Saints vs. Bucs: NFL Week 17 Live Updates and Notes

It's pretty straightforward for the Saints. They have to win to keep it going or see their season essentially end.

Author:
John Hendrix
Updated:
Dec 31, 2023 4:01 PM EST
Original:
Dec 31, 2023

In this story:

TAMPA -- It's win or go home for the Saints on Sunday when they take on the Bucs. A loss for New Orleans would see Tampa win the NFC South for a third straight year while a win would keep their small postseason aspirations alive. Dennis Allen's team will once again see if they can beat a good team with a winning record, something that just hasn't happened this season. Follow along with our weekly game thread that will have live updates, notes and observations from the game as it unfolds.

Pregame

The Saints will likely turn to Landon Young again at right tackle for the final two games now that Ryan Ramczyk is on injured reserve. The offensive line is going to be one of the biggest question marks going into the offseason. Ramczyk's future is in question with his degenerative knee issue, as he'll seek opinions on how best to handle it. Andrus Peat's contract situation will be something to monitor, as well as you have James Hurst set to hit free agency. Obviously, you need to figure out what to do with Trevor Penning. Landon Young is under contract. Nick Salidveri hasn't seen the field. Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz are about the only two knowns at this point, and the line has been decent at best.
If you missed it earlier, Dennis Allen staying on for another year as Saints head coach is picking up more steam. We would expect a good bit of changes regardless of Allen returning or not. They have to get under the salary cap again and obviously a lot more things to be in a position to compete.
It's another game that Kendre Miller misses due to the ankle injury. We haven't seen him since his exit from the Bears game in Week 9. The team didn't put him on injured reserve, and the question was asked whether or not he suffered a setback on Dec. 8, to which Allen said the progress stalled. Between Miller, Isaiah Foskey and Nick Saldiveri, New Orleans has got a combined 20 out of 48 possible games from them this year.
If the Saints somehow pull out a win today (and all of us picked against them), then it'll be interesting to see if Michael Thomas, Marshon Lattimore or Payton Turner will return for the regular season finale. If the team loses, let the 'Have we seen the last of Michael Thomas' takes fly.
Saints offense will start on the field after the Bucs won the coin toss. Derek Carr and company are up first.

First Quarter - Saints 7, Bucs 0

Scoring

Saints, 7:04 - Juwan Johnson 4-yard reception from Derek Carr. (14-73, 7:56)

Notes

Great play design with Taysom Hill on the 2nd-and-6. Bucs were looking for a run and instead it went to Juwan Johnson for his second straight catch.
I like the aggressive nature of the Saints offense to pass on three straight plays to open the game. The drop on Chris Olave wasn't a good look, however.
Alvin Kamara hasn't had much success against the Bucs, but that was a good first run by him to pick up 13 yards.
Protection was solid on the 3rd-and-8 play that ended with Derek Carr finding Olave for a gain of 11.
You're seeing a little bit of everything on this first Saints drive. Motion, rollouts, a variety of routes, Taysom Hill and way more. Let's see if New Orleans can finish their opening drive with six.
That was one of the best-looking offensive drives of the season for the Saints. Juwan Johnson finishes it off after some really good stuff. It's the first time all year that New Orleans gets an opening drive touchdown.
Alontae Taylor got the start in the slot. Johnathan Abram ended up starting alongside Tyrann Mathieu.
Saints defense played a strong opening series to force a three-and-out. Now is the time for New Orleans to take advantage.
Juwan Johnson ended up going back to the locker room for the Saints. He looked a little off after the touchdown grab. The injury tent was up, so we'll keep an eye out.
Saints ended up running a three-and-out and elected to punt facing a 4th-and-1 from their own 41-yard-line. I feel like they could have trusted their line enough to get a yard or at least run a fake on the punt.
Nice job by Isaac Yiadom on the 1st-and-10 pass to Cade Otton. He was able to break that up at the last second.
Saints had a change to get off the field on 3rd Down and looked to get a sack. However, Bryan Bresee was called for a face mask penalty that resulted in a free 15 yards for the Bucs. That is tough.
Defense gives up a big play to Mike Evans as the quarter ends. Paulson Adebo slipped and Tampa is in business at the Saints' 39-yard-line.
Juwan Johnson is officially questionable to return with a shoulder injury.

Second Quarter - Saints 17, Bucs 0

Scoring

Saints, 1:53 - Taysom Hill 22-yard reception from Derek Carr. (8-60, 3:47)
Saints, 0:09 - Blake Grupe 45-yard field goal. (7-19, 1:25)

Notes

Run defense has been pretty strong so far. Rachaad White didn't have too big a day the last time these two met, but did find some success.
The almost sacks are just infuriating. Cam Jordan had Baker Mayfield down, but he escaped and completed a pass to White. Thankfully, the Bucs had an ineligible man downfield that wiped it out.
A 3rd-and-15 play saw Isaac Yiadom break up a pass that would have got the Saints off the field, but here comes another penalty. Paulson Adebo flagged for illegal contact on Mike Evans. It's unreal how this team shoots themselves in the foot.
Alontae Taylor got the first pick of his career. He won a 50/50 ball against Trey Palmer.
Nephi Sewell went down for the Saints. I didn't see what happened on the play, but the cart came out and it was obvious that he was in pain. Hate to see that.
Juwan Johnson returned to action.
Saints are trying to operate out of the shadow of their own goal post. Landon Young just went down too, so that is a hard one. Cameron Erving enters the game.
What a heck of a play call, throw and catch by Derek Carr to hit Juwan Johnson for 32 yards on 3rd-and-8.
Alvin Kamara followed that play up by getting a tough 11 yards on the ground. Saints went from nothing on this drive.
That Jamaal Williams play had no chance of working and the Saints went from 2nd-and-5 to 3rd-and-10. Derek Carr ran out of bounds on the 3rd Down play, so the Saints lost 10 yards in two plays and punted.
Cart came out for Landon Young. Looks like it might be Cameron Erving the rest of the way for the Saints. It appears to be a left leg injury for him.
Nathan Shepherd had a nice stop on Chase Edmonds to setup a 3rd-and-8. Bucs then had a false start to see the Bucs in another long situation. They got off the field after Edmonds dropped the 3rd Down pass.
Nephi Sewell (knee) is out for the rest of the game for the Saints. Landon Young (knee) is questionable to return. Both were carted to the locker room.
Juwan Johnson is having himself a pretty strong game. He kicked off the ensuing possession with a 12-yard gain. He's up to 5 catches for 63 yards and a score.
Really nice grab by Foster Moreau on 3rd-and-7 to keep the Saints drive going. He picked up 13.
Saints have to use a timeout as the play clock was dwindling facing a 3rd-and-7 from the Tampa 29-yard-line.
The Carr to Johnson connection is strong. He just picked up a major first down after a nice catch and then falling forward.
Great hookup for the score from Carr to Taysom Hill. He was running alongside Johnson and made a great catch and effort to get into the end zone. Who is this Saints team?
Oh man. That would have been a huge pick by Paulson Adebo.
Zack 'Sack Attack' Baun comes through with a big sack on 3rd Down to turn the Bucs away. I guess it's never too late.
Jake Camarda is not having a good day punting for the Bucs. He shanked another and the Saints have a golden opportunity for points before the half.
The team that looks 7-8 looks like the team that's 8-7 and vice versa. It only makes things more infuriating.
Chris Olave wasn't expecting that pass on 2nd-and-4. Bucs brought the house on the next play and it was an excellent call to go to Rashid Shaheed.
Johnson had his first real bad play of the game with the drop on 3rd-and-6.
That's a really good kick by Blake Grupe.

Third Quarter - Saints 20, Bucs 0

Scoring

Saints, 4:25 - Blake Grupe 28-yard field goal. (7-45, 3:05)

Notes

Coaching really comes into focus for this second half. The Saints had a nice lead last year in Tampa and blew it.
Miscommunication on the 3rd-and-6 play for the Bucs, as they start three-and-out to open the third. Mike Evans wasn't on the same page with Baker Mayfield.
Jake Camarda is not having a good day punting for the Bucs.
Saints looked super conservative on that ensuing possession. The false start penalty on Erving didn't help, but maybe this was expected.
Alvin Kamara went back to the locker room and wasn't in on that series for the Saints. That's a huge one.
Bucs fans are getting really restless here with the play calls. They finally had something to cheer about after Mayfield escaped some pressure and had a pretty hookup to Trey Palmer on 3rd-and-9.
Tampa is starting to find some success running the ball. They have a good drive going. Saints defense needs to wake up.
And right on queue the Saints defense gets a huge turnover after Johnathan Abram forced a fumble on Rachaad White. Demario Davis had the recovery and nice return. That was a big time strip.
Saints might have thought they'd take a deep shot, but Shaheed slipped on his route. Instead, it's a nice hookup to Chris Olave.
Alvin Kamara has an ankle injury and is questionable to return for the Saints.
Really nice job by Jamaal Williams to get the ball on the screen and then got an additional 15 yards after Anthony Nelson had the horse collar tackle.
We're going to see Tampa increase their offensive attack soon enough. A touchdown really would have made this game out of reach, but for now, we'll see how it goes.
Landon Young was ruled out for the rest of the game due to the knee injury.
Baker Mayfield was able to get out of a sack and find Rachaad White in the flats for a nice gain after he also broke a tackle, but New Orleans responded on the next play with a Bryan Bresee sack to set up a 3rd-and-13. The Bucs had to punt again, just when they got some momentum.

Fourth Quarter - Saints 23, Bucs 13

Scoring

Bucs, 7:50 - Trey Palmer 22-yard reception from Baker Mayfield. (8-91, 2:40)
Saints, 3:48 - Blake Grupe 38-yard field goal. (9-43, 4:02)
Bucs, 1:37 - Chris Godwin 47-yard reception from Baker Mayfield. Two-point attempt no good. (2-54, 0:15)

Notes

That's a really nice catch by Juwan Johnson working on Lavonte David. He even got held in the process and still converted the 3rd-and-5 play.
Good placement on the pass out to the sideline to Johnson facing 3rd-and-6, but he slipped at the end. Bucs sent the house and New Orleans did a nice job picking up the pressure.
Alvin Kamara won't return for the Saints. That'll be one to monitor. Saints just have Jamaal Williams. Can obviously use Taysom Hill and possibly Lynn Bowden.
Johnathan Abram shut the door on the momentum the Bucs tried to pickup. He got a pick on Mayfield to give the Saints back the ball with 11:28 left in the game. The decision to start the veteran over Howden.
The second down runs are almost predictable for the offense. I understand the logic, but it has to work too. Also, why run the slant play that should go to Michael Thomas?
Lou Hedley had a nice punt to pin the Bucs inside their own 10-yard-line.
Mike Evans was relatively quiet until making a 35-yard catch against Paulson Adebo. It got them out of a jam for sure.
Tanoh Kpassagnon was shaken up some after that first play in Saints territory for the Bucs. He was able to walk off the field under his own power.
The quick stuff isn't really working for either team today. Demario Davis had a tackle for loss to make it 3rd-and-12.
Chris Godwin was able to convert a 4th-and-6 via a Mayfield pass, and it wasn't long after that Mayfield found Trey Palmer in the end zone for a 22-yard catch. This is how it started last year. Saints are just going to have to put them away.
Excellent play design by the Saints on the opening play of the ensuing possession. Bucs were expecting a run, but instead Carr found Johnson on the boot right for a 12-yard gain.
Jamaal Williams followed that up with Max Garcia continuing his role in the jumbo set with his best run of the day for 17 yards.
That's a heck of a call on 3rd-and-7 to run it with Adam Prentice. He picked up exactly what the Saints needed.
Williams had some really good runs on this final drive. Saints offense tried to draw the Bucs offside with a Taysom Hill cadence on 4th-and-1, but they didn't fall for it.
Blake Grupe has made three really big kicks today. Again, this was one of those moves I felt like should be assessed in this month and beyond.
Baker Mayfield hit Trey Palmer for a 54-yard gain and then he fumbled on his own after going to the ground. Saints recovered with Isaac Yiadom.
Cameron Erving came up a little hobbled on that final Saints offensive play before the punt. He was getting looked at the sideline.
Pete Werner was on Chris Godwin. That's a bit of a mismatch. It results in a 47-yard touchdown. The two-point attempt was good at first, but a further review saw Chris Godwin guilty of illegal touching to offset the Tyrann Mathieu penalty. The TL;DR is that they redid it and Paulson Adebo picked off Mayfield in the end zone.
Easy hands play by Foster Moreau to get the onside attempt. It never had a chance.