Brawl Almost Breaks Out As Tampa Bay Buccaneers Win NFC South

The altercation seemed to revive the Buccaneers, who are playoff-bound.

With a trip to the NFL Playoffs on the line, yesterday’s game between the surging Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the lowly New Orleans Saints was expected to be intense. And it was.

During the third quarter, the two teams nearly came to blows after an altercation between Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and Saints defensive back Will Harris.

With a little more than 13 minutes left in the quarter, Harris hit Mayfield hard during his run. As Mayfield got up, he seemingly pushed Harris down. It then looked like he tried to kick him, eventually straddling him. Players from both teams intervened.

Some exchanges between Saints and Bucs players pic.twitter.com/C3USpsulNs

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 5, 2025

Luckily, for both teams, the referees did not call any penalties.

At that point of the game, the Buccaneers were losing 16-6 with their playoff hopes on the line. The skirmish seemed to electrify the team.

Mayfield threw two touchdown passes in the 27-19 comeback win. With the Carolina Panthers beating the Atlanta Falcons in overtime, the Bucs wrapped up the the NFC South Division for the fourth straight season. To get there this time around, the team won six of its last seven games.

“It feels great,” said head coach Todd Bowles. “We went through a lot of ups and downs this year, a lot of injuries, guys fought hard. We went through a hurricane, by the way, and with a lot of guys missing on both sides of the ball, it’s even more gratifying throughout the year for us to come out on top this way.”

Next up for the Bucs, who finished the year at 10-7, is a home Wild Card game against the Washington Commanders on Saturday, January 12.