The Bills welcomed the visiting Buccaneers to town for "Thursday Night Football," and provided them with a rock fight of a night that ended with a 24-18 victory for the host Bills.
Buffalo jumped out to a 10-point lead on the strength of a Tyler Bass field goal and a Josh Allen rushing touchdown. The latter of those scores came after the Bills were stopped on the goal line on their previous drive, but they forced a punt and returned it to the Tampa Bay 23-yard line. Allen scored by scrambling away from pressure and beating three Bucs defenders to the end zone after a cutback for a 13-yard score. That marked the 43rd rushing touchdown of his career, tying him with Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young for the second-most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback all-time. Allen will need 33 more to pass Cam Newton's NFL quarterback record of 75.
The Bucs cut the lead to seven points with a field-goal drive of their own, then were given a huge opportunity by Allen, who had a pass tipped into the air by Antoine Winfield and then intercepted, setting Tampa up with excellent field position. That wasn't a surprise given Allen hasn't gone back-to-back starts without a turnover since 2020, the longest active streak in the NFL -- now 42 games in a row. Two plays later, Tampa Bay Pro Bowl wide receiver Chris Godwin, who finished with 54 receiving yards on five catches, found the end zone on a quick, three-yard slant and the game was suddenly tied at 10.
However, the Bills clapped back with James Cook, who finished with 67 rushing yards on 13 carries, as he made a few strong runs and then Allen found rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid, the 25th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, on the move for his first career touchdown, a 22-yard score. That passing touchdown gave Allen a score through the air, a score on the ground and a turnover all in the second quarter, his third time this season with all three of those in a single quarter this season. The rest of the NFL has done that a combined two times. Tampa had enough time to potentially mount a field goal drive to end the half, but stalled out after a false start followed by a sack.
Buffalo efficiently marched right down the field to begin the third quarter, finding the end zone in nine plays covering 75 yards with a pretty pass play springing wide receiver Gabe Davis wide open in the back of the end zone for the four-yard score. The design of the play included a fake jet sweep, a play-action fake on a run downhill and then Davis sneaking across the formation on a mesh concept. The entire Buccaneers defense bit on either the run or sprinted to cover Bills Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the right half of the end zone.
Three consecutive Bills punts after that second-half opening drive allowed the Buccaneers to hang around, which helped them to eventually make this contest a one-score game again. After beginning a drive with 10:05 left to play and possession on their own eight, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield dragged the Tampa Bay offense down the field, also with the aide of two fourth-down penalties. On his third "fourth-and-game," Mayfield looped a perfectly arched pass to the front, left corner of the end zone to Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans for a 24-yard touchdown. Tampa Bay's ensuing two-point conversion attempt also fortuitously ended up as a completion after tight end Cade Otton secured Mayfield's tipped pass. Following seven minutes and 21 seconds over the span of 17 plays, Tampa Bay trailed by just six, 24-18. The 17-play touchdown drive tied for the second longest in the NFL this season, trailing only a Philadelphia Eagles' 19-play touchdown drive against the New York Jets in Week 6.
Down by just six, the Buccaneers had a shot to win after they got the football back at their own 20 with 21 seconds to play and no timeouts. They reached as far as their own 45, but Mayfield's Hail Mary heave fell harmlessly to the turf as no one was able to get a finger on the football. Godwin may have had a chance to catch the game-winner, but he turned his head both the wrong way and a second too early.
Here are the key takeaways from a game that ended with a much closer final score than it appeared it would:
Josh Allen, now 6-0 on "Thursday Night Football," stuffed the stat sheet once again, totaling three touchdowns – two passing and one rushing while committing only one turnover – an effort that was good enough to top a struggling Buccaneers offense. His legs (41 yards and a touchdown on seven carries) in tandem with running back James Cooks' (a game-high 67 rushing yards on 14 carries) allowed Buffalo's offense to rack up 115 rushing yards to Tampa Bay's 78, providing a balance on offense the Buccaneers just didn't have. Mayfield ended up as Tampa Bay's leading rusher with 39 rushing yards on nine carries.
Tampa Bay's defense and special teams played well enough to win. Six punts and no one recording at least 40 rushing yards isn't normally going to be a recipe for success. They also didn't have anything easy on offense. Their best option in the passing game was checkdowns to running back Rachaad White, who finished with a team-high 70 receiving yards on a game-high seven catches. Meanwhile, their two Pro Bowl receivers Evans and Godwin combined to total eight catches. If Tampa Bay wants to halt its three-game losing streak in Week 9, finding better ways to scheme open those two and get the running game going need to be at the top of its priority list.
Allen's second touchdown pass and third touchdown overall on a throw to Gabe Davis. In a second half in which it looked just about impossible for either offense to find much rhythm, opening the third quarter with a well-schemed-up pass to a wide-open Davis in the end zone is the defining play of the night.
The 5-3 Bills will hit the road in Week 9 to face the Cincinnati Bengals, the team that eliminated them from the 2022 postseason in the AFC Divisional Round. The 3-4 Bucs will also continue their road trip with a visit to Houston to face 2023 second overall draft pick C.J. Stroud and the Texans.
The Bills escape with a win they tried incredibly hard to give away. They're now 5-3 and play the Bengals on Sunday Night Football next week. Tampa is 3-4 and travels to Houston to take on the Texans next week.
Wow that was right there for Chris Godwin to catch. He just didn't see the ball.
Baker's got a lot of arm strength. He might be able to reach the end zone from the 40-yard line. Let's see.
Boy this is a bad decision from the Bills. You need less than a yard to guarantee a win!
The Bills are once again faced with a decision to go for it and pretty much end the game or give the ball back to the Bucs. McDermott has let the clock run and taken a penalty, then punted each of the past two times.
Allen to Diggs picks up the first down and the Bills are likely going to avoid giving the Bucs the ball back with a chance to win the game. This ended up being much closer than it had any right to be.
That drive was 17 plays, 92 yards, featured three fourth-down conversions.
By the way, the Bucs went for two there because it gives them a better chance to win the game in regulation. Now that they've converted, if they score again, an extra point wins the game. And if they had missed, they would still have a chance to go for two to tie after the next score.
And there's the quick trip to the end zone. Mike Evans had been basically shut down all night but he finally got free of Christian Benford (sort of) for the score. Throw hit Benford in the shoulder, then bounced into Evans' lap and stayed there.
This drive is taking a very long time for a team that is down two scores and does not have much time left. The Bucs need to get in the end zone quickly.
When you know the other team has to throw, your pass rush can just tee off. We're seeing that pay off for Buffalo here... but Jordan Phillips gets called for a facemask to extend the drive.
Baker has been playing with fire with some of these throws into tight windows but has gotten away without an interception. Christian Benford was close to one there.
Rachaad White has done a nice job in the pass game tonight. Taken a few checkdowns and turned them into first downs. Unfortunately for Tampa, not much else has gone all that well in the pass game.
Buffalo seems content to waste time and punt. Stefon Diggs does not seem thrilled by it.
Huge game for Khalil Shakir: 6 catches for 92 yards on 6 targets. He's been very reliable for Josh Allen.
That's the second time tonight that Jordan Poyer has narrowly missed coming away with an interception. This time it was just a really ill-advised throw from Baker, but with the Bucs down by 14 he needed to try something, I suppose.
Was Baker's knee down in the end zone before he got rid of that ball? I'd like to see a replay.
Update: Nope. JUST got the throw off.
Headed to the fourth quarter with the Bills up 24-10. They're up comfortably now, but a score on this drive could put them on cruise control the rest of the way.
Wow. Amazon broadcast just showed that Josh Allen has the quickest average time to throw of any game in his career so far tonight. (2.43 seconds)
Really nice grab over the middle by Chris Godwin... but his route was run a couple yards short of the line to gain. Bucs haven't gotten much going offensively this half. Two drives, seven plays, two punts.
Allen and Diggs wanted pass interference on that third down throw but it looked like a really good play from the DB. Arrived at exactly the same time as the ball.
Allen just throws some absolute lasers, man. Very few players have his array of talent. Outstanding player.
Baker tried to take off from that pocket too early. He wasn't under pressure yet. Could have stepped up inside. That tends to be an issue with him as pressure keeps coming throughout the game.
Woah, Baker! What a play. Screen pass was blown up immediately, but he spun away from a sack and then broke the pocket for a big gain. All individual effort.
Gabe Davis was WIDE open in the back of the end zone on that play. Nice design with the fake jet sweep, fake dive, and then sneaking Davis across the formation on a mesh concept. All the defenders with with Diggs the opposite way.
Kincaid is up to 3 catches for 29 yards and a score. Gabe Davis has 5 for 50. Khalil Shakir is at 5 for 78. Bills getting the ancillary pass-catchers involved so much more than usual. Stefon Diggs has just 5 targets, 3 catches for 29 yards.
Rough stuff to end that drive from Tampa. False start, sack, then letting a ton of clock run off and taking a delay of game to punt instead of trying to get some points. Buffalo gets the ball coming out of the break, too.
Pressure off the edge from Taron Johnson forced Baker to step up right into a sack by Ed Oliver, who drive the guard back into Baker's lap. Buffalo starting to win some of the battles up front now.
