Shocking moment Buccaneers and Saints players brawl and punches are thrown after late hit on Baker Mayfield
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints feuded during their all-important Week 18 showdown after a late goal on Baker Mayfield.
Mayfield himself raised the temperature of the game, not happy with the extra contact and sparking the brawl with his retaliation against defensive back Will Harris.
The scrum took place in the third quarter after Mayfield ran the ball and gave himself up, later than a usual slide. Will Harris had already committed to hitting him and provided the contact that was a borderline penalty.
Mayfield didn’t like being hit late, which led to him getting up and getting in Harris’ face, knocking the Saints star to the ground.
As Mayfield walked away from the situation, he was approached by several Saints players, which only infuriated the Buccaneers offense, who stepped in front of their signal caller.
Several shoves followed, with offensive lineman Cody Mauch throwing a punch in the middle of the brawl without any penalty flags being thrown.
The Buccaneers and Saints feuded during their all-important Week 18 showdown
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield caused the massive confrontation after taking a late hit
The brawl seemed to inflame the Buccaneers, who were down 10 at the time of the massive showdown.
Tampa Bay held New Orleans to just a field goal in the second half while scoring three touchdowns of its own to claim its fourth straight division title with a 27-19 win.
The Buccaneers will be the No. 3 or 4 seed in the playoffs and will host a Wild Card game next week.
If the Rams beat the Seahawks on Sunday, Tampa Bay will be locked into the fourth seed and will face the loser of the mega Lions-versus-Vikings matchup.
If Los Angeles loses, the Buccaneers will start the playoffs the same way they started the regular season: with a home game against the Commanders.