Buccaneers cash in on interception before Saints strike back behind Jameis Winston

7:47 PM ET

Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore finally gave up a catch to wide receiver Mike Evans this season, and it came on a touchdown, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers grabbing a lead at the beginning of the second quarter of Sunday’s NFC divisional playoff game at the New Orleans Saints. On the play, Tom Brady faked a handoff to Leonard Fournette up the middle before hitting Evans, who caught the pass with Lattimore draped on his body. It was Evans’ 14th scoring catch of the 2020 campaign, including the regular season.

On second-and-9, cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting picked off Drew Brees on a short pass intended for Michael Thomas, returning it 36 yards to the New Orleans 3-yard line, setting up Evans’ score. It was Murphy-Bunting’s second interception in two weeks, after also notching a pick off Taylor Heinicke in the Bucs’ wild-card win at Washington.

But Saints backup Jameis Winston crashed the battle between the two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks with a 56-yard touchdown pass against his former team on a beautifully executed trick play in the second quarter.

The TD pass to wide-open WR Tre’Quan Smith gave the Saints a 13-10 lead with 8:08 remaining in the first half.

The play actually started with Saints running back Alvin Kamara lined up at QB in a Wildcat formation and Winston lined up at receiver. Kamara took the direct snap and handed it to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who pitched it back to Winston.

Winston faced zero pressure in the pocket as he easily connected on the deep ball to Smith without a defender in sight.

If the play looked familiar, that’s because it was the same play the Chicago Bears ran against the Saints last weekend. The difference, of course, being that Bears WR Javon Wims dropped the pass from Mitchell Trubisky in the end zone.

It was the first TD pass of the season for Winston, who signed with the Saints in free agency this season after spending his first five campaigns with Tampa Bay.