by Carter Brantley
It almost happened the Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered Arrowhead Stadium and fought the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs to a 24-24 tie before losing to the defending Super Bowl champs 30-24 in overtime. Playing most of the night in a driving rainstorm the Bucs put up a fine defensive effort where they limited Patrick Mahomes to under 300 yards through the air, the Bucs weren’t able to get the winning effort over the finish line.
Baker Mayfield, hindered by the rain and the absence of his leading receivers, had difficulty gaining substantial yardage throughout most of the game, finishing with 200 yards on 31 attempts. Then came a frantic final minute of regulation where Mayfield orchestrated a 10-play, 71-yard drive that knotted the game at 24.
Some might question the decision to kick the extra point rather than attempt a 2-point conversion, thereby giving Mahomes and Kansas City the opportunity to win the game in overtime—an opportunity they seized, effortlessly moving downfield to score a game-winning touchdown. However, hindsight is always 20/20.
There were many bright spots for Tampa Bay this wet night at Arrowhead Tight end Cade Otton had himself another fantastic performance, hauling in a touchdown and 77 yards.
Rachaad White scored another touchdown on the ground in the 2nd quarter, but the Bucs were otherwise somewhat limited running the ball, ending up with 95 rushing yards as a team, good for old Bucs teams, but not enough to take down the defending champs.
All things considered it was a valiant effort from a banged-up Bucs squad that was without their 3 best receivers and one of their starting cornerbacks.
The likelihood of the Bucs winning this game was slim going in, and Bucs fans should be encouraged that they were able to give themselves a chance to win the game in the 4th quarter, even if ultimately they came up short.
Unfortunately, instead of putting the game in the perspective of a really impressive performance against an undefeated team, most people will focus on head coach Todd Bowles’ decision to kick the extra point and leave the game’s fate up to a coin toss and a defense that has struggled to stop anyone, much less Patrick Mahomes in crunch time.
Now the Bucs are 4-5 headed into a home matchup with the San Francisco 49ers next week, and fortunately their schedule gets much easier after their bye week, with games against the Giants, Raiders, Panthers, and Saints to round out the season.
Hopefully the Bucs can get hot and sneak into the playoffs as a Wild Card, or the Falcons falter and the Bucs manage to snatch the division away from Atlanta.
