It was a true showdown in the Lone Star State as the Bucs faced off against the Texans at NRG Stadium. Houston gave the Bucs a lot of problems as the resurgent Texans gave them plenty of challenges. In the second half, C.J. Stroud came to life and Dare Ogunbowale had a revenge game for the ages as their emergency kicker. After a back-and-forth contest filled with big moments, it was a duel that ultimately ended with the Bucs losing in the final seconds, 39-37.

The Bucs took the lead on a touchdown pass to Cade Otton with 49 seconds left in regulation to give Tampa Bay a 37-33 lead.

It proved to be too much time. Stroud managed the clock and made the precise, timely throws to get them a chance. In the clutch, two rookies came through for Houston as Stroud found Tank Dell up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown with six seconds left. That touchdown was Stroud’s fifth of the game and they completed their comeback by pulling off a 39-37 win.

After losing in a thriller, it marks four straight losses for the Bucs as they drop to 3-5. Their next game will come against another rookie quarterback, and they hope to get back in the win column against Will Levis and the Titans.

Bucs Couldn’t Hold An Early 10-Point Lead

To start off the game, the Texans’ offense received the ball, but they did not hold possession of it for very long. Facing a third-and-10, C.J. Stroud found Dalton Schultz, who fought for the first down, but Lavonte David forced the ball out and Antoine Winfield Jr. recovered it. The two defensive stars teamed up to make a big play that gave the Bucs some early momentum.

On offense for the first time with some favorable field position, Baker Mayfield connected with Cade Otton for 24 yards, moving the ball into the red zone. But after a promising start, the drive stalled and Chase McLaughlin came out to drill a 35-yard field goal to give the Bucs an early 3-0 lead.

Looking to respond after their early blunder, Stroud went back to Schultz for 21 yards and found Tank Dell for 15 yards a couple of plays later. The Bucs’ defense was positioned to get a stop, but on third-and-9 Shaq Barrett was called for a roughing the passer call that moved the ball to the Tampa Bay 14-yard line. The Texans took advantage, as Stroud found Nico Collins on a slant for a touchdown. On the play, Collins beat Jamel Dean, who then was shaken up and evaluated for a concussion. This play capped off a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs’ second drive again started with a big play. Baker Mayfield found Rachaad White on a check-down, but in space, White quickly accelerated for 33 yards for the longest reception of his career. Later in the drive, Mayfield attempted to scramble up the middle, and Jimmie Ward made contact as he was going down. This resulted in an unnecessary roughness call that gave the Bucs another early chance in the red zone. On third-and-6, Luke Goedeke was called for offensive holding, but Chris Godwin made up for most of it, gaining 15 yards and just falling short.

On fourth-and-1, Rachaad White converted and the offense was within just a yard of scoring a touchdown. Instead of punching it in, Mayfield found Cade Otton for a 3-yard touchdown to respond and give the Bucs a 10-7 lead. Maybe it’s the mustache connection paying off. 

To end the quarter, both teams missed big opportunities. With Zyon McCollum taking Jamel Dean’s spot as the outside cornerback, Tank Dell beat McCollum down the field but C.J. Stroud overthrew him. After getting a stop, the Bucs came out and attempted to get a big play of their own. Baker Mayfield aired it out to Mike Evans for a would-be 38-yard gain, but Evans was called for offensive pass interference.

Starting the second quarter with a third-and-17, the Bucs were unable to move the chains, and Jake Camarda’s first punt of the day was booted 52 yards. Tampa Bay’s defense responded by holding their ground and forcing a three-and-out, giving the offense the ball back with a short field. The offense was able to capitalize, with Rachaad White being heavily involved. After Mike Evans had a 16-yard reception, White had an 11-yard run and a 9-yard catch to get them down to the 1-yard line. It was then White who carried the ball into the end zone from a yard out, giving the Bucs a 17-7 lead.

The Texans steadily moved the ball down the field on offense in response, but the Bucs forced C.J. Stroud and their offense to settle for a 50-yard field goal, which Kai Fairbairn drilled to make it a 17-10 game with just over five minutes left in the half.

After Ke’Shawn Vaughn got three straight touches and failed to move the chains, Tampa Bay punted it back to Houston. The defense responded with two sacks, with rookie Calijah Kancey wrapping up Stroud for a 13-yard loss. Devin White followed that up with a sack of his own, showing that he can still get live.

The Texans were unable to get any points to close the half and went into halftime down 17-10 to the visiting Bucs.

The second half began on an interesting note as former Bucs special team captain Dare Ogunbowale kicked it off to Deven Thompkins. Ogunbowale filled in on kickoffs in place of kicker Kai Fairbairn, who was ruled out of the game with a quad injury. The Bucs’ drive was aided by an unnecessary roughness call on linebacker Denzel Perryman, and Rachaad White had his longest carry of the year for 16 yards. Ultimately, their possession ended with Chase McLaughlin coming out for a 49-yard field goal to make it a 20-10 game.

It only took the Texans one play to respond.

C.J. Stroud found Noah Brown on a route to the left. Brown was able to beat Ryan Neal and find plenty of green grass down the left sideline.

To cap it off, Brown stiff-armed Carlton Davis to keep him from wrapping him up as he scored a 75-yard touchdown. With Fairbairn’s injury, the Texans went for two, but Joe Tryon-Shoyinka intercepted Stroud, keeping it a 20-16 game.

Tampa Bay came out looking to answer back and at first it looked like they were going to go three-and-out. On third-and-9, Baker Mayfield tried to find Trey Palmer deep and the pass fell incomplete. Fortunately for the Bucs, defensive pass interference was called on cornerback Shaquem Griffin, giving them 37 yards. This gave Chase McLaughlin a chance to come out for a 55-yard field goal, and McLaughlin had enough leg to get it through and make it 23-16.

Texans QB CJ Stroud and WR Nico Collins – Photo by: USA Today

Houston’s offense continued to give Tampa Bay’s defense problems and had three plays of over 20 yards on their next drive. The biggest resulted in a touchdown, as Tank Dell caught a C.J. Stroud deep ball for 29 yards and a touchdown to make it a 23-22 contest. With their two-point attempt again failing, the Bucs held a narrow one-point lead getting the ball back.

After the Bucs went three-and-out as former Buccaneer Khalil Davis got his first NFL sack on Baker Mayfield, the Texans got the ball with a chance to take the lead and got back to work. C.J. Stroud continued to dole out the football to his offensive weapons with relative ease and marched the team down into the red zone. The third quarter ended with Vita Vea stuffing Devin Singletary for a four-yard loss, setting up the last 15 minutes of action to be a true Western duel.

Being forced to go for it without anyone able to kick a chip-in field goal, C.J. Stroud found Dalton Schultz for a 9-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. Stroud then rushed it in on the two-point attempt, giving them a 30-23 advantage.

Although the second half was a case of the offense going cool, they did not go fully ice-cold. Down a touchdown, Baker Mayfield aired out a deep ball to Mike Evans. When you throw Evans’ direction, good things typically happen. In this case, it led to a 53-yard gain and brought them within just a yard of crossing the goal line. Rachaad White, already having a statement game, punched it in for his second touchdown of the game to tie things up at 30.

Former Bucs RB Dare Ogunbowale – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Having scored touchdowns on their previous three drives, Houston had all the momentum to make it four. C.J. Stroud continued his dominant aerial performance by finding Noah Brown for 28 and 31-yard gains. They started to knock on the door once more, but Tampa Bay’s defense did not let them in. Instead, the Texans decided to kick a field goal, but who made the 29-yarder?

Dare Ogunbowale.

Ogunbowale’s kick gave them an improbable 33-30 lead with less than nine minutes left. The Bucs went three-and-out after falling behind, and Houston again received the ball. Crucially needing to stop the Texans’ offense, they finally did. Two offensive holding penalties and a Shaq Barrett sack led to just the third punt by Cameron Johnston on the day.

With less than two minutes left, the Bucs had one final chance. They got the ball down to Houston’s 41 on fourth-and-2. With the ball in his hands, Baker Mayfield looked through his reads and evaded the Texans’ pass rushers long enough to tuck and run it for five yards and the first down to keep them alive.

Mayfield then found Trey Palmer, who ran up the middle for 15 yards to Houston’s 14. Bucs fans’ hearts surely dropped when the ball was poked loose and correspondingly let out a sigh of relief as Mike Evans quickly recovered it.

With less than a minute left and no timeouts, it was a game-deciding drive. With the stakes at their highest, who gave the Bucs a 37-33 lead with 46 seconds left?

Cade Otton.

Otton’s contested grab gave Tampa Bay a momentary lead, but C.J. Stroud still had time to respond, which he did in heroic fashion for the Texans.