The New Orleans Saints basically made a fool of themselves in a close loss to end their season.
With just five wins on the year, New Orleans blew a halftime lead and allowed a bitter rival to end the game on the highest note possible by setting some league history on the way.
Mike Evans makes history against Saints
With his reception on the final drive for Tampa Bay, Mike Evans made some NFL history. The Bucs wideout became the first receiver to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in his first eleven seasons in the pros.
With the game locked up for Tampa, everyone knew he needed just five more yards to garner the record. He took it from Jerry Rice. For whatever reason, New Orleans did not put any sort of additional attention on Evans.
Why not?
You knew that Baker Mayfield and the Bucs wanted to get him the record and his incentive money, so there was no reason to simply allow it to happen. Regardless, the Saints did, and the reception was the final play of the game.
Shanle calls out the Saints
Former Saints defender Scott Shanle thought that New Orleans made a mistake, too. The Bucs are a division rival, and Evans has stirred up drama against the Saints for years while struggling against former cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
Shanle made it clear that New Orleans would have made sure Evans did not grab the record against the Saints teams of old.
The guys I played for would have doubled that dude Mike Evans like it was a punt return....no way he's getting that record on us‼️
— Scott Shanle⁵⁸ (@scottshanle) January 5, 2025
Shanle also added that the next head coach for the Saints needs to change the culture in the building. He clearly thought the play was unacceptable to end the Saints season.
Whoever gets this HC job needs to bring some toughness and swagger back to the building -- Shanle via X/Twitter
He's completely correct. New Orleans should have made it a focus to prevent the record once the win was out of reach. Instead, they took a loss in nearly every facet to finish their disappointing campaign.
