Mayfield, Bucs come up clutch again in thrilling win over Seahawks
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers stunned the Seattle Seahawks in a thrilling 38-35 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin drilled a 39-yard field goal as time expired to secure the win. It was McLaughlin’s second game-winner as the clock hit zero in three weeks.
Tampa Bay is the first team since the 1970 NFL merger to win four games with a score in the final minute in their first five contests.
The kick capped a frenetic second half filled with fireworks. The two teams combined for 53 points and 485 total yards after halftime.
With 1:08 remaining, quarterback Baker Mayfield found veteran receiver Sterling Shepard for an 11-yard touchdown to tie the game at 35.
With all the offensive fireworks, the Seahawks seemed destined for a winning drive. But it was veteran linebacker Lavonte David, the heart and soul of the Buccaneers defense, who made the decisive play.
David intercepted Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold with 58 seconds left. It was David’s 14th career interception and one of the biggest for the franchise’s all-time leading tackler.
“For our leader to come up like that, it was huge,” said head coach Todd Bowles.
The takeaway set the Bucs up in Seattle territory. Running back Rachaad White ripped off a 12-yard run on 3rd-and-7 to put Tampa Bay in field goal position. White finished with 41 rushing yards, 30 receiving yards and two rushing touchdowns in his first start for the injured Bucky Irving.
Stellar quarterback play defined the game. Mayfield completed 29-of-33 passes for 379 yards and two touchdowns. Darnold was 28-of-34 with four touchdowns.
In the 2018 draft, Mayfield was taken No. 1 overall by the Browns and Darnold went No. 3 to the Jets. Neither found success with the teams that drafted them, both franchises notorious for failing to develop quarterbacks.
After being discarded by the Jets, Darnold started 11 games for the Carolina Panthers in 2021. Following that season, the Panthers traded Darnold and a conditional fifth-round pick for Mayfield. Mayfield started five games for Carolina in 2022 before getting injured and cut.
Now, both quarterbacks are succeeding with revitalized careers, each coming off playoff appearances in 2024. The Panthers’ last postseason trip came in 2017. It’s safe to say that no matter Sunday’s final score, the biggest loser was Carolina.
Mayfield’s 87.9% completion rate was his best since joining Tampa Bay. His 379 passing yards marked the second-highest total of his career. He also became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 375 or more yards with fewer than five incompletions in a regular-season game.
Rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka led Tampa Bay with seven receptions for 163 yards and a touchdown. He is the fourth player in the last 50 years with 20 or more catches, 300 or more yards and five or more touchdowns in his first five games, joining Ja’Marr Chase, Randy Moss and Roy Williams.
Egbuka grew up near Seattle in Steilacoom, Washington, and even threw out the first pitch for the Mariners when he was 8.
“He’s one-of-one,” Mayfield said after the game, when asked if he’d seen any receivers succeed as early as Egbuka has.
Tight end Cade Otton added four catches for 81 yards after totaling just 34 yards in the Bucs’ first four games. Rookie receiver Tez Johnson had a career day with four receptions for 59 yards.
Seven different pass catchers contributed as Tampa Bay compensated for the absence of star receiver Mike Evans. Before Sunday, the last time the Bucs won a game without Evans was Dec. 21, 2021.
Tampa Bay also took advantage of a battered Seattle defense. The Seahawks were without starting defensive backs Julian Love and Devon Witherspoon, along with outside linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence. During the game, they lost linebacker Derick Hall and cornerback Riq Woolen.
The Buccaneers managed just 56 rushing yards, while Seattle ran for 122. Tampa Bay had rushed for 100 or more yards and allowed fewer than 100 in each of the previous 13 games.
Running back Kenneth Walker III led Seattle with 86 yards on 8.6 yards per carry. Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had eight catches for 132 yards. He ranks second in the NFL with 534 receiving yards this season. Veteran Cooper Kupp added six receptions for 59 yards.
Buccaneers also had a banged up defense with cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Benjamin Morrison missing the contest.
After going scoreless on their first three possessions, the Seahawks scored touchdowns on five straight drives spanning the second to fourth quarters. The only second-half stop by the Bucs defense came when safety Antoine Winfield’s blitz forced Darnold into David’s interception.
“We were saving that blitz for a rainy day,” Bowles said. “We brought it out. We’ve been running it a lot but didn’t run it the entire game.”
The Buccaneers now hold a 1½-game lead in the NFC South over the second-place Atlanta Falcons.
Both teams wore throwback uniforms on Sunday. In 1976, the Bucs and Seahawks entered the NFL together as the league’s 27th and 28th franchises. The retro looks mirrored their first meeting that year.
The Bucs return home next Sunday at 4:25 p.m. to face the San Francisco 49ers at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay has lost seven of its last 10 matchups with San Francisco, including four straight.