'Tampa Strong': Bucs 'win one for the city' after Hurricane Milton

NEW ORLEANS – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers overcame three second-quarter interceptions to beat the New Orleans Saints 51-27 on Sunday. That capped a difficult week for the state of Florida, which was hit by its second major hurricane in two weeks – first with Hurricane Helene and then with Hurricane Milton, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm on Thursday evening.

“I think today it was just a team that embodied and embraced everything that everyone goes through,” said quarterback Baker Mayfield, who threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns. “Ups and downs, trying to deal with it as best as I can, pushing through it and finding a way to make it work. That's life. Obviously, a natural disaster isn't easy to deal with – you find a way to make it work.” You overcome and come together. That's what this group did today.

As of Sunday, there were 14 fatalities related to the storm that reached Siesta Key. Tampa Bay received strong winds from the northern eyewall and flash flooding. A storm surge of 8 to 10 feet devastated Sarasota, while tornadoes also struck 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 little bit of a break from what they've been doing,” said coach Todd Bowles, whose defense pitched a second-half shutout. “It gave them a chance to smile for a few hours while everyone was going through what they had been through. It was immediately worth it. I've told the boys all the time – we talk about 'family' as a team – “As long as your family is safe, all other things are replaceable.”

The team was evacuated Tuesday to New Orleans, where it practiced at Tulane University. The Glazer family, which owns the Buccaneers, chartered 300 family members and 30 pets to New Orleans. The team also paid for the evacuation of families and support staff to other parts of the state in non-evacuation zones. The team returned home as planned on Sunday evening.

Players and coaches kept up with what was happening in Florida through the news, social media and neighbors stopping by their homes. Some had not returned to their homes since Helene flooded the area on September 26, or even before that due to evacuations.

Wide receiver Chris Godwin, who has a nonprofit organization dedicated to animal rescue, was particularly shocked when he saw a viral story about a dog that had been tied to a fence and abandoned before being rescued by the Florida Highway Patrol . He called the state's situation “really sad” after two very severe storms.

“I think we've been able to give some people a little bit of relief from the things they're facing right now,” Godwin said. “I think that’s a plus for us. Because unfortunately a lot of people are going through a lot of bad things at the moment.”

A lasting image of the game was Godwin's 55-yard touchdown that took the lead back in the third quarter and helped calm the situation. He and others admitted it was difficult to maintain composure in a second quarter full of struggles, especially given the week's events.

“We did it for everyone at home. We donated 50 to everyone at home who suffered from this hurricane. This victory is for you. Kudos to Tampa. “Tampa Strong.”

Bucs defensive tackle Vita Vea

“It's incredibly hard, but we can only control what we can control. And I think just like realizing that we have each other's backs as teammates, we all go through the same things, we're all we really have here. “So as long as we have each other's backs and go out there and just fight , we can win.”

The Bucs' 594 net yards in the game set a new franchise record, surpassing the previous mark of 588 yards with Tom Brady set on December 26, 2020. Meanwhile, the defense went hard by holding Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler sacked five times, including four times in the second half. There were also two interceptions – by Zyon McCollum and rookie Tykee Smith – and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in his first game back since suffering a foot injury in Week 1. This fumble was forced by Smith.

“We did it for everyone at home,” said defensive tackle Vita Vea, who recorded one of those sacks along with Lavonte David, William Gholston, Calijah Kancey and a split sack from Chris Braswell and KJ Britt. “We donated 50 to everyone at home who suffered from this hurricane. This victory is for you. Kudos to Tampa. “Tampa Strong.”

The Saints turned Sunday's game into a fundraiser for Hurricane Milton relief, displaying a message on the video board in the Mercedes Benz Superdome with the words “Us vs. Them” with images of the Superdome and the Tampa skyline and turning it into “Us with.” them,” along with messages “Thank you to the first responders” and “Thank you to everyone who helped through this disaster.”

Messages on the video board also mentioned the efforts of the Cajun Navy, Louisiana National Guard and LA Task Force 1, all of which deployed to Florida. A QR code for the American Red Cross and Feeding Tampa Bay then appeared.

Bowles called the victory “especially special” given the circumstances and presented the city of Tampa with one of three game balls.

“Adversity hit us in the face. As a family we stood up… From a gaming perspective there are a lot of people involved in this.” 🗣️

🏈 Tim Jarocki, Senior Director of Team Operations
🏈 Glazer family
🏈 City of Tampa pic.twitter.com/WdU8BoHSMa

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 14, 2024

“The biggest thing is a lot of them played with heavy hearts just to see what was happening in Tampa Bay,” Bowles said. “Our hearts are poured out for the city. It's a tough city. It's a strong city. We don't really know what we're coming back to, but in our small part we wanted to win something for the city this time and we'll try to help in any way we can when we come back.