Monday, 4 a.m.
Over the season, they were good enough to overcome their injuries, their doubts, their second-guessing. They overcame a tough schedule, and a long losing streak, and a porous defense.
On the final day, however, they were good enough to overcome themselves.
The Tampa Bay Bucs won the NFC South title, again, with a comeback victory over a feisty New Orleans team, 27-19. It was an ugly, annoying game with perhaps the worst half of by the Bucs in years. They were lethargic, unfocused and off-kilter.
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In the second half, however, the Bucs woke up. They outscored New Orleans 21-3 to win the game, and as such, the division. As it turned out, it barely mattered. Carolina beat Atlanta 44-38 in overtime.
In the second half, they stepped up their intensity and looked like a team that could play well in the post-season. They will be home against Washington next Sunday night at 8 p.m.
“It feels great,” Bucs’ coach Todd Bowles said. “We went through a lot of ups and downs this year, a lot of injuries. Guys fought hard — we went through a hurricane by the way. With a lot of guys missing on both sides of the ball, it’s even more gratifying for us to come out on top this way.”
On the final play of the game, Baker Mayfield hit Mike Evans on an eight-yard pass. That allowed Evans to finish with 1,0003 yards, his 11th straight season of 1,000 or more yards. That ties the record of former 49er Jerry Rice. It meant a $3 million bonus for Evans.
It figured. Everything finished well for the Bucs.
“It was awfully close,” Bowles said of Evans’ achievement. “It was a matter of what kind of pass we were going to throw. I didn’t want an interception. We talked about screens and slants, and we knew they were going to double him. We motioned him over to get him open. We did a good job of getting it to him. He’s earned it. He’s done everything for this organization and team and we’re happy for him.”
Said quarterback Baker Mayfield: “He has always put the team first. That’s why you love him. That why we appreciate having him. You saw the stadium erupt, the sideline erupt.You can tell how much people care about him.”
Other notable performances in the second half:
— Mayfield was terrific in the second half, throwing, running, lateraling, leading. He finished with 221 yards passing and 68 yards running. In the fourth quarter, he was seven-for-seven for 114 yards. In the second half, Mayfield ran seven times for 61 yards.
— Running back Bucky Irving was bottled up for much of the day, but he took a lateral from Mayfield and ran 11 yards for the clinching touchdown. Irving had 89 yards on the day. Irving finished the regular season with 1,122 yards.
— Receiver Jalen McMillan caught a 32-yard touchdown pass to give the Bucs their first lead. McMillan had just caught a 33-yard pass on fourth-and-eight, but was penalized for an illegal demonstration (he mimed shooting a rifle). McMillian finished the season with 37 catches for 461 yards.
“You know, he’s matured. Even him getting the penalty, he acknowledged it was on him. It really wasn’t a gun salute. He was pointing it forward, but I told him the refs can’t see the tape on his fingers.”
— The defense, picked apart in the first half, held Spencer Rattler to 54 yards passing in the second.
Still, the question remains. Was Tampa Bay’s second half enough to make you forget about the first half?
The Bucs gave up 16 points, and scored just six, as Rattler looked efficient. The Bucs played their normal soft zone, and rattler threw for 181 yards. It was the look of a team that was ready to go home.
“There weren't so much a choice of words,” Bowles said. “They were, more or less, what we have to do and what they were doing to us and what we’re going to adjust and what we had to do. They came alive in the second half and they calmed down.”
In the second half, it was Mayfield’s show. Time and again, he scrambled for first downs to keep drives alive. He had never brought a team back from a 10-point deficit, but this time, his will beat the Saints.
Will it be enough to advance far into the playoffs? The secondary remains a concern. The Bucs have had a lot of sacks, but they’ve had to blitz to get most of them.
The Bucs beat Washington on opening weekend, but that was before quarterback Jaden Daniels established himself.