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Greg Auman
NFC South Reporter
TAMPA, Fla. — In the end, Times Square won’t be the only place a ball was dropped on Sunday.
The Bucs, staked to a four-game winning streak, had a chance to clinch a third straight NFC South title on their home field by beating the Saints.
But Tampa Bay came out flat, turned the ball over four times and trailed 20-0 in the fourth quarter of what ended up a 23-13 loss to New Orleans. The Bucs can still clinch a division title by simply beating two-win Carolina next week, but the sting of Sunday’s disappointment put a significant damper on their recent surge.
“Very disappointing,” Bucs linebacker Lavonte David said. “It was like we didn’t know what was at stake. We came out very flat on both sides of the ball. It’s something we’ve got to take to the chin. They came out and beat us. We’ve definitely got to get better, learn from it and get better next week.”
A loss next week would eliminate the Bucs, but all they need to do to salvage a divisional title and a home playoff game is beat the worst team in the NFL. Carolina clinched that in falling to 2-14 on Sunday with a 29-0 loss to the Jaguars, who lost to the Bucs a week earlier. Tampa remains in good shape, but don’t tell that to Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
“It doesn’t matter who we played today: a good team, a bad team, a college team, a high school team, we wouldn’t have won the game,” Bowles said.
The Saints, meanwhile, stepped up to keep their postseason hopes alive. They need the Bucs to lose next week, and if they do, the winner of the Falcons-Saints game in New Orleans will be the NFC South champ.
New Orleans, which had lost 26-9 to the Bucs in Week 4, played one of their its games of the season. Quarterback Derek Carr went 24-for-32 for 197 yards and two touchdowns, tight end Juwan Johnson had eight catches for 90 yards and a score, and the Saints defense held the Bucs to 45 yards and zero points in the first half.
“I’m proud of the…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/bucs-take-unacceptable-loss-to-saints-leaving-nfc-south-title-unclaimed
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Publish date : 2023-12-31 23:54:06
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