Surging Buccaneers can clinch NFC South, playoff berth with home win over division-rival Saints

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — It doesn’t seem to matter who’s coaching or playing quarterback, the NFC South almost always comes down to who seizes the upper hand between New Orleans and Tampa Bay.

The teams have combined to win the past six division championships and are locked in another tight race this season, with the first-place Buccaneers (8-7) aiming to clinch a third straight title when they host the Saints (7-8) on Sunday.

“It’s definitely hard to dominate any division,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “In our division, the Saints had been running it for quite a while. We won it the last two years. We’re trying to win it a third year, but it’s always going to be tough sledding when you’re going for a title at the end.”

The Saints captured four straight crowns from 2017-20 with quarterback Drew Brees and former coach Sean Payton leading the way.

Tampa Bay, led then by Tom Brady and former coach Bruce Arians, won the only playoff matchup between the bitter rivals enroute to winning the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship three years ago.

Brady and the Bucs broke New Orleans’ stranglehold on the top spot in the division the following season, then repeated as NFC South champs a year ago despite finishing with a losing record (8-9) in Bowles’ first season as Arians’ successor.

With Brady now retired, a rejuvenated Baker Mayfield has Tampa Bay on the verge of earning what would be a club-best fourth consecutive playoff berth.

The Bucs have won four straight games following a stretch in which they lost six of seven. They relish the opportunity to clinch another division title at home.

“It means a ton just to be able to possibly do it at home, and against a divisional opponent, as well. It should be a great atmosphere,” Mayfield said.

“The things we’ve had to do and go through to get to this point — it means quite a bit when you look at having to rattle off this many in a row,” Mayfield added. “It’s a great opportunity for us, and just the beginning of where we eventually want to get to.”

The Saints are coming off a loss to the Los Angeles Rams that dropped them out of a tie for first place in the division. They suffered their most lopsided defeat of the season, 26-9 at home, to the Bucs in Week 4.

“We are what we’ve earned. We earned a loss that day, which, it wasn’t good. ... We needed to do better that day, but we’re excited for another challenge,” Saints quarterback Derek Carr said.

“It’s safe to say that we need to go out and win this week. That’s the only thing we control,” New Orleans coach Dennis Allen said.

“There’s been moments when it’s looked the way it’s supposed to look, and then there’s been moments when it hasn’t,” Allen added. “I think there’s a lot of those statistics that we could go through that would say we’ve done good things. But we haven’t finished, and we haven’t won enough.”

ON A ROLL

Mayfield, who’s with his fourth team in less than two years, has been playing some of the best ball of his career.

During Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak, he has completed nearly 63% of his passes for 1,010 yards and nine touchdowns vs. one interception. His passer rating of 110.6 over the four-week run is the sixth-highest mark he’s had over a four-game span.

SEEKING REDEMPTION

Saints defensive back Alontae Taylor was benched during New Orleans’ loss to the Rams and will be looking to rebound against Tampa Bay.

“Some explosive plays were made,” said Taylor, a third-round draft choice in 2022 who has been a starter all season at nickel back. “The way I reacted, it wasn’t the best reaction on the sideline, but I had guys kind of rally around me.

“I’ve grown from it, but now we’re getting for Tampa so I’m not so much worried about it. I’m back in the starting lineup like nothing happened.”

Allen said Taylor’s benching related to how he was playing against the Rams specifically — not his play overall.

“There was a level of expectation and we felt like at that moment in the game it was the right move to make, and yet I still have all the confidence in the world in Alontae,” Allen said. “I think he’ll respond the right way.”

MISLEADING STATS

Throw out the records, which is something the Saints might wish they could do, and New Orleans looks like a pretty good team.

The Saints entered this week tied for 13th in scoring at 22.1 points per game. They ranked ninth in points allowed at 19.8 per game. Their points differential for the season is plus-34 and their turnover differential is plus-4.

“When you’re in the top half of the league scoring points and the top 10 in allowing (the fewest) points, you would expect to win more games,” Allen said. “We’ve got to be able to ultimately finish games out and be able to win games. That’s what it’s really about. All the stats, none of them really matter except for one, and that hasn’t been good enough.”

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AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed.

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