Saints Slide Past Tampa Bay On Christmas Eve

The Saints aren't going down without a fight in 2016. With their backs against the wall, they came away with another win.

Mark Ingram scored twice in the 31-24 victory over Tampa Bay, and he iced the game with a first down run to cap off a fantastic performance (18 rush, 90 yards, 2 TD's). Drew Brees out-dueled Jameis Winston too, racking up 299 passing yards and a touchdown without turning the ball over once, and he hit nine different receivers to spread the holiday cheer.

Christmas came early for Jairus Byrd. He picked off two passes to flip the momentum of the game in New Orleans' favor, and he earned some love from Head Coach Sean Payton.

Payton on Byrd's INTs "they were the difference in the game" #Saints pic.twitter.com/O5UIsn86uL

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 25, 2016

The Saints defense as a whole also kept Tampa Bay under 100 rushing yards, forcing the Bucs to become one-dimensional on offense.

Even the special teams units got in on the action. Wil Lutz nailed all three of his field goal attempts, and Brandin Cooks hopped on a late onside kick attempt by Tampa to prevent them from driving to tie the game.

It appears the message for the Saints this year is "better late than never." They're now one game away from evading a losing season at 7-8, and they have a chance to finish with a better overall record than last year.

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