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Game Ball:** Rookie tight end O.J. Howard was instrumental to the Buccaneers' second-half comeback, catching the seven-yard touchdown that made it 17-13 in the third quarter, and the 33-yard score that tied the game at 20 each in the fourth quarter. Howard finished with career highs in every category: six catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns, and he's the first Buccaneer this year to find the end zone twice in the same game. Howard got wide open on a misdirection play – much as he did in Week Four against the Giants – for his second touchdown, but he also caught a number of passes over the middle in traffic.
Play of the Game: For the Buccaneers, it was Lavonte David's forced fumble against Bills RB LeSean McCoy in the fourth quarter, and his recovery of the loose ball near midfield. Buffalo was potentially driving for a go-ahead score after the Bucs had knotted the game at 20-20, but David gave the visitors a chance to strike first, which they did moments later on Mike Evans' 13-yard touchdown catch with just over three minutes to play. However, that lead didn't hold, so perhaps the play with the biggest impact of the game came minutes later, when QB Tyrod Taylor found Deonte Thompson on the left sideline for a gain of 44, with 15 yards tacked on the end for an illegal hit by CB Robert McClain. That moved the ball from the Buffalo 25 to the Bucs' 16 in one fell swoop and put the Bills in position to tie and then win the game.
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Pictures from the Buccaneers' Week 7 matchup with the Bills.
TE O.J. Howard
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
DB Ryan Smith
DB Ryan Smith
RB Charles Sims
LB Kwon Alexander
LB Kwon Alexander
TE Cameron Brate
K Patrick Murray
RB Doug Martin
QB Jameis Winston
S Keith Tandy
DE William Gholston and DT Clinton McDonald
TE O.J. Howard
TE O.J. Howard
RB Doug Martin
QB Jameis Winston
WR Mike Evans
CB Robert McClain
Bucs vs Bills
CB Vernon Hargreaves
QB Jameis Winston
RB Doug Martin
WR DeSean Jackson
WR DeSean Jackson
WR DeSean Jackson
WR DeSean Jackson
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
DE Robert Ayers
DE Robert Ayers
LB Lavonte David, Bills QB Tyrod Taylor, DE Robert Ayers and DE William Gholston
DE Robert Ayers, DE William Gholston and DT Gerald McCoy
Bucs vs Bills
WR Bernard Reedy
RB Doug Martin
QB Jameis Winston
RB Charles Sims
TE Cameron Brate
LB Kwon Alexander
RB Doug Martin and OT Donovan Smith
QB Jameis Winston
RB Doug Martin
RB Doug Martin
RB Doug Martin
QB Jameis Winston
WR Mike Evans
TE Luke Stocker, QB Jameis Winston and TE O.J. Howard
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
DE Noah Spence
QB Jameis Winston
TE Cameron Brate
QB Jameis Winston
TE O.J. Howard
TE O.J. Howard
TE O.J. Howard
TE O.J. Howard
C Ali Marpet and TE O.J. Howard
P Bryan Anger and K Patrick Murray
LB Lavonte David and LB Cameron Lynch
Bucs vs Bills
LB Lavonte David, CB Vernon Hargreaves and LB Adarius Glanton
CB Robert McClain, CB Vernon Hargreaves, LB Adarius Glanton and LB Cameron Lynch
WR DeSean Jackson
QB Jameis Winston
TE O.J. Howard
TE Cameron Brate
WR Mike Evans
WR Mike Evans and TE Cameron Brate
WR Mike Evans and QB Jameis Winston
WR Adam Humphries, WR Mike Evans and RB Charles Sims
WR DeSean Jackson
Bucs vs Bills
Bucs vs Bills
TE O.J. Howard
Turning Point:** The game had a combination of six lead chances and tied scores, so there were plenty of minor turning moments. In one sense, Humphries' fumble at the end was the biggest one, only in that it was the last one. The game was tied at that moment, though, so a Buccaneer victory was certainly not guaranteed. In another sense, the game nearly got away from the visiting team when Buffalo scored early in the third quarter to make it 17-6. From that point on, the Bucs fought furiously to get back into the game and briefly take the lead, and it all started with an impressive 75-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter. The Bucs had a 53-yard catch by DeSean Jackson erased by a penalty, but Jameis Winston still kept the drive alive with a succession of big plays, including a 23-yard post to Mike Evans that got the ball inside the 10 before Howard's first touchdown.
It Was Over When: Technically, it was over when a desperation pitch-around play by the Bucs as time expired finally came to rest at the Bucs' 29. However, the real dagger for Tampa Bay was RB Taiwan Jones's twisty 11-yard run on third-and-nine shovel pass with just under two minutes to play. Had the Bucs' defense stopped Jones short of the sticks, the Bills would have had to try a longer go-ahead field goal and the Bucs' offense would have been left with some real time to operate in a comeback attempt.
