Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints 
OPPONENT SPOTLIGHT · NEW ORLEANS SAINTS · Updated October 27, 2026
Completed meetings through December 7, 2025. Scores in the tables always list Tampa Bay first.
Who Dat? That’s Our Booty!
ARRR, sound the brass and secure the treasure bag! The Captain has steered into this Gulf Coast rivalry with his Parrot on lookout, a large X on the pouch at his hip, and absolutely no intention of exchanging hard-earned doblones for decorative beads.
“They’ve got a dome,” he observed. “We’ve got cannons. Surely there’s a trade agreement in there somewhere.”
“There is,” replied the Parrot. “You leave their roof attached, and they let us keep the ship.”
This chapter holds more than division grudges. New Orleans was the setting for Tampa Bay’s first-ever victory and a crucial playoff triumph on the road to another Lombardi Trophy. Between those milestones: decades of close calls, runaway scoreboards and enough noisy Sundays to drown out a pirate’s complaints.
68 completed games
One Divisional Round victory
69 games, no ties
December 11 · 33–14
Sources: Buccaneers series history · 2020-season playoff recap.
December 7, 2025: A Rain Check the Captain Didn’t Request
New Orleans 24, Tampa Bay 20 · Raymond James Stadium. A wet afternoon ended with the Saints escaping and the Buccaneers wondering how so many short-yardage opportunities had slipped away. Tampa Bay converted only two of seven fourth-down attempts, including a final completion to Cade Otton that came up short.
Baker Mayfield finished with 122 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Buccaneers gained 179 yards on the ground, but Saints quarterback Tyler Shough supplied the decisive running: touchdown scrambles of 34 and 13 yards. Bucky Irving’s receiving touchdown and Sean Tucker’s rushing score were not enough to rescue the afternoon.
“Another argument for a stadium roof!” declared the Captain. “Another argument for converting fourth down,” answered the Parrot.
Sources: Buccaneers postgame recap.
On October 26, 2025, the Bucs won 23–3 at Caesars Superdome. Four New Orleans turnovers, including an interception returned for a touchdown, helped turn a defensive battle into a comfortable road victory. The split belongs in the ledger as two separate games—not a season sweep.
Sources: Saints 2025 game-by-game review.
Every Regular-Season Encounter
Tampa Bay: 27 wins, 41 losses. The ledger totals 11–20 in Tampa and 16–21 on the road. The road record includes the 2005 victory in Baton Rouge; games actually played in New Orleans total 15–21. The postseason victory is shown separately below.
A GameDay link opens the matching BuccaneersFan.com archive. A dash means no report link is included here—not that the game is missing. Historical stadium names and NFL season years are retained, including January games belonging to the preceding season.
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to reach the score and report columns.
All 68 regular-season games are shown.
| Game date | NFL season | Site & stadium | Result | Score | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 33–14 | GameDay | |
| 1978 | HomeTampa Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 10–17 | GameDay | |
| 1979 | HomeTampa Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 14–42 | GameDay | |
| 1981 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 31–14 | GameDay | |
| 1982 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 13–10 | GameDay | |
| 1983 | HomeTampa Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 21–24 | GameDay | |
| 1984 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 13–17 | GameDay | |
| 1985 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 13–20 | GameDay | |
| 1986 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 7–38 | GameDay | |
| 1987 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 34–44 | GameDay | |
| 1988 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 9–13 | GameDay | |
| 1989 | HomeTampa Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 20–10 | GameDay | |
| 1990 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 7–35 | GameDay | |
| 1991 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 7–23 | GameDay | |
| 1992 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 21–23 | GameDay | |
| 1994 | HomeTampa Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 7–9 | GameDay | |
| 1996 | HomeHoulihan’s Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 13–7 | GameDay | |
| 1998 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 3–9 | GameDay | |
| 1999 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 31–16 | GameDay | |
| 2001 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 48–21 | GameDay | |
| 2002 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 20–26 OT | GameDay | |
| 2002 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 20–23 | GameDay | |
| 2003 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 14–17 | GameDay | |
| 2003 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 14–7 | GameDay | |
| 2004 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 20–17 | GameDay | |
| 2004 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 17–21 | GameDay | |
| 2005 | AwayTiger Stadium Baton Rouge, Louisiana | W | 10–3 | GameDay | |
| 2005 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 27–13 | GameDay | |
| 2006 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 21–24 | GameDay | |
| 2006 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 14–31 | GameDay | |
| 2007 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 31–14 | GameDay | |
| 2007 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 27–23 | GameDay | |
| 2008 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 20–24 | GameDay | |
| 2008 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 23–20 | GameDay | |
| 2009 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 7–38 | GameDay | |
| 2009 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 20–17 OT | GameDay | |
| 2010 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 6–31 | GameDay | |
| 2010 | AwayLouisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 23–13 | GameDay | |
| 2011 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 26–20 | GameDay | |
| 2011 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 16–27 | GameDay | |
| 2012 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 28–35 | GameDay | |
| 2012 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 0–41 | GameDay | |
| 2013 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 14–16 | GameDay | |
| 2013 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 17–42 | GameDay | |
| 2014 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 31–37 OT | GameDay | |
| 2014 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 20–23 | GameDay | |
| 2015 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 26–19 | GameDay | |
| 2015 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 17–24 | GameDay | |
| 2016 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 16–11 | GameDay | |
| 2016 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 24–31 | GameDay | |
| 2017 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 10–30 | GameDay | |
| 2017 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 31–24 | GameDay | |
| 2018 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 48–40 | GameDay | |
| 2018 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 14–28 | GameDay | |
| 2019 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 24–31 | — | |
| 2019 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 17–34 | — | |
| 2020 | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 23–34 | — | |
| 2020 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 3–38 | — | |
| 2021 | AwayCaesars Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | L | 27–36 | — | |
| 2021 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 0–9 | — | |
| 2022 | AwayCaesars Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 20–10 | — | |
| 2022 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 17–16 | — | |
| 2023 | AwayCaesars Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 26–9 | — | |
| 2023 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 13–23 | — | |
| 2024 | AwayCaesars Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 51–27 | — | |
| 2024 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | W | 27–19 | — | |
| 2025 | AwayCaesars Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 23–3 | — | |
| 2025 | HomeRaymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida | L | 20–24 | — |
Sources: Club matchup history · Historical series ledger · 2025 meeting dates and results.
The original November 24, 1996 and November 5, 2017 report destinations are retained. They were not in the supplied sitemap inventory, and their current live availability was not independently confirmed. All other linked regular-season reports matched that inventory; inventory presence is not a fresh availability test.
January 17, 2021: The Treasure That Changed the Voyage
| Game date | NFL season & round | Site & stadium | Result | Score | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 seasonNFC Divisional Round | AwayMercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | W | 30–20 | — |
New Orleans had won both regular-season meetings. Tampa Bay won the one that determined who kept sailing. Four Saints turnovers helped the Bucs overturn a 20–13 deficit, with the visitors scoring the final 17 points.
Antoine Winfield Jr.’s forced fumble and Devin White’s recovery swung the game in the third quarter. Tampa Bay also intercepted Drew Brees three times, while Tom Brady contributed two touchdown passes and a rushing score. The victory sent the Buccaneers to the NFC Championship Game and ultimately toward Super Bowl LV.
The date is January 17, 2021; the NFL season is 2020. The old wrong-year, misspelled archive path is not used as a report link. The external recap below is research, not a replacement BuccaneersFan.com GameDay page.
Next Encounters: Two More Entries Await
Week 15 · Saints at Buccaneers
Sunday, December 20, 2026
1:00 p.m. Eastern · FOX
Raymond James Stadium · Tampa
The first scheduled Saints meeting of the 2026 regular season. No result or GameDay-report link is assigned in advance.
Week 18 · Buccaneers at Saints
Date, kickoff time and television: to be announced
Caesars Superdome · New Orleans
The return matchup closes Tampa Bay’s 2026 regular-season schedule. The season designation remains 2026 even though Week 18 falls in January 2027.
Schedule information checked October 27, 2026. Dates, kickoff times and television assignments are subject to change. Upcoming games are excluded from every completed-game total on this page.
Sources: Week 15 club listing · Week 18 club listing.
Know the Opponent: Black & Gold, Gulf Coast Edition
- Franchise awarded
- November 1, 1966
- First playing season
- 1967
- Division
- NFC South since 2002; previously NFC West from 1970–2001
- Current home
- Caesars Superdome · New Orleans, Louisiana
- Identity
- Black and gold, the fleur-de-lis, and the Who Dat fan community
- Super Bowl title
- 2009 season · Super Bowl XLIV, played February 7, 2010
Sources: Pro Football Hall of Fame team facts · Superdome naming announcement.
Leadership briefing · October 2026
- Owner & CEO
- Gayle Benson
- Executive vice president / general manager
- Mickey Loomis
- Head coach
- Kellen Moore
- Offensive coordinator
- Doug Nussmeier
- Defensive coordinator
- Brandon Staley
- Special teams coordinator
- Phil Galiano
Moore became head coach in February 2025. His first Saints season ended 6–11; the 2026 campaign is his second. Those are historical season facts, not a live standings feed.
Sources: Saints coaching roster · Saints front office.
“Coins?” whispered the Captain, instinctively checking the X on his treasure bag. The Parrot explained that a commemorative coin is a keepsake, not a construction grant.
Sources: Saints 60th-season announcement.
Memorable Buccaneers Ports of Call
At Last: A Buccaneers Victory
33–14 in New Orleans. After 26 consecutive losses, Tampa Bay finally won. Three interception-return touchdowns helped make the first victory impossible to mistake for a quiet afternoon. This is the beginning of the Buccaneers’ winning history, not merely the first win in this rivalry.
Never Leave Before the Cannons
17–16 in Tampa. Trailing 16–3 late, Tom Brady found Cade Otton for a touchdown and then Rachaad White for the winner with three seconds remaining. The Captain learned that packing up early can mean abandoning the richest treasure of the afternoon.
Fifty-One Reasons to Cheer
51–27 in New Orleans. Tampa Bay produced 594 yards and held the Saints scoreless after halftime. The win followed a disrupted week in which the team had left Florida early because of Hurricane Milton.
A Division Crown and One Last Catch
27–19 in Tampa. The Bucs rallied from a 16–6 halftime deficit to clinch a fourth consecutive NFC South title. Mike Evans’ final catch secured an 11th consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season, tying Jerry Rice’s streak.
A Scoreboard with No Off Switch
48–40 in New Orleans. The season opened with a Buccaneers road win and 88 combined points. It remains an excellent reminder that a comfortable-looking lead and a comfortable final few minutes are very different possessions.
A Defensive Encore
16–11 in Tampa. On the anniversary of the franchise’s first win, the Bucs intercepted Drew Brees three times. Keith Tandy’s late interception closed the door as Tampa Bay won its fifth straight game.
Sources: First-victory retrospective · 2022 comeback recap · 2024 New Orleans recap · 2024-season finale recap · Evans milestone · 2016 Saints game recap.
Same Gulf, Familiar Faces
Jameis Winston
Tampa Bay’s first overall draft choice in 2015 spent his first five NFL seasons with the Buccaneers before joining New Orleans in 2020. Few quarterback connections make the overlapping histories of these clubs more immediately recognizable.
Carl Nicks
The decorated Saints guard joined Tampa Bay in 2012 after four seasons in New Orleans. Injuries limited his Buccaneers tenure to nine games across two seasons, but the move remains a notable example of a division rival becoming a teammate.
Phil Galiano
The Saints’ 2026 special teams coordinator has a Tampa chapter, too: he served as the Buccaneers’ assistant special teams coach in 2012 and 2013. Personnel connections extend well beyond the names on the quarterback depth chart.
Sources: Winston joins New Orleans · Nicks’ Tampa tenure · Galiano coaching biography.
The Saints Story: From First Kickoff to the Sixtieth Season
1966–1986 · An identity takes root
The NFL awarded New Orleans its franchise on November 1, 1966. Play began the next year at Tulane Stadium, where John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff of the club’s first regular-season game for a touchdown. The symbolism was memorable; sustained winning took much longer.
Early landmarks included Tom Dempsey’s 63-yard winning field goal in 1970 and the move into the Superdome in 1975. Saints fans developed an identity capable of surviving very lean seasons, with the familiar black-and-gold colors and fleur-de-lis remaining its visual anchors.
1987–2005 · The defense and the breakthrough
Jim Mora’s 1987 team finished 12–3 and reached the playoffs for the first time. The linebacker group remembered as the Dome Patrol gave that era its defensive identity. The 2000 Saints, coached by Jim Haslett, earned the franchise’s first postseason victory against the defending champion Rams.
Hurricane Katrina then changed far more than a football schedule. During 2005 the Saints played their designated home games outside New Orleans while their city and stadium faced the storm’s devastating aftermath.
2006–2021 · Return, revival and a championship
Sean Payton and Drew Brees arrived in 2006. The Superdome’s September return against Atlanta became a defining civic moment, with Steve Gleason’s blocked punt an enduring image of that night.
The 2009 Saints went on to win Super Bowl XLIV, 31–17 over Indianapolis. The championship game was played in February 2010: another important distinction between an NFL season and a calendar year.
The era also includes the 2012 bounty-program sanctions, including Payton’s season-long suspension. In December 2012, Paul Tagliabue vacated the four player suspensions on appeal. A historical account should distinguish the initial penalties from the subsequent appeal decision.
2022–2026 · A new chapter
The post-Payton coaching transition eventually led to Kellen Moore’s arrival in 2025. The 60th-season celebration in 2026 places the present team alongside six decades of predecessors. Drew Brees’ election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 adds another major milestone to the franchise’s story.
Sources: Hall of Fame franchise facts · Franchise history · Gleason and the Superdome return · Player-suspension appeal decision · Brees’ Hall of Fame election · Current coaching biography.
Original Getty Images embed retained from this page’s historical collection.
Stadiums: The Dome Is Real, the Captain’s Budget Is Not
Tulane Stadium
The Saints’ original home was an outdoor college stadium. Their early NFL seasons preceded Tampa Bay’s first encounter with them, so no Buccaneers–Saints regular-season game in this ledger was played there.
The Superdome
Opened as the Louisiana Superdome, the building later carried the Mercedes-Benz name and became Caesars Superdome in 2021. Those are successive names for the same stadium, not three different venues. Its roof is a fixed dome, not a retractable canopy.
Temporary Homes
The Saints’ home schedule was distributed among Giants Stadium, the Alamodome and Tiger Stadium after Katrina. Tampa Bay’s visit was the 10–3 victory in Baton Rouge on December 4; the return game was in Tampa on January 1, 2006.
The Superdome’s modernization program for the 2024 season included improved circulation, new atrium spaces and expanded wireless connectivity. The story has moved well beyond the old naming-rights announcement: an established landmark has continued adapting to contemporary gameday demands.
“Could we borrow the top half?” asked the Captain. “No,” said the Parrot. “Besides, your ship insurance specifically excludes transporting an entire stadium.”
Sources: Caesars naming partnership · Superdome modernization · Baton Rouge game history.
Original Getty Images embed retained; archival imagery is not presented as a photograph of the latest renovation.
Fleur-de-Lis, Gold Helmets and New Alternatives
The black-and-gold identity and fleur-de-lis span the franchise’s history, but the combinations have evolved: gold, white and black pants; differing number treatments; and alternate helmets and jerseys. The original images on this page document the archive rather than a complete current uniform catalog.
In 2025, New Orleans introduced its Gameday Golds alternate jersey and a white alternate helmet. These additions belong alongside the established looks, rather than an outdated claim that nothing has changed since the early seasons.
The Captain approves of anything described as gold. The Parrot has explained, repeatedly, that jersey fabric cannot be melted into doblones.
Sources: Gameday Golds announcement · White alternate helmet reveal.
Who Dat, Gumbo and a Krewe of Their Own
Gumbo and Sir Saint
Gumbo, the Saint Bernard character, and Sir Saint are the club’s familiar mascot personalities. The Captain respects a fellow outfit with distinctive headwear; the Parrot insists that respect does not include allowing anyone near the ship’s emergency snack supply.
Saints Cheer Krewe
The current gameday entertainment group is presented as the Saints Cheer Krewe. The older Saintsations name remains part of the history, not the current label used in this briefing.
Division neighbors, enduring noise
Atlanta is the long-standing regional rival; Carolina and Tampa Bay complete the NFC South neighborhood. The Bucs and Saints were frequent opponents well before the 2002 realignment gave the rivalry its twice-a-season rhythm. The Saints’ own fan celebrations bring the city’s musical identity into the football setting; the pirate ship brings a rather less subtle percussion section.
Sources: Saints mascot and Cheer Krewe information · 60th-season fan celebrations · Pre-division and NFC South history.
From the Original Fan Scrapbook
About This Edition
This is an independent Buccaneers fan reference, not an official NFL or club publication. The original page supplied the image collection, licensed embed code and archive destinations. The refreshed narrative and game corrections use the official club and Pro Football Hall of Fame sources linked beside the relevant sections. Captain Booty and Parrot dialogue is fictional fan entertainment, not attributed speech by real participants.
Recordkeeping: Regular season and postseason are counted separately. January dates show the applicable NFL season. Home/away refers to the Buccaneers, and table scores list Tampa Bay first. No scheduled 2026 game has been counted as a completed result.
Archive integrity: The regular-season table contains 54 existing report destinations: 52 matched the supplied sitemap and two date-matched originals were retained without a live availability confirmation. Fourteen regular-season games and the January 2021 playoff game intentionally have no report link. External research recaps do not replace those missing GameDay pages.
Cross-checks: The October 6, 2019 result is corrected to 24–31. The December 29, 2013 game remains 17–42, and the December 11, 2016 game remains a Tampa home game; contemporary recaps resolve inconsistencies in a later summary table.
Sources: October 2019 recap · December 2013 result · December 2016 venue and result.
The Captain’s closing instruction: Keep the beads as souvenirs, the doblones in the X-marked bag, and the roof fund nowhere near the gumbo pot. GO BUCS!