This team showed fight on Sunday.
I have to give credit to the New Orleans Saints. No matter what their record says, this team fought tooth and nail for this victory over the Buccaneers. Kellen Moore hasn't lost this locker room, and this team has a great cast of veterans who won't allow a slip in play and young players who are trying to prove themselves. Sure, a loss would improve the Saints' draft position, but it didn't look like that was on the mind of any player on the field Sunday afternoon.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday's win over the Bucs:
Tyler Shough won't go down without a fight
Give the young man credit. The Saints are in a position to take Fernando Mendoza in the 2026 NFL Draft, but Shough won't make that decision an easy one. Shough didn't throw a touchdown pass, but rushed for two and made several plays down the stretch to help the Saints secure a victory over their division rivals.
Shough threw for more yards than Baker Mayfield. I won't blame the Saints for selecting a quarterback in the draft, if it comes to that, but Shough has shown some grit the last two weeks. After nearly bringing his team back for a victory over Miami, Shough finished the job against a reeling Tampa Bay team.
The Saints defense shows up in crunch time
While the Saints defense didn't finish with a sack of Baker Mayfield, they made life miserable for the Bucs offense given the weather and their secondary. Mayfield finished with 122 passing yards and a QB rating of 55.1. Yes, the weather was a factor, but Tampa Bay was out of sorts all day on Sunday.
The difference in the game was the fourth down efficiency. Tampa Bay went 2/7 on fourth downs and scored on one of their two red zone trips.
Special Teams is a big deal for the Saints
There were three punts by New Orleans, which resulted in 152 punt yards and a punt average of 50.2. Tampa Bay punted once for 31 yards. The field position game was won by New Orleans on Sunday. While the Bucs continued to pressure New Orleans on fourth downs, the Saints played within themselves and kept the game in arms reach.
Yes, the Saints missed one of their two field goal attempts, but today, the Saints did enough to keep their team in striking distance and it turned into a tough win.