For the first time since Hurricane Milton impacted the Tampa Bay area, the Bucs returned home to Raymond James Stadium on Monday night for a primetime game in front of a raucous crowd. Looking to build on the momentum they earned with last week’s 51-27 win in New Orleans, 4-2 Tampa Bay played host to the 4-2 Baltimore Ravens.

Like they did last week, the Bucs stormed out to a fast start. They scored their fourth opening-drive touchdown in four weeks and eventually built a 10-0 lead. But true to last week’s form as well, they fell apart in the second quarter. The Ravens scored 17 straight points to take a 17-10 lead into halftime and to make matters worse, Tampa Bay lost Mike Evans for the game (and potentially longer) due to a hamstring injury.

There was no second-half turnaround for the Bucs this week, either. The Ravens outscored the Bucs 17-0 in the third quarter, too, making it 34 straight points between the second and third quarters. The fourth quarter was ultimately a formality from there, and despite a few touchdowns, Tampa Bay was on the wrong end of a 41-31 final score in the end. And as if it all wasn’t already bad enough, Chris Godwin was carted off the field with in an air cast after suffering what looked like a gruesome ankle injury.

Here’s a recap of all the action from Tampa Bay’s loss on a disheartening Monday night at Ray Jay.

Ravens 41, Bucs 31

Bucs WRs Mike Evans and Sterling Shepard – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, meaning Baker Mayfield and the offense would get a chance to strike first. And that’s exactly what they did. After a third-down conversion from Mayfield to Rachaad White and a fourth-down conversion on a Jalen McMillan end-around, Tampa Bay opened the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Mike Evans.

With that touchdown catch, Evans made history in a number of ways. He became the 18th player in NFL history to record 12,000 receiving yards with one franchise, plus it marked his 100th career touchdown catch. He is the 11th player in league history to reach 100 receiving touchdowns and just the 10th player ever to reach 12,000 receiving yards AND 100 receiving touchdowns. With that history-making touchdown catch, the Bucs led 7-0 after their fourth opening-drive touchdown in four weeks.

Todd Bowles’ defense kept the fast start going, too. After the Ravens picked up a couple of first downs, Tampa Bay brought the heat on Lamar Jackson. First, it was Yaya Diaby getting to him for a sack to bring up 3rd & 18, then Antoine Winfield Jr. brought him down on third down to force a Baltimore punt.

Starting from their own 20, Mayfield and the offense went right back to work. A 15-yard pass to Bucky Irving got the drive going, then a third-down pass to McMillan and a roughing the passer penalty moved the drive deeper into Ravens territory. But after a Tristan Wirfs holding penalty negated a Chris Godwin touchdown, Tampa Bay had to settle for a 23-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal. Nonetheless, the home team led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter after an 11-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 6:03.

The second quarter would start off better for Baltimore. A 19-yard run by Zay Flowers and another Jackson scramble eventually led to a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Mark Andrews. That drive went 70 yards in just six plays and 2:33, and it got the visitors within 10-7 with 12:29 left in the second quarter.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

Just when it looked like the Bucs were staving off the ghosts of last week’s second quarter by driving right down the field on the Ravens again, disaster struck. Mike Evans failed to bring in a touchdown in the end zone and went down in some serious pain before limping off the field to the locker room. He was soon ruled out for the remainder of the game due to a hamstring injury.

Then, on 2nd & Goal from the 3, Mayfield threw an end-zone interception right to Marlon Humphrey, giving the ball over to Baltimore.

The Ravens quickly turned that turnover into points. After Chris Braswell failed to get to Jackson for a sack, the Baltimore quarterback launched a 59-yard pass to Rashod Bateman that set up 1st & Goal at the 8. After a penalty negated a Jackson touchdown run, the offense found the end zone anyway. Jackson hit Justice Hill on a screen, and Hill took it 18 yards for a touchdown to put the visitors up 14-10 with 4:23 left in the first half.

The second quarter woes continued from there, as a Luke Goedeke false start backed Tampa Bay up to a 3rd & 13 before Mayfield tried to force another pass into coverage and was again intercepted by Humphrey.

The Ravens soon turned that turnover into points, too, though it could’ve been worse for the Bucs. Baltimore got within striking distance with a 1st & Goal, only for two holding penalties and an offensive pass interference call to back them up. By the time it came down to the end of the half, the visitors settled for a 28-yard Justin Tucker field goal to go up 17-10 heading into the break.

Ravens RB Derrick Henry and QB Lamar Jackson – Photo by: USA Today

While the Bucs managed to turn things around after halftime in last week’s win, that wasn’t the case on Monday night. After Tucker made a 52-yard field goal to put the Ravens up 20-10 to start the third quarter, Chase McLaughlin doinked a 55-yard field goal attempt off the right upright on Tampa Bay’s ensuing possession. A few plays later, Jackson and Bateman linked up for another big play – this one a 49-yard touchdown to extend Baltimore’s lead to 27-10 halfway through the third.

Then, after Todd Bowles passed on the opportunity to go for it on 4th & 9 from the Baltimore 44, Derrick Henry ran wild. He went for 81 yards, going from his own 8-yard line to the Bucs’ 11 before Zyon McCollum chased him down. Not long after, Jackson and Andrews connected for another touchdown to make it 34 straight points for the Ravens.

After getting outscored 34-0 between the second and third quarters, Tampa Bay put up some fight in the fourth. After Zyon McCollum recovered a Jackson fumble (and nearly returned it for a touchdown before being ruled down by contact), Mayfield and Rachaad White linked up for an 11-yard touchdown. After the two-point conversion try succeeded thanks to a pass from Mayfield to Sterling Shepard, the Bucs were within two scores with 11:24 to go.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

But there was no stopping Henry from killing some clock. He picked up another 39 yards to set up a first down inside the Tampa Bay 30, Jackson and Bateman converted another third down to get inside the red zone. Three plays later, Jackson hit Henry for a 13-yard touchdown to make it a 41-18 Ravens lead.

The Bucs did answer again, with Cade Otton showing up big with a couple of chunk plays before Bucky Irving found the end zone to get them within 41-24. Tavierre Thomas then recovered the ensuing onside kick, but it was all stat-padding from there with a 17-point deficit. Still, a 23-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Rachaad White with 1:58 left did make the 41-31 final score look closer than it was.

And, somewhat impossibly, everything got worse with 53 seconds to go. Chris Godwin caught a pass near the Bucs’ 40-yard line and suffered what looked to be a very serious ankle injury. He was carted off the field as the remaining fans inside the stadium chanted his name.

Baker Mayfield finished the night 31-of-45 for 370 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Cade Otton was the team’s leading receiver, putting up his first career 100-yard game. He caught eight of his 10 targets for an even 100 yards.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs’ trio of running backs actually had a solid night against the Ravens’ top-ranked run defense, too. Rachaad White averaged 4.0 yards per carry, while Sean Tucker put up a 5.8-yard average. White also caught all six of his targets for 71 yards and two touchdowns, and while Bucky Irving only averaged 2.6 yards per carry, he did score a touchdown on the ground and catch all three of his targets for 54 yards.

But the story of the night was the Ravens’ offense. Baltimore ran up 41 points and 508 yards of offense. Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns on 17-of-22 passing while rushing nine times for another 52 yards. Derrick Henry finished with 169 yards on 15 carries, averaging 11.3 yards per attempt.

The Bucs (4-3) will now have to regroup quickly as they host the Falcons (4-3) on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. with first place in the NFC South on the line.