Buccaneers win NFC South after rallying for 27-19 win

The Buccaneers gave their fans plenty of reason to bite their nails on Sunday, but they wound up coming through in the fourth quarter.

A Baker Mayfield touchdown pass to rookie wideout Jalen McMillan gave them their first lead of the day with just over 10 minutes to play and rookie running back Bucky Irving extended the lead to 27-19 just after the two-minute warning.

Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler was able to move his team inside Tampa’s 35-yard-line on the ensuing drive, but four straight incompletions sealed the NFC South crown for the Bucs. They will host a game in the wild card round and they will be the No. 3 seed if the Rams lose to the Seahawks later on Sunday.

Rattler’s final incompletion sealed the win, but there was still a little business left for the Bucs. Wide receiver Mike Evans came into the game needing 85 yards for his 11th-straight season with 1,000 receiving yards and he had 80 yards after Irving’s touchdown. The Bucs ran a play to get him nine yards on first down and Evans has now tied Rice for the longest such streak in NFL history.

That gave the Bucs a little extra reason to celebrate on a day that looked like it could end in disaster. The Saints led 16-6 at halftime as their offense dominated time of possession against a Bucs defense that was shorthanded in the secondary. The second half saw that defense tighten up considerably and they gave the team a shot to win by allowing just three points on drives that started in their territory due to a Mayfield interception and a botched punt.

Cleaner play for 60 minutes will be a necessity next weekend, but the Bucs did just enough to ensure that there will be a next week and that was the goal coming into the day.