What may prove to be the most important drive of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2024 regular season lasted all of 30 seconds in game time. And what Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers' offense was able to do in that 30 seconds they likely will have to duplicate several more times if they want to succeed in their late-season hunt for a playoff spot.
There were exactly 30 seconds left in regulation when Tampa Bay got the ball back at its own 30-yard line last Sunday in Charlotte. The Carolina Panthers had just taken a 23-20 lead on a Bryce Young-to-Adam Thielen touchdown pass, then kicked the ball into the end zone for a touchback. To get the game into overtime and buy another shot at an absolutely critical win, the Buccaneers needed 35-40 yards to get Chase McLaughlin into reasonable range to tie the game.
The Bucs still possessed all three of their teammates. Mayfield completed a 17-yard pass to Mike Evans, scrambled for 10 yards to get across midfield and hit Sterling Shepard on two quick outs to get to Carolina's 34. McLaughlin nailed the 51-yard attempt and the Bucs went on to win in the extra period on another 30-yard field goal.
What the Bucs did on that drive, according to Mayfield, and what they'll need to continue doing over the next five weeks is execute in "situational football." It's more important than ever with the Bucs' margin for error so slim; Mayfield reiterated on Wednesday that the Buccaneers are now in "playoff mode," which means they believe they have to win the next game to stay alive. Being at their best in game-tilting situations is the way to make that happen.
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"Taking care of the ball, situational football," said Mayfield. "I mean, this time of the year – obviously it's late in the year, guys are banged up so it's the mental aspect of it – taking care of the ball situationally, making sure we get touchdowns in the red zone, getting turnovers on defense and special teams – making sure there's big plays for us and stopping the big plays for them."
In a way, the Buccaneers have been quite good in situational football for most of the season, at least offensively. The offense ranks second in third-down conversion rate at 47.6% and is tied for third in red zone touchdown efficiency at 66.7%. McLaughlin has only missed two field goals, both from 55 yards out. A two-minute drill in Kansas City in Week Nine successfully sent that game to overtime. The drive to end the fourth quarter in Charlotte was another good example of a two-minute drill, although in this case it was a little tighter than two minutes. That changed the calculus of the play-calling a bit, but the Bucs knew what they had to do and got it done.
"You definitely have to know the situation and everything but when it comes down to it, it's situationally being able to execute knowing that you have three timeouts, a little over 30 seconds," said Mayfield. "We can throw the ball up the middle of the field. We can do that, get the clock stopped with a timeout, you want to get it to the sidelines to where you don't have to burn them. Our guys were locked in. Situationally, that was really well executed by everybody."
The Bucs' offense hasn't been perfect in any category, of course. After a 450-yard performance in a blowout win over the Giants, Mayfield and company couldn't find any offensive rhythm for the first three quarters against the Panthers. They were able to pull out the win thanks to their improved execution in the fourth quarter and overtime, but they can't afford to put themselves into too many bad situations over the next five weeks.
"It just comes down to simple execution," said Mayfield. "The pre-snap penalties, some things, just miscommunication on others, and just executing – it's going to come down to that. It's the teams that don't beat themselves and I think for the majority of that game, offensively we were beating ourselves. … We made the plays when it counted and that's what you love to see in a close ballgame – being able to overcome all the other stuff that we hadn't played well at all, to be able to find a way to win."
