For much of a cold and blustery Buffalo afternoon, the Tampa Bay Bucs had a hot enough hand to win what looked like a blazing shootout in the making – and leave town with a dramatic victory in the mold of their early-season comebacks.
Their running game pounded the Bills’ defense for 203 combined yards, including tailback Sean Tucker’s highlight-reel performance: 19 carries for 106 yards, two touchdowns (one of them a 43-yard burst) and a third touchdown on a 28-yard dash with a screen pass.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield resumed his daring, escape-act scrambles under pressure for key yardage, rushing for 39 of the team’s overall total. The defense added three more takeaways, marking the sixth game this season in which the unit has had multiple turnovers – tied for the NFL lead with Chicago.
And in a wild game that saw nine lead changes – resembling a boxing match with two fighters trading haymakers – the Bucs held the edge five of those times, including a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
But despite all that, their hopes for a dominant season – beyond another division title – continued to chill Sunday.
Even in the near-freezing temperatures inside Highmark Stadium, Tampa Bay’s defense nevertheless melted when it came to preventing big plays – the kind that haunted them in last week’s loss to New England. And behind the sizzling, six-touchdown day of Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, the Bucs wilted with a costly 44-32 loss that suddenly leaves them in a precarious position in the NFC South.
Coupled with Carolina’s 30-27 overtime win against Atlanta, the Bucs now stand at 6-4 with their second straight setback, just a half game ahead of the 6-5 Panthers. In case you’re wondering, their two upcoming games against Carolina now loom large – a road contest Dec. 21 and the regular-season finale Jan. 4. But head coach Todd Bowles’ team has more immediate concerns with another road game approaching: next Sunday’s 8:20 p.m. game in Los Angeles against an 8-2 Rams that took over sole possession of the NFC West lead by beating Seattle on Sunday.
And they have a new worry now, too: the inability of the special teams to contain kick returns. The Bills ruled the return game with 234 yards, 158 of them from Ray Davis and a 61-yarder from Mercole Hardman, which continually gave Allen and Co. prime field position throughout the game and was as big a factor as any in tilting the outcome to Buffalo.
“Our fight is there; we don’t question our fight, and we understand that,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to execute better, especially with the field position on special teams and obviously big plays on defense. We’ve got to make sure that gets taken care of.”
The crusher came with the Bucs leading 17-14 late in the first half. Facing a third-and-5 from Buffalo’s 48, Allen tossed a swing pass to tailback Ty Johnson, who found a seam on the left side and sprinted untouched for most of the 52 yards for the touchdown.
It didn’t help Tampa Bay’s defense that it lost standout cornerback Jamel Dean early in the game to an injury, but they seemed incapable of slowing down Allen as the second half progressed. He finished by completing 19 of 30 passes for 317 yards, three passing TDs, and a quarterback rating of 104.7.
Simply put: After struggling in a 30-13 loss to Miami last week, Allen was the difference. He spread the ball around to 10 different receivers – including four to wide receiver Tyrell Shavers for 90 yards and a 43-yard touchdown, and three to tailback James Cook for 66 yards and a 25-yard score.
“You can’t take anything from him,” Bowles said. “He’s a great quarterback. He can make plays on his own. We don’t need to help him with anything.”
Bowles congratulates Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott. @ Gregory Fisher.In fact, the Bucs’ defense started off by getting the best of last season’s league MVP.
On Buffalo’s second offensive snap from its 5, Allen came under heavy pressure in his endzone from linebacker SirVocea Dennis. He rushed his pass and had it picked off by cornerback Jacob Parrish. That gave the Bucs a first and goal from Buffalo’s 7, but they wound up settling for a 23-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal and a 3-0 lead – missing the chance to put the Bills in a bigger hole from the start.
That proved to be the beginning of their problems. Hardman followed with his 60-yard return, putting Allen in business at the Buc 36. Ten plays later, he bulled his way in from the 2 for the first of his three rushing touchdowns. The rollercoaster ride was underway.
Mayfield countered early in the second quarter by directing an 11-play, 69-yard scoring drive, capped by his 4-yard option run to help the Bucs retake the lead, 10-7. But no lead was safe for most of this clash. Allen answered by eluding a heavy pass rush on third-and-3 from the Bucs’ 43, throwing a perfect strike to Shavers, producing a 14-10 advantage.
Tucker, seeing an increased role with tailback Bucky Irving still out with a shoulder injury, helped the Bucs retake the lead, 17-14, thanks to his 43-yard dash with 5:37 left in the first half. And soon after, Tampa Bay had a prime opportunity to expand its lead when cornerback Tykee Smith deflected an Allen pass and Dennis picked it off.
Mayfield congratulates Tucker after his second-half touchdown. @ Gregory Fisher.But starting at their 32, the Bucs offense stalled. Minutes later, Allen hit Johnson for the back-breaking 52-yard touchdown scamper and a 21-17 lead with 36 seconds left. To their credit, with barely any time on the clock, the Bucs managed to close the half with McLaughlin’s 24-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 21-20.
And so it went.
Several key plays stood out from there. One was a critical mistake by Mayfield. With third and six from his 32 late in the third quarter, and the Bucs leading 26-24, he rolled right and missed wide receiver Sterling Shepard. The ball wound up in the hands of Bills safety Cole Bishop, giving Buffalo a first down at the Buc 25. One play later, Allen capitalized by leading Cook perfectly for the 25-yard touchdown that put the Bills back in the lead at 31-26.
“We ran the ball exceptionally well, (but) I’ll say the momentum shifted when I threw the interception on third down in our own territory,” Mayfield said. “So that’s really where my thoughts are right now. You’ve got to make the plays when you’re playing a team like that, and in the situation we were in, you’ve got to stay on the field. I’m proud of the guys how they ran the ball, but we just didn’t make enough plays.”
Mayfield tried. Early in the fourth, he connected on the catch-and-run to Tucker for the 28-yard touchdown. But they followed with their second failed two-point conversion try of the game, leaving their lead precariously at 32-31, rather than a safer 34-31.
In the end, eschewing the extra points didn’t matter, because Allen simply could not be stopped. He scored on a five-yard run for a 37-32 lead with 9:06 left (the Bills also missed a two-pointer on that one); and a 9-yard run with 2:35 remaining for the final margin.
“I think we have to hold our heads up,” said Bucs tackle Tristan Wirfs. “That was a tough, physical game. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes and get our minds right, and go play another physical game out in LA.”
Added Bowles: “Every week is going to be a dogfight like this to the end. We understand that, and we just have to stay together. We have to go back to work and we have to execute next week.”
Or things will soon get a lot colder.