The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the postseason for the fifth straight season in 2024, but this particular playoff run was brief. A 37-yard Zane Gonzalez field goal hit the right upright and banked in as time expired to give the visiting Washington Commanders a walk-off 23-20 win in the Wild Card round on Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium.

"I'm proud of the way they fought," said Head Coach Todd Bowles of his team after the game. "Obviously it's disappointing. We don't want the season to end like this, but we don't point fingers. We had chances. We had chances to win this ballgame. Obviously it wasn't good enough. We think we have a very good football team when everybody's clicking on all cylinders. We've got to be clicking on all cylinders. The effort was outstanding. We hung together all year. We've been through some things. We've got to take it on the chin and get better in the future."

The Buccaneers had a 17-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter after a four-yard touchdown catch by rookie RB Bucky Irving, and they had the ball with 14 minutes to play after an impressive goal-line stand. However, a botched handoff between QB Baker Mayfield and WR Jalen McMillan on a jet sweep led to a loose ball that Washington recovered at the Buccaneers' 13-yard line. Rookie QB Jayden Daniels threw a five-yard touchdown pass to WR Terry McLaurin three plays later to put the visitors up by three.

The Buccaneers quickly took the ensuing possession downfield on Mayfield completions of 26 yard to McMillan and 20 yards to TE Cade Otton, but a difficult sequence in the red zone led to the team settling for Chase McLaughlin's game-tying 32-yard field goal. A rushed snap by rookie C Graham Barton on second-and-one led to a run for no yards by Mayfield and Irving was dropped for a loss of two on second down. Mayfield and the Buccaneers' offense wouldn't touch the ball again as Washington used the last 4:41 on the clock engineer the game-winning drive.

"Yeah, he snapped it and nobody else was ready," said Bowles of the second-down play. "We lost yards there, so that kind of hurt us, too."

Bowles said the Buccaneers were considering using all four downs to go for a touchdown on their final drive but the two-yard loss on Irving's third-down run eliminated that option.

"There was [consideration] before the play," he said. "Once we went backwards, we had to tie the ballgame."

Though the game featured two of the five highest-scoring teams in the NFL during the regular season, neither side ever really got into an offensive groove. Mayfield completed 15 of his 18 passes for 185 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 146.5, but the Buccaneers only had seven total possessions. Irving ran 17 times for 77 yards and WR Mike Evans caught seven passes for 92 yards and a score, but the Bucs' fourth-ranked offense finished with just 284 total yards of offense.

Mayfield's fumble was the only turnover of the game, and the Buccaneers finished their campaign with four straight games without a takeaway. Since Bowles arrived in Tampa in 2019, the Buccaneers had ranked fifth in the NFL in takeaways over a five-year span, with 128. In 2024, Tampa Bay created just 18 takeaways, including only seven interceptions.

"It's rare for us to have a season without a lot of turnovers, but we had them, we didn't get them," said Bowles. "That's something we need [in order] to be a good defense. Obviously we've been doing it in the past, we didn't do it this year. We've got to do a better job of that."

Daniels completed 24 of 35 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns and also ran 13 times for 36 yards. The Buccaneers held Washington to just 2.5 yards per carry on 33 totes, but the Commanders were able to convert eight of 15 third down tries and three of five fourth-down attempts. That contributed to Washington's 11-minute advantage in time of possession.

"Defensively, that's where it was," said Bowles. "He was making some plays with his feet. We were in position, he out-athleted us and they did a good job on third down, keeping it in third-and-short and him making plays."

The Buccaneers were the only NFC team to make the playoffs in each of the last five seasons after winning a fourth straight NFC South title, and they were angling to make the Divisional Round for the fourth time in that span. Instead, the Commanders turned a remarkable rebound season, a 12-5 record and a Wild Card berth into a trip to the next round, where they will play the Lions in Detroit.

Washington took a 10-3 lead in the first half on a Gonzalez 52-yard field goal and Daniels' 10-yard touchdown pass to Dyami Brown. After struggling to get in a rhythm early on, the Bucs executed a perfect two-minute drill to tie the game at 10-10 at halftime, with Evans drawing a blatant pass interference call on long-time rival Marshon Lattimore before scoring on a one-yard slant on the next play. Washington drove for a field goal on the first possession of the second half but the Bucs countered with the 72-yard go-ahead drive ending in Irving's score.

The Buccaneers got the ball first after a touchback, and a play-action rollout pass to Evans on an out provided an immediate 11 yards. Two plays later, Mayfield scrambled up the middle for a gain of two to make it third-and-eight, then went back to Evans on the next snap to get 23 on a crossing route. A three-yard Irving run was followed by two incompletions and Chase McLaughlin came on to try a 50-yard field goal. He nailed it and the Bucs chose not to accept an offsides penalty to make it fourth-and-two, keeping the three points instead.

Daniels escaped a near-Vita Vea sack on the Commanders' first play to throw the ball away, and a Brian Robinson run got four. On third-and-six, Daniels threw as he was hit and McLaurin made an incredible diving catch for 35 yards to the Bucs' 28. S Mike Edwards stopped a designed Daniels run for no gain but the rookie passer scrambled right on the next play for eight yards. Daniels scrambled again on third down but David ran him out of bounds for no gain. Washington elected to go for it on fourth down and Daniels was pressured into a skipped pass for a turnover on downs at the Bucs' 20.

Irving fought for extra yards on the next two plays, going up the middle for six and seven yards and a first down. The Bucs brought in their two-back set on the next play but Mayfield dropped back and fired a 15-yard pass to McMillan to the Bucs' 48. Two more Irving runs only got a total of two yards and Mayfield's scramble up the middle went nowhere, leading to a punt that was fair caught at the Washington eight.

Short passes to McLaurin and Robinson left Washington in a third-and-six, which Daniels converted by scrambling right across the end zone and throwing back to the middle to TE Zach Ertz for nine. McLaurin then ran a quick slant from the right and gained 17, and two plays later a tunnel screen to RB Austin Ekeler got a first down at the Bucs' 45 to bring the first quarter to an end. The first play of the second quarter was a rollout pass to Robinson for 13. Three plays later, on third-and-three, Daniels kept it and swept right but was blasted out of bounds by CB Zyon McCollum. Once again the Commanders chose to go for it on fourth down and, after a Tampa Bay timeout, and this time they got it on an Ekeler run. A seven-yard Daniels scramble took it down to the 14 and an incompletion made it third-and-three. After a Washington timeout, Daniels moved the chains with a quick slant to WR Olamide Zaccheaus to the Bucs' eight. After a run for no gain by Robinson, the Bucs' defense completely sniffed out a Daniels' keeper and he lost two. On third-and-goal, Daniels had plenty of time to throw and Dyami Brown eventually worked open in the middle of the end zone for the 10-yard score.

After a touchback, another Mayfield scramble only gained one and an illegal chop block on the next snap pushed the ball back 15 yards. On third-and-22, Mayfield scrambled left before hitting White on a 13-yard play. The resulting punt went 56 yards but Jamison Crowder got 17 back on his return.

A quick out to McLaurin with seven minutes left in the half got seven but Ekeler got nothing on a second-down run. The Bucs got quick pressure on Daniels on third down but he got off a short pass to Ekeler just past the sticks. Daniels ran on the next two snaps for a total of 10 yards, then escaped pressure to scramble up the middle for five more to the Bucs' 43. Two plays later, on third-and-four, Diaby sacked Daniels but the drive was prolonged by a defensive holding call on CB Zyon McCollum. The Bucs got the stop at that point, with McCollum breaking up a third-down end zone shot to McLaurin, but Washington still got three points on a 52-yard field goal by Zane Gonzales right after the two-minute warning.

The Bucs had a shot a two-minute drill after Rachaad White's 24-yard kickoff return to the 26. A White run and an incompletion quickly led to a third-and-nine, but Mayfield took off up the middle and fought his way to the 45-yard line. Mayfield then rifled a hard low pass to Evans for 11 yards and another first down across midfield. A strike over the middle to TE Cade Otton got another 12 before Mayfield hit Evans again on an inbreaker to Evans took it down to the Washington 12. The Bucs used their second timeout with 17 seconds left in the half. Mayfield looked to Evans in one-on-one coverage and drew a pass-interference call on CB Marshon Lattimore to make it first-and-goal at the one. On the next snap, Mayfield took a shotgun snap and once again turned to Evans, who gave a quick jab step out and then ran a slant for a one-yard score.

Washington got the ball first in the second half, starting at their own 30 after a touchback. A quick pass to Zaccheaus and a Robinson run made it third-and-one and backup QB Marcus Mariota came on to sneak it across for a first down. Two plays later, Daniels scrambled right and found Brown wide open for a 30-yard catch-and-run. Those two hooked up again on the very next play for another gain of 24 down to the Bucs' three. Three plays later, on third-and-goal, CB Jamel Dean broke up a pass intended for McLaurin and the Commanders settled for another Gonzalez three-pointer from 22 yards out.

After White's kickoff return took the kickoff out to the Bucs' 28, then drew a facemask penalty on a first-down catch to get the ball to the 44. A five-yard Irving run was countered by a false start by Otton, after which Irving ran again for six. Evans saved the day again with a deep slant for 18 yards to the Washington 32. A toss sweep left finally sprung Irving into the open field for 19 more to the 13. A 12-men-in-the-huddle cost the Bucs five yards but Irving blasted up the middle for 10. A toss sweep left to Irving got just enough to make it first-and-goal at the two. The Bucs went no-huddle but it backfired as Irving was trapped for a loss of three. A defensive holding call on the next snap made it first-and-goal at the two. A sack on first down lost two yards but a play-action rollout pass to Irving worked to perfection for a four-point lead with 4:31 left in the third quarter.

After another touchback, the Commanders got five yards on a defensive holding call on Dean, and then a designed run up the middle got six for Daniels. On the next snap, Daniels had plenty of time to throw and found McLaurin on a crosser for a gain of 17 to the Bucs' 42. Robinson got five on a first-down catch but the Commanders gave it back on an ineligible-man-downfield penalty. Two plays later, on third-and-six, Daniels threw low in Ertz's direction but the Commanders chose to go for it on fourth down from the Bucs' 37. Daniels went to Ertz again on a crossing route and this time it was good for a first down at the 23. The third quarter came to an end with the Commanders facing a third-and-nine at the 22. After the teams switched sides, McCollum was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, making it first-and-goal at the one. Daniels was chased into an incompletion by Yaya Diaby and Kancey dropped Robinson for a loss of two. LB Deion Jones nearly intercepted Daniels' next pass, and the Commanders went for it on fourth down only to have the next pass hit the ground in the end zone.

The Bucs thus had the ball back on their own four with 14 minutes remaining. Irving took a quick-hitter over left guard for four but he was immediately engulfed by DE Jalyn Holmes for a loss of one on the next play. Evans then made an incredible play, catching an out pass short of the sticks but extending the ball past the line as he fell backwards. Unfortunately, Mayfield lost the ball on the next snap on an attempted fake handoff to McMillan and Washington recovered at the Bucs' 13.

A Daniels keeper got nothing and a pass to the left flat to Brown gained four. Ekeler's four-yard catch made it fourth-and-two and the Commanders went for it again, this time successfully with Daniels finding McLaurin in the middle of the end zone.

After a White kickoff return to the 25, Mayfield found McMillan wide open in a hole in the zone in the middle of the field for a gain of 26. Irving broke several tackles to get six on the next play, and a Mayfield keeper made it third-and-two at the Washington 41. The Bucs rushed to the line and Mayfield threw an outlet pass to Otton for 20 yards to the 21. A nine-yard sweep left by Irving took it to the 12 but Mayfield got nothing on an read-option keeper. A busted play on third down left the Bucs settling for a McLaughlin's game-tying field goal with 4:41 left.

After a touchback, Hayes closed quickly on a quick out to McLaurin to limit the play to five yards, and the Bucs' defense swarmed Robinson on second down for a loss of one. On third down, Daniels had time to find Brown crossing left to right for a gain o f21 to the Bucs' 45. A run by Ekeler for no gain brought on the two-minute warning. After the break, Daniels lobbed a pass to Ekeler, who evaded tacklers to get to the 27. Three plays later, Daniels broke several tacklers in the backfield and was able to get past the sticks for a first down, allowing Washington to run the clock down to three seconds before the winning kick.