The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first home game of the season ended in similar fashion to Tampa Bay’s previous two games, with a game-winning drive led by quarterback Baker Mayfield. Now 3-0 for the first time in 20 years, the Buccaneers are now firmly behind the steering wheel of the NFC South.
Photo by Kendall Bulkiewicz | The Crow’s Nest
By Dominic Feo
Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin’s 36-yard field goal as time expired to beat the New York Jets 29-27, was Tampa Bay’s third consecutive game-winning score in the last minute of a game. No team has done so in its first three games of the season since 1970.
Unlike the previous two weeks however, this win was “personal.”
“[Jets] D-coordinator was the one that cut me in Carolina,” said quarterback Baker Mayfield during the post-game press conference.
Mayfield was referring to Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who released Mayfield from the Carolina Panthers during Wilks’ tenure as head coach in 2022.
Mayfield’s mentality captures the spirit of a team that, despite a messy first half, persevered to achieve its first 3-0 start in 20 years. In the first quarter alone, Tampa Bay committed seven of the combined ten penalties.
Neither team could find the endzone, kicking a field goal each in the first quarter. After another Jets field goal, Tampa Bay was the first team to make a splash play. Mayfield uncorked a 30-yard ball to rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka who snatched it one-handed.
Five plays later, Mayfield hit superstar receiver Mike Evans for a 5-yard touchdown pass. Evans finished the game with 33 yards before leaving the game with a hamstring injury that is expected to sideline him for three to four weeks.
Following McLaughlin’s second field goal put the game at 13-6, New York had just under 30 seconds to attempt to tie the game before halftime. That hope lasted just three plays before Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean jumped a pass and ran it back the other way to make the score 20-6 at the half.
McLaughlin kicked two more field goals, but Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw two touchdown passes, shortening the Buccaneers’ lead to 26-20 with 3:46 left in the game. Tampa Bay’s offense set up a 43-yard field goal that would put the game out of reach, but the kick was blocked by Jets defensive lineman Will McDonald.
McDonald also recovered the ball and returned it for a touchdown that gave the Jets a one-point lead with just under two minutes left. That would prove to be too much time, as Mayfield completed a 28-yard pass to Egbuka and a 20-yarder to receiver Sterling Shepard that led to McLaughlin’s fifth and final field goal, 29-27 Buccaneers.
Mayfield’s third game-winning drive in three weeks put Tampa Bay at the top of the NFC South division, where the team will need to stay if it wants to win its fifth consecutive division title.
