TAMPA, Fla. _ After winning back-to-back home games against San Francisco and Carolina, the Bucs' season had suddenly gained steam entering Sunday's division contest against New Orleans.
They were playing mistake-free football, getting takeaways and being more stout on defense.
But the Saints showed that momentum might have been a mirage. Or maybe, the Bucs just went back to being their own worst enemy.
The Bucs won the turnover battle at a soggy Raymond James Stadium. They dictated the pace of the game early, taking an 11-point lead after getting a pair of takeaways
But the Bucs mistakes came at a heavy cost _ especially on special teams _ and eventually it led them to a 28-14 division loss to the Saints.
In clinching the NFC South, the Saints scored 25 unanswered points in the second half.
The Bucs (5-8) missed two field goals and had a punt blocked, opening the door for a Saints offense that had an uncharacteristically pedestrian day.
Tampa Bay's offense was a model of third-down consistency in the first half but spent most of the game's final 35 minutes going the wrong way due to a flood of penalties. That put the Buccaneers defense on the field for most of the second half.
Cairo Santos, who entered the game having made his three field-goal attempts and perfect on extra-point attempts, brought back the ghost of Bucs kickers past by missing field goal attempts from 40 and 46 yards out.
But the game turned when Taysom Hill blocked Bryan Anger's punt attempt with 4:48 left in the third, giving the Saints the ball at the Tampa Bay 30.
Five plays later, Drew Brees hit fullback Zach Line for a 1-yard touchdown pass and then Alvin Kamara scampered into the end zone for a two-point conversion that made it a field-goal game.
Jameis Winston was sacked twice on the next drive, a three-and-out, and the Saints received the ball at midfield. Brees drove the Saints inside the Tampa Bay 5, and the Bucs defense stopped the Saints on three straight plays. But Brees went over the top to score on fourth down inside the 1.
After throwing for two touchdowns in the first half, Winston had just 30 yards passing in the second half.
Santos missed his second kick, which went wide right, after the Bucs logged their second takeaway on Carl Nassib's strip sack of Brees. Jason Pierre-Paul recovered the fumble.
The Bucs took advantage of their first takeaway, Adarius Taylor's interception of Brees, with 2:22 left in the second quarter. Winston hit tight end Cameron Brate for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds left in the first half.
The Bucs' first touchdown came on the game's first drive on an 11-yard pass from Winston to Brate.
Santos missed his first kick of the day, hitting the right upright on a 46-yard field goal attempt.
The Saints, who entered the day tied with the Rams for second in the NFL with 34.9 points per game, had just 104 yards of total offense in the first half.
