The Buccaneers defeated the Saints 51-27 on Sunday, capping a difficult week for the state of Florida, which was hit with its second major hurricane in two weeks.
— The Tampa Bay Buccaneers overcame three second-quarter interceptions to defeat the New Orleans Saints 51-27 on Sunday, capping off a difficult week for the state of Florida, which was hit with its second major hurricane in two weeks — first with Hurricane Helene and then Hurricane Milton, which made landfall Thursday night as a Category 3 storm.
« I think today was just a team embodying and embracing everything that everybody’s going through », said quarterback Baker Mayfield, who threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns. « Ups and downs, trying to handle it the best way you can, fight through it and find a way to make it work. That’s life. Obviously a natural disaster’s not easy to deal with — you find a way to make it work, you overcome and you come together. That’s what this group did today. »
As of Sunday, 14 deaths were linked to the storm that made landfall in Siesta Key. Tampa Bay got powerful winds from the northern eye wall and flash flooding. A storm surge of 8-10 feet ravaged Sarasota, while tornadoes also ripped through other parts of the state. As of Sunday evening, 1.1 million Floridians were still without power, and a fuel shortage is complicating recovery efforts.
« It’s a tiny break from what they’ve been dealing with », said coach Todd Bowles, whose defense delivered a shutout in the second half. « It gave ’em a chance to smile for a couple of hours while everybody went through what they went through. That was all worth it right there. I told the guys all the time — we talk about ‘family’ as a team — as long as your family is safe, all the other things are replaceable. We’re going to do everything we can to try to take care of ourselves, our team and helping the community. »
The team evacuated to New Orleans on Tuesday, where they practiced at Tulane University.
