route for 22 more to the Saints’ 19. A pitch left to Irving got the back to the edge and he sprinted down to the four. The Bucs went back to the air on first-and-goal, with Mayfield zipping a hard pass over the middle to Godwin for the score.
Rattler’s first NFL pass was a good one, as he rolled right and found TE Juwan Johnson for a gain of 27 into Bucs territory. Rattler bobbled the snap on the next play and had to fall on the ball five yards behind the line of scrimmage. On the next play, S Tykee Smith knocked the ball out of Olave’s hands and it was picked up and returned 58 yards for a touchdown by Winfield.
After another touchback, the Saints started again at their 30 and got seven yards on first down on a hard-charging run up the middle by Kamara. Two plays later, on third-and-three, WR Bub Means couldn’t quite pull in a one-handed catch of a high pass on an out and the Saints had to punt. Rookie WR Jalen McMillan caught it at the Bucs’ 21 and was immediately tackled at that spot.
Mayfield faked a handoff and rolled right, pump-faked to Godwin and then hit Shepard over the middle for nine. A pass-interference call on CB Paulson Adebo added 10 yards to the 40 but a tunnel screen to Godwin didn’t work as well as usual, resulting in just four yards, but Tucker’s first carry was a fast dash over left tackle for 11 yards. A personal foul on DE Carl Granderson tacked on 15 more to the Saints’ 30. The Bucs then got tricky with a reverse fleaflicker call, but Mayfield had to check it down to Tucker, who escaped a tackler to get down to the 15. A delay of game flag and Mayfield’s first incompletion made it second-and-15. A couple nifty moves by Mayfield on a scramble for 12 yards made it third-and-three but a shot under pressure to Evans in the end zone was out of reach. McLaughlin came on to hit a 26-yard field goal for a 17-point lead with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Jake Camarda dropped the ensuing kickoff at the one-yard line and it bounced into the end zone for the type of touchback that puts the ball at the 20. Kamara’s first-down run only got two yards thanks to the rookie duo of Smith and Chris Braswell. Two plays later, Rattler converted a third-and-seven with a sharp sideline pass to Means for 10 yards. Rattler found Means again on a crosser on the next play for eight yards and CB Jamel Dean was shaken up making the tackle. Two plays later, Rattler took off on a third-down scramble and weaved through defenders for 16 yards to the Bucs’ 45. Another play-action rollout worked again as Rattler found TE Foster Moreau down the right seam for 13 more. Calijah Kancey’s tackle on Kamara a yard deep in the backfield brought the first quarter to a close. After Kamara got eight yards on an outlet pass on the left sideline, OLB Yaya Diaby wrapped up the veteran back on third-and-three and the Saints settled for K Blake Grupe’s 42-yard field goal.
Irving took the next kickoff out to the Bucs’ 24, but a 12-men-on-the-field penalty followed by a false start meant the drive started with a first-and-20. After two incompletions, a tunnel screen to Godwin didn’t fool the Saints defense and it lost a yard. A personal foul at the end of the play on Shepard forced Camarda to punt out of his end zone and Shaheed took it 54 yards to the house to narrow the Bucs’ lead to 17-10.
Tampa Bay’s offense started its next drive at the 25 and got eight yards on an Irving run but gave 15 back on an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Shepard. On the next snap, Adebo undercut a pass to Evans and intercepted it, running the ball back to the Bucs’ 13.
The Saints’ turnover-induced drive actually started at the 28 thanks to an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on New Orleans. Rattler rolled out again and ended up scrambling to the 23 and two plays later, on third-and-two, a holding call on Kancey erased a stop on Kamara and made it first down at the 14. Tampa Bay’s defense bottled up a Shaheed end-around and a short pass to Kamara to make it third-and-seven. Rattler tried to scramble up the middle but Vea reached out with one hand to snag his jersey and bring him down for a zero-yard sack, leading to a 29-yard field goal by Grupe.
Starting again from the 28, Mayfield missed Godwin on first down but threw on target to McMillan on the next play. Unfortunately, the ball bounced off the receiver right to S Johnathan Abram for an interception that was returned to the 10. That set up a one-play touchdown drive as Rattler hit Means in the left edge of the end zone for the go-ahead score.
A holding call on G Ben Bredeson erased a tough seven-yard run by Irving but two plays later WR Ryan Miller turned his first NFL catch into a 39-yard gain to the Saints’ 40. Three plays later, on third-and-six, Tucker released out into the right flat and Mayfield found him on the run, giving the second-year back a chance to weave through the defense for a 36-yard touchdown.
After a touchback, Smith forced a throwaway on second down with a good blitz. However, Rattler escaped out to his right on third-and-five and hit Means on the sideline for a gain of 14. On the next play, rattler stood in under pressure and found Moreau down the middle for 41 yards to the Bucs’ seven. Two Kamara runs from there took it in and gave the lead back to the Saints.
An incompletion and a quick out to Godwin made it third-and-four, and Mayfield found the same target on the next snap for 21 yards up the left seam, bringing on the two-minute warning. After the break, Shepard couldn’t hold onto a short pass on first down. On second down, DT Bryan Bresee deflected Mayfield’s pass at the line and it was intercepted by DE Cameron Jordan at the Saints’ 40.