The Tampa Bay Buccaneers started out fast and surged to the finish on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium and it was enough to overcome a mid-game lull in a convincing 28-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes, two to rookie WR Jalen McMillan, and the team overcame three turnovers thanks to a defense that held Las Vegas to 286 total yards.
"Turnovers didn't help," said Head Coach Todd Bowles of the second and third quarter struggles. "We shot ourselves in the foot with a couple penalties and they stoned us at the line of scrimmage a couple times as well. We didn't play well overall. It's hard to win a game when you turn it over three times, but those guys stuck with it and made some plays in the second half and we got it done. It's not always going to be pretty, but as long as you can win 'em, it doesn't matter how you get 'em."
The Buccaneers' win coupled with Atlanta's 42-21 loss in Minnesota on Sunday put Tampa Bay back in sole possession first place in the NFC South for the first time since Week Four. The Bucs improved to 7-6 with their third straight win while the Falcons lost their fourth in a row to fall to 6-7. Since Atlanta holds a head-to-head tiebreaker over Tampa Bay, the Bucs need to match or exceed the Falcons' win total over the final four weeks.
"Just like I'm telling these guys [in the locker room], just because we're in first is one thing," said Bowles. "To stay in first is a whole 'nother deal. We've got four weeks to play. We're happy to be playing meaningful football in December. We understand what that means and we've got to go out every week and try to squeeze out these games. But it feels good."
Running back Rachaad White also scored twice during a 109 yards-from-scrimmage performance, catching a five-yard pass in the first quarter and running one in from three yards out in the fourth quarter. The Buccaneers' offense scored twice in the first quarter and twice in the fourth quarter and the defense held Las Vegas to three points in the second half. The Raiders had a chance to take the lead in the third quarter after embarking on a 66-yard drive that took 10:20 off the clock, but rookie S Tykee Smith intercepted a pass intended for his former Georgia teammate and fellow rookie Brock Bowers at the Bucs' seven-yard line.
Tampa Bay scored touchdowns on each of its first two possessions, the second one set up by a third-down sack by Lavonte David on the Raiders' first drive. Mayfield ended a 12-play, 85-yard march on the game's opening possession with a 15-yard scoring strike to McMillan. McMillan's second touchdown effectively put the game away with two minutes left and made him the first Tampa Bay rookie to catch two scoring passes in the same game since TE O.J. Howard against Buffalo on Oct. 22, 2017. The last Bucs' rookie wideout to accomplish that feat was Mike Evans, who did it three times in 2014.
The Buccaneers got off to a very good start but the team's persistent second-quarter struggles in 2024 returned again and the Raiders cut the lead to 14-10 by halftime. For the Buccaneers, that quarter included three turnovers, including one that led to a Raiders touchdown and another that killed a drive deep into Raiders territory just before the intermission. The Buccaneers only allowed 103 yards and six first downs in the half but also saw Antoine Winfield Jr. and RB Bucky Irving get knocked out of the game with a knee injury.
"It doesn't have to be pretty," said Mayfield of the win. "Obviously there's a lot of things that I would personally like to have back, but it's a resilient group. We play for each other. Guys step up when other people are down, and that's what football is all about. It teaches you life lessons.
"We'll take wins. It's hard in this league, and [it was good] the way our guys executed late in the game to be able to really just put the dagger home. … Guys executed in critical moments and that's what football in December is all about."
Already without safeties Jordan Whitehead and Mike Edwards due to injuries, the Buccaneers had to shuffle players around on defense after Winfield was injured. Kaevon Merriweather, who just re-signed with the Buccaneers this past week, started next to Winfield and recorded seven tackles, 1.0 sack and several hard hits in the pivotal fourth quarter. Smith, Christian Izien and Tavierre Thomas all saw time at safety, as well as the Bucs held Las Vegas Raiders quarterbacks to 23 completions and 205 yards in 37 attempts. Former Falcon Desmond Ridder finished the game for Las Vegas after starter Aidan O'Connell was carted off in the third quarter with a leg injury.
"When 'Win' went down, it got kind of tough," said Bowles. "But between Izzy, Tykee, Merriweather and even Tavierre at the end, those guys stepped up and they made some very good open-field tackles for us."
Tampa Bay's defense held the Raiders to four conversions in 13 attempts, though they did subsequently go three-for-three on fourth-down tries. O'Connell scored the Raiders only touchdown himself on a one-yard plunge following a Mayfield fumble in the second quarter. Lavonte David held together a banged up defense with a classic performance, racking up seven tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a fumble recovery. He now has 37.5 sacks and 18 fumble recoveries in his illustrious career. David also helped the Buccaneers limit Bowers, who came into the game as the NFL's leading receiver, to three catches on five targets.
"[We] just moved the coverages around, played a couple fronts on defense," said Bowles of keeping Bowers in check. "The guys did a good job of disguising on the back end."
With Irving limited to just three yards on four runs before exiting the game, White led a Tampa Bay rushing attack that topped 150 yards for the third game in a row. His 90 yards were supported by three carries for 47 yards from Sean Tucker, who set up White's fourth-quarter touchdown run with a 34-yard jaunt down the right sideline. TE Cade Otton had the longest play of the game for the Buccaneers, a 44-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter that led to McMillan's second score. Otton had three catches for 70 yards. Evans finished with four catches for 69 yards, including a 32-yarder on the team's third touchdown drive that featured a hurdle over a Las Vegas defender.
"He played a tough, gritty ballgame," said Bowles of White. "He got some tough yards running the ball, he caught the ball well. He played a very tough ballgame for us. [Tucker] makes plays. I've said we've got three of them. Whoever gets the hot hand at the time, any one of the three are capable of breaking a play."
The Buccaneers will attempt to run their win streak to four games in Week 15 with a trip to Los Angeles to play the Chargers. Sunday's win over Las Vegas was their first at Raymond James Stadium since September, improving their home record to 3-4. They will finish the season with consecutive home games against Carolina and New Orleans.
"It's good to get a win at home," said Bowles. "We're going to be on the road the next two weeks, so it was real good to get one at home."
The Buccaneers got the ball first but a holding call on the opening kickoff forced them to start at their own 15. A quick out to WR Jalen McMillan got the Bucs off to a good start with a six-yard gain, and White powered over left guard for enough to make it third-and-inches, and his third-down carry moved the chains. Evans ran a deep comebacker on the next play and caught a 15-yard pass, and two plays later Mayfield found Shepard for a first down in Las Vegas territory. Offsetting penalties erased a well-executed screen to White, and the next two plays only picked up two yards. On third-and-eight, Evans made a leaping grab but was brought down a yard short of the sticks. Bowles elected to go for it on fourth-and-one from the Raiders' 37 and White made it pay off by powering up the middle for seven. A tunnel screen to Irving out of two-back personnel worked well, springing Irving for a gain of 15, and McMillan got behind the defense to catch Mayfield's perfect touch pass for a 15-yard score.
Jack Browning's first NFL kickoff worked out well, landing first at the two and then bouncing into the end zone, where it was downed for a touchback that brought the ball out to the Raiders' 20. Las Vegas tried to tie the game up immediately with O'Connell's deep heave down the middle to WR Tre Tucker but the play was well-covered and incomplete. Two plays later, on third-and-eight, David blitzed off the right edge and buried O'Connell for a sack back at the 10-yard line. The subsequent punt went out of bounds just across midfield.
An Irving run put the ball on the midfield stripe and a scrambling Mayfield made a sudden read and fired a seam pass to TE Cade Otton, who turned upfield for a gain of 20. White followed with a 13-yard run to the Raiders' 17 and, on the next play, another 12-yard scamper to the five. Mayfield dropped back to pass on first-and-goal and went through multiple reads before finding White by the goal line for the Bucs' second touchdown.
After another touchback, O'Connell hit TE Michael Mayer down the right numbers but he was unable to hold onto the pass through contact with the ground. O'Connell was able to hit WR Jakobi Meyers for a gain of 11 on the next play. A personal foul on rookie G Jackson Powers-Johnson erased a big play on a screen two snaps later and put the Raiders into a second-and-21 hole. O'Donnell was pressured into an incompletion on the next snap and a screen to Meyers was not close to moving the chains. The ensuing punt was downed at the Bucs' 21 with just over a minute left in the first quarter.
The Bucs fell into a third-and-11 after a pass intended for McMillan on the left sideline was broken up. Mayfield stepped up in the pocket with Crosby racing up behind him and was able to get off an 18-yard dart to Shepard on the last play of the period. After the teams switched sides, Mayfield couldn't find an open man so he took off over the middle and slid for a gain of five but Irving tripped on a second-down handoff and lost three. Mayfield tried to hit McMillan on a third-down screen but DE K'Lavon Chaisson leaped to bat the ball up and then caught the rebound for an interception at the Bucs' 46.
The Tampa Bay defense wasn't on the field for long. O'Connell fumbled the snap on the very next play and David came up with it at the bottom of the pile, making it first down for the Bucs at their own 35. On first down, Mayfield dumped it off to White as the pocket fell in on him and White was able to ramble down the sideline for 14 yards. Mayfield scrambled again on the next play and got seven to the Raiders' 44. Two plays later, Mayfield was sacked by Amari Burney and he lost the ball, with the Raiders recovering at Tampa Bay's 45.
O'Connell tried to go deep on first down but Tucker couldn't quite get his toes down inbounds. The Raiders challenged the ruling but it was upheld. Bowers made a highlight-reel, one-handed catch on his first target, getting the ball down to the Buds' 33. O'Connell went to his other tight end, Mayer, on the next play, and Mayer hurdled over a tackler for a gain of 29 to the Bucs' two. Two runs by Sincere McCormick gained a total of just one, and on third down he was falling backward when he got off a lob in Bowers' direction. The ball was incomplete but LB Vi Jones was flagged for pass interference, making it first-and-goal at the one. O'Connell snuck it across the line for the Raiders' first score with 9:21 left in the half.
The ensuing kickoff bounced into and through the end zone for a touchback out to the 20, and Mayfield was swarmed over in the backfield on first down resulting in Adam Butler's eight-yard sack. A false start took it back another five yards. Mayfield barely escaped a sack in the end zone and got off an incompletion. On third-and-23 the Bucs played it safe with a handoff to White, who got 12 yards before the punt. Jack Browning's first NFL punt went 49 yards but was returned to close to midfield.
O'Connell zipped a six-yard pass to Tucker and the Raiders went no-huddle before calling a reverse to Bowers for a gain of three. McCormick got the needed yard plus much more, as he broke free from several defenders for a gain of 29 to the Bucs' 14. Three plays later, on third-and-two, O'Connell dropped back to pass but was chased into a throwaway and the Raiders settled for Daniel Carlson's 25-yard field goal.
Tucker got the next kickoff back to the Bucs' 31 with 4:20 left in the first half. A toss left to White was good for just one yard, but White's great blitz pickup on second down gave Mayfield time to find Shepard down the middle for a gain of 22. It was then second-and-one after a nine-yard catch by McMillan but a holding call on the next snap moved it back 10 yards. Mayfield was swung down by his arm on second down to make it third-and-19 as the two-minute warning arrived. Evans got most of it back on a 15-yard catch to the Raiders' 40. The Bucs tried to get the Raiders to jump offsides, then used a timeout to consider the situation. They then lined up to go for it only to have Las Vegas use a timeout before the snap. The Bucs eventually did go for it and got a new set of downs when CB Jack Jones was flagged for pass interference at the Raiders' 29. Tucker powered through a gang of tacklers to get nine yards on the next play, but Mayfield was pressured into an overthrow on second down and Jones intercepted the pass and returned it to the Raiders' 16. Las Vegas kneeled to kill the last 25 seconds of the half.
Ameer Abdullah ran the opening kickoff of the second half out to the Raiders' 29 and McCormick went straight up the middle for six yards on first down. O'Connell was flushed out of the pocket on second down and got to the 39 for a first down. The Raiders brought out a jumbo package and ran again for another six. McCormick made it third-and-one with another power run, and a handoff out of the shotgun was good enough for a new set of downs. Three plays later it was third-and-one again and the Raiders converted on O'Connell's sneak. Two plays after that, McCormick took a handoff wide right and found a lane for a gain of 11 to the Bucs' 23. A screen to McCormick got eight more but he was stuffed on second down for no gain. O'Connell's next sneak was stopped short so the Raiders went for it on fourth and less than a yard. McCormick fell through the pile to get a first down at the 12. An illegal shift backed the Raiders up five yards and a crossing route pass to Mayer got seven back. O'Connell tried to get the ball to Bowers on third down but Smith got between the tight end and the ball and intercepted it at the seven-yard line.
A second-effort run up the middle by White got seven and some valuable breathing room, and his brutal stiff-arm of CB Decamerion Richardson allowed him to get around the corner for 12 on second down. A false start cost the Bucs five, and Mayfield then threw over the middle to Otton for six. Mayfield attempted swing pass to Tucker was batted away by Crosby, and he was unable to scramble for the first down, leading to a punt. Abdullah returned the kick to the Raiders' 49 with just under two minutes left in the third quarter.
O'Connell's sideline pass downfield to Bowers sailed out of bounds. On the next play, OLB Yaya Diaby got into the quarterback's face quickly, and O'Connell faded back and threw a high lob in the direction of Tucker. S Kaevon Merriweather tracked it as it flew over the receiver's head, but he couldn't quite come down with the ball. O'Connell scrambled away from pressure on third down and got off an eight-yard pass to Meyers to make it third-and-two at the Bucs' 44. O'Connell was injured on the play and taken off the field on a cart with his leg in an air cast. The Raiders chose to punt and the ball went into the end zone for a touchback.
Baker danced around in the pocket on first down but eventually had to throw the ball away. An incompletion and a two-yard run by White put the Bucs into a long third down right away but Mayfield converted it with a scrambling throw to Shepard for 14 on the last play of the third quarter. To start the final period, Mayfield targeted Evans on a deep out but delivered the pass a bit too tall. Two plays later, on third-and-six, Mayfield skipped his pass in front of Shepard. Browning got a lot of hang time on his punt, which was fair caught at the Las Vegas 20.
Ridder came into the game at quarterback for the Raiders and handed off to McCormick, who went up the middle for five. Ridder dropped the snap on second down and had to fall on the ball. Ridder threw a quick slant to Meyers, who was brought down a yard short by CB Zyon McCollum. The Raiders chose to punt on fourth-and-one. The Bucs got the ball back at their own 23 with 12 minutes left in regulation.
After a one-yard run by White, Mayfield threw on-target to McMillan but the receiver wasn't ready for it and it went through his hands. On third-and-nine, Mayfield found Evans on a post over the middle and Evans caught the ball before hurdling S Isaiah Pola-Mao to ramble for 32 yards. White bounced his next carry around right end and lowered his shoulder into Trevor Moehrig for a pickup of seven. Tucker went in the same direction on the next play and broke through to the second level for a 34-yard run all the way down to the four. White bashed up the middle on first down and pushed his away across the line for the touchdown. That gave the Bucs a 21-10 lead with a little less than nine minutes left.
Abdullah ran a short kickoff out to the Raiders' 35 and Ridder's first pass was a six-yarder over the middle to WR Terrace Marshall. McCollum dived for a fluttering pass that was tipped by Diaby at the line and originally was ruled to have intercepted it. Once again, however, a review reversed the ruling and the Raiders faced a third-and-four. The Bucs blitzed and Bowers got wide open over the middle to haul in a 25-yard pass to the Tampa Bay 34. Another quick pass to Mayer was good for four, and Merriweather dropped Tucker after just one yard on a short pass. Ridder scrambled on third down but was caught by Merriweather at the line of scrimmage. The Raiders went for and Ridder found Meyers on a shallow out, with the receiver breaking out of a tackle and running down to the nine. Abdullah was stopped for just one on his first-down carry and Ridder than scrambled down to the five. On third-and-goal, Ridder threw a swing pass to Abdullah but S Christian Izien closed on him immediately for a loss of four. The Raiders sent Carlson out to make it an eight-point gain and he hit his 24-yard try.
Another bouncing ball into the end zone created a touchback at the 20-yard line and White got three yards on first down before the Raiders used their first timeout at the 3:01 mark. Mayfield hit Otton on a flag route on the next play and the tight end broke away from a defender and rumbled down the sideline for 44 yards to the Las Vegas 33. Runs of three and one yards led to the Raiders using their last two timeouts just before the two-minute warning. On third-and-six, Mayfield threw a short pass to McMillan at the sticks and the receiver broke free for a 29-yard touchdown.
The Raiders had just under two minutes left when they got the ball back for the last time. A series of short passes got them down to the Bucs' 30 but time ran out on Ridder's attempted deep ball to Meyers.
