Two years ago, the Bucs suffered a heartbreaking setback to the Houston Texans on a game-winning score. On Monday night, Mayfield and his squad returned the favor with a dramatic decisive drive.
Tampa’s signal-caller engineered an lengthy eighty-yard drive that ended with Rachaad White plunging into the pay dirt from two yards out with only six ticks left. The Bucs rallied to top the Houston by a margin of one point. This finish stood in stark difference to the squads’ last encounter in H-Town back in last year, when Stroud connected with Tank Dell for a last-second score to snatch a 39-37 triumph.
“We knew it would be a hard-fought contest, but we’re thrilled to end up on this end on this occasion,” the QB stated.
Tampa’s leader accumulated for over two hundred yards and multiple scores for the Buccaneers, who moved to 2-0 on the young season. A key fifteen-yard dash on fourth down kept the game-winning drive intact.
“That represented a heck of job of clutch execution,” Tampa Bay coach the defensive-minded leader noted. “Baker on the critical fourth down, utilizing his athleticism to get the first down. That ignited the comeback from there.”
In the team’s Week 1 matchup, Baker threw a clutch score pass to Egbuka with 59 seconds remaining to secure a narrow win over their division rivals. The signal-caller currently matches Williams (from four decades ago) as the exclusive Tampa Bay QBs to start a year with back-to-back game-winning drives.
The Houston (winless) seemed to have gained control when they secured a five-point edge on a 25-yard touchdown rush by the star running back with two minutes ten seconds to play. The home squad tried the two-point conversion but CJ Stroud was tackled. Houston’s passer passed for over two hundred yards and a TD but struggled to advance the unit consistently for much of the final two quarters.
“We had multiple chances to close out that matchup and we failed to make the necessary executions essential to make,” Texans head coach Ryans stated.
The home side had put up the first points of the game when they took an quick advantage on Collins’ twenty-nine-yard score reception. That touchdown was setup when the QB connected with Chubb for a twenty-seven-yard reception on a short throw the snap before. The Buccaneers evened the contest at 7-7 when Mayfield threw a medium-range touchdown pass to the receiver on their opening drive.
Emeka Egbuka hauled in a fifteen-yard TD pass with approximately 10 minutes remaining in the initial two quarters to put Tampa Bay in front fourteen to ten. Egbuka, a newcomer, became the latest player since the merger with multiple touchdown grabs in his first couple of outings.
Houston trailed by four and hadn’t scored in the third or fourth quarter when Dixon’s punt was blocked by the special teamer and the Texans recovered the loose pigskin on the Buccaneers 35-yard line with approximately seven minutes left. The Texans were unable to drive the offense and settled for Fairbairn’s long field goal that cut the deficit to fourteen to thirteen with approximately five minutes left.
Houston end Danielle Hunter created a loose ball and notched multiple QB takedowns to bring him to 101.5 in his 10-year career.
Tampa are now two and zero for the consecutive fifth year in straight, the top ongoing streak in the league.
