The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were looking to pick up a win and maintain a winning record, but it simply wasn’t to be on Thursday night.
The Bucs dropped their game to the Bills 24-18, losing a third straight game and dropping to a losing record for the first time this year. The 3-4 Bucs will now get 10 days of rest before heading to Houston to play the Texans on the road.
The Bucs quickly fell down 10-0 at the beginning of the game, but the first half saw a nice rally from the team. Tampa Bay kicked a field goal before finding Chris Godwin in the end zone on a subsequent drive, making it 10-10. After that, though, the Bucs wouldn’t get the lead again, as the Bills offense proved too much to handle as it scored two subsequent touchdowns. They stalled in the 4th quarter, though, and the Bucs took advantage, scoring a touchdown late in the game on a pass from Baker Mayfield to Chris Godwin. The team converted on a two-point try, so it was 24-18 with just over two minutes to play.
That would be where it ended, though, as the Bucs were unable to score the winning touchdown with so little time left on the last drive. At the game’s end, quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 25 passes in 42 attempts for 237 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. Mayfield is 1-11 in his career when he has to throw more than 40 passes.
Penalties remained a huge problem for the Bucs, as the team had 11 penalties for 74 yards across the night. The team did well in the run game, though, averaging 4.6 yards per carry on 17 attempts.
[lawrence-auto-related count=5]