Everything was set up so nicely for the Buccaneers in Week 15, as they had won four straight games and given themselves a chance to clinch the NFC South in front of the home fans at Raymond James Stadium with a win against—of all teams—the Saints.
Instead, Tampa Bay’s regular season woes against New Orleans continued. The defending Super Bowl champions were shut out, falling 9-0 to drop to 10-4 on the season. Even worse, they lost Chris Godwin (knee) and Patrick O’Connor (knee) for the season and saw Lavonte David (foot) and Leonard Fournette (hamstring) land on injured reserve for the remainder of the regular season.