The Los Angeles Chargers had allowed 20-plus points in a game just three times in the 2024 season prior to Week 15. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers topped that in the second half alone after falling behind 17-10 in the second quarter, scoring 30 unanswered points to pull away from the home team, 40-17, at SoFi Field on Sunday.

"We didn't panic at halftime," said Head Coach Todd Bowles. "We made some mistakes in the first half; we turned it over twice. We understood the assignment and we showed the growth in the second half of the season as a team, how we can come back and not panic in the second half and go out and take the game to them."

Baker Mayfield threw four touchdown passes, two to Mike Evans, completing 22 of 27 passes for 288 yards, with one interception, for a passer rating of 135.3. Evans hauled in scoring passes of 57 and 35 yards in the second half on the way to nine catches for 159 yards, marking the 38th 100-yard receiving game of his illustrious career.

The victory, Tampa Bay's fourth in a row, improved the team's record to 8-6 and put it 1.5 games up on the 6-7 Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South race, as the Bucs try to capture their fourth straight division crown. Atlanta plays at Las Vegas on Monday night.

Tampa Bay finished with 505 yards of offense, with the rushing attack producing 222 yards. That set a new franchise record, as the Bucs surpassed 150 rushing yards for the fourth game in a row. Bucky Irving, who was a question mark for the game due to back and hip injuries, led the way on the ground with 117 yards on 15 carries, including a 54-yard breakaway in the fourth quarter that set up Rachaad White's 11-yard touchdown reception.

"That's huge," said Bowles of the prolific rushing attack. "That's December football. We're trying to stop the run and we're trying to run the football. Today we did a good job."

The Buccaneers did not punt in the game. They scored on six straight possessions between the second and fourth quarters and finished the game with the ball in their hands.

The Buccaneers started the game strong, driving 70 yards for a touchdown on the game's opening possession, with Mayfield finishing it with a 26-yard pass to rookie WR Jalen McMillan. Millan, who had two touchdown grabs a week earlier against Las Vegas, finished with a career-high 75 yards on nine catches. That started a back-and-forth as both teams scored a touchdown and a field goal on their first two possessions. However, Los Angeles threatened to pull away with a pair of second quarter takeaways. An interception by CB Tarheeb Still set up a second Chargers touchdown but the Buccaneers were able to get away from White's midfield fumble without allowing any points.

"The two turnovers that we had in a row there in the first half, the defense stepped up and didn't let them score two touchdowns in a row," said Mayfield. "That was really the turning point. We came in at halftime and the offense said as long as we don't hurt ourselves we'll be alright. The defense came out and stopped them [to start the second half], and then the offensive line took over. That was the biggest difference there in the second half. Those guys played unbelievable up front and the defense…complementary football."

That stop was one of many impressive ones for the Buccaneers' defense, which held Los Angeles to 207 total yards and forced two turnovers by a Chargers offense that had only committed six of them all season. That included CB Jamel Dean's third-quarter interception off QB Justin Herbert, which led to a touchdown. Herbert had gone 11 straight games without being picked off and that was just his second interception of the season. The L.A. rushing attack produced just 32 yards and no Charger player had more than 58 yards.

"It was huge, it was huge," said Bowles of the Buccaneers' defensive dominance in the second half. "They did a heck of a job, especially in the second half. The communication was very good. We gave up too many free plays in the first half but in the second half they bottled down and the communication was great and everybody understood the assignment."

Lavonte David led the defensive attack with a vintage performance, combining 12 tackles with 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and a tackle for loss. His hit on Herbert in the end zone in the third quarter led to the fluttering throw that Dean intercepted. DL Logan Hall added 1.5 sacks and LB Vi Jones forced a fumble that ended the Chargers' last possession.

The Buccaneers actually had a 208-142 advantage in total yards heading into halftime, and the offense didn't punt once on five possessions. Unfortunately, two of those five ended in turnovers, and one led to the touchdown that allowed the Chargers to take a 17-13 lead into halftime. The Bucs did mount a successful three-minute drill but the drive stalled just outside the red zone and the team settled for McLaughlin's second field goal.

The Bucs won the opening coin toss and elected to take the ball, starting at their own 30 after a touchback. Mayfield had a lot of time to study the field on second down and eventually threw a strike down the middle of the field to McMillan for 19 yards, taking the ball into Chargers territory. White got five yards over left tackle on the next snap, and a play-action pass to TE Cade Otton moved the sticks down to the Los Angeles 33. A shot down the left numbers to Otton was out of the tight end's reach, but a curl by Evans in the right flat was good for seven. On third-and-three, McMillan got wide open down the left sideline and Mayfield lobbed it to him for the 26-yard score.

Herbert got his squad moving with a quick out to McConkey for seven yards, then faked a handoff and found the rookie wideout over the middle again for 13 yards to the midfield stripe. Two plays later, WR Quentin Johnston spun away from a pair of defenders to get 13 more to the Bucs' 34. The Chargers' first run of the game was a Gus Edwards sweep around left end, which was good for eight yard, and Edwards bounced his next carry left, too, to pick up a first down at the 22. LB J.J. Russell broke up a short pass intended for RB Kimani Vidal and the defense swarmed over Edwards for no gain. On third-and-10, Herbert was pressured by a blitz into an errant pass but DB Christian Izien was flagged for pass interference, putting the ball at the 12. An incompletion and an offsides penalty made it second-and-five at the seven, and Herbert then scrambled right and threw a dart into McConkey's stomach for a touchdown despite S Kaevon Merriweather being draped all over the pass-catcher.

After another touchback, the Bucs' second drive opened with a simple five-yard out to Evans, and Irving's first run added two more. On third-and-three, Evans ran a crisp in-breaker and Mayfield put it on him for 14 and a first down. The Bucs went no-huddle on the next snap and Mayfield threw to WR Sterling Shepard in a hole in the zone for 16 more to the Chargers' 35. Irving made two quick cuts to get six yards up the middle but a holding call on rookie C Graham Barton erased what would have been a first-down catch for McMillan. Two plays later, on third-and-12, Mayfield found McMillan again down the middle for 21, and this one stood. From the 16, Irving took a pitch right and picked his way for five yards, and an offsides flag on the Chargers made it first-and-goal at the six. An attempted tunnel screen to Irving didn't work, and that brought the first quarter to an end. After walking the length of the field to face the opposite end zone, the Bucs gave it to White and he tried to make the left corner but CB Kristian Fulton made a great play to trip him up for no gain. Mayfield was flushed on third and goal and tried to dash for the left front pylon but he was pulled down at the four. K Chase McLaughlin came on to complete the drive with a 22-yard field goal.

L.A.'s second drive started at their own 26 after a short kickoff return. Two plays into the drive, Herbert got one into a deep spot in the zone, with McConkey hauling in the 20-yarder to the Buc' 47. After a short run by Vidal, Herbert went deep again, this time finding TE Stone Smartt on a flay down the right seam for a gain of 31. David pushed the Chargers back on David's 11-yard sack. An illegal formation penalty and a pressured incompletion left Los Angeles in a third-and-26 at the 40. The Chargers played it safe, handing off to Vidal, who got seven to set up a 41-yard field goal try. Cameron Dicker tied the game by splitting the uprights with nine minutes left in the first half.

The Buccaneers next drive lasted one play. After a touchback, Mayfield looked for Evans on a deep slant but still cut in front of the play and intercepted it on the run, getting down to Tampa Bay's 18. A seven-yard catch by Smartt made it first down at the 13, and Herbert then hit Johnston at the seven, with the receiver spinning through tacklers to get over the goal line for the Chargers' first lead of the game.

Sean Tucker took the ensuing kickoff out of the end zone and found a seam good enough to get to the Bucs' 35. A five-yard run by White and a quick-hitter to McMillan left the Bucs in third-and-one. White took an underneath handoff and was able to power over the line to gain, but he coughed up the ball and the Chargers' Elijah Molden recovered at the L.A. 49.

David's stop of RB Gus Edwards for no gain and a blitz that hurried Herbert into an incompletion made it third-and-10. An out to Smart got four and the Chargers elected to punt from the Bucs' 42 and it went into the end zone for a touchback.

The Bucs thus had the ball back at their own 20 with 3:37 left in the half. Irving got four yards on a first-down run and an illegal hands to the face resulted in an automatic first down at the 29. An in-breaker to a sliding Evans added nine yards. The Bucs hunted a big play on second-and-one but it backfired when Mayfield was sacked by Troy Dye for a loss of five. That play brought on the two-minute warning. After the pause, Mayfield dropped back on third-and-six and zipped a dart to Evans on a crosser for a gain of eight and a first down at the Bucs' 41. A quick out to McMillan got him out of bounds with a five-yard gain, stopping the clock at 1:35. An incompletion down the middle in McMillan's direction made it third-and-four, but Mayfield kept the drive moving by escaping the pocket and sprinting all the way to the Chargers' 33 for a gain of 21. A handoff to White got 11 to the 22, and Evans made a heads-up play to prevent a near interception by CB Cam Hart on the next snap. Evans absorbed a big hit to hold on to a three-yard pass on second down and the Bucs used their first timeout at the 45-second mark. Mayfield eventually had to throw the ball away after scrambling out of a collapsing pocket on third down, leading to McLaughlin's second field goal attempt, which he drilled from 37 yards out.

Los Angeles got the ball back at its 26 with 28 ticks left and one timeout. A quick out to WR Josh Palmer got five yards in four seconds.

L.A. got the ball to start the second half after a touchback and quickly faced a third-and-four. Herbert found Smart in a zone opening down the left numbers but the ball was a little to tall and incomplete. JK Scott blasted a 58-yard punt but Trey Palmer was able to get 11 back on his return to the Bucs' 17. Irving started the Bucs' first drive with a six-yard run out of a jumbo package, then got five more on the next play. It got even better on the next snap when Irving quickly found the left edge and sprinted for 18 yards to the Bucs' 46. A play-action screen pass to Irving didn't work, however, losing three. On the next play, Mayfield scrambled to his left, started directing traffic and eventually tossed a dime to Evans, who slipped past a defender on the sideline and sprinted all the way to the end zone for the go-ahead score.

The Chargers got the ball back at their own 29 and Herbert's attempted deep out to Palmer was incomplete. However, he hit Vidal over the middle for a gain of 10 before David met the back in the backfield for no gain on the resulting first-down play. Two plays later, on third-and-six, Yaya Diaby and Calijah Kancey sandwiched Herbert as he threw, resulting in a ball thrown out of bounds and a punt. Palmer was hit by the Chargers' Ja'Sir Taylor as he was trying to field the punt, resulting in a 15-yard penalty that put the ball at the Bucs' 30.

On the first play of the drive, Irving got free through a huge lane behind right guard and rumbled down the sideline for a gain of 54. The drive stalled there, however, and it ended with McLaughlin kicking a 42-yard field goal for a 23-17 Bucs lead.

A penalty on the ensuing kickoff return forced the Chargers to start at their own 10, and Edwards' first-down run was stopped by Christian Izien for no gain. On the next play, Herbert lobbed a deep pass intended for Johnson as he was being hit in the backfield and that created a floater that Dean intercepted at the Chargers' 42.

Irving got four yards on first down but another long scramble by Mayfield was erased by a holding call, making it second-and-16. A roughing-the-passer call then moved the ball to the Chargers' 33 and made it first down. Irving went left for five, then got three more on second down. Mayfield appeared to scramble for another first down but this one also came back on a holding call. On third-and-12, Mayfield had time to throw and eventually found Evans dashing down the left seam and hit him on the run for a 35-yard touchdown.

The Chargers got the next kickoff back out to their 33 and got a first down on an 11-yard catch by McConkey. A five-yard grab by Palmer put the ball at midfield as the third quarter came to an end. After the sides switched, a delayed blitz didn't get home as Herbert found Johnston for a gain of 12. Dean broke up another pass in Johnston's direction and OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka dropped Smart after a four-yard catch. McConkey couldn't hold on to a third-down throw so the Chargers went for it on fourth-and-six from the Bucs' 34. Herbert tried to find McConkey again but Kancey had dropped into coverage and was on the scene to disrupt the play.

The Bucs took over on downs with less than 14 minutes left in regulation and White got a total of seven yards on two runs. A quick slant to Evans not only moved the sticks but also got 23 yards to the Chargers' 36. Three more runs created a first down at the 24. Two plays later, Mayfield scrambled left before side arming a pass to Otton, who was flipped in the air, landing at the 11. On the next play, Mayfield faked a handoff to White and then threw it to him in the right flat, with the back loping into the end zone for a touchdown and a 37-17 lead.

Los Angeles got the ball back two more times after that score. The first one was given back on downs when Tryon-Shoyinka stopped WR D.J. Chark three yards short on a fourth-and-seven catch. The Bucs ran the clock down three minutes before McLaughlin hit his fourth field goal, a 43-yarder. The second one lasted just one play, as Jones forced a fumble by Smartt that was recovered by S Kaevon Merriweather.