Buccaneers Defeat Los Angeles Chargers 40-17 in Week 15

“It was huge, it was huge,” said Bowles of the Buccaneers’ defensive dominance in the second half. “They did a heck of a job, especially in the second half. The communication was very good. We gave up too many free plays in the first half but in the second half they bottled down and the communication was great and everybody understood the assignment.”

Lavonte David led the defensive attack with a vintage performance, combining 12 tackles with 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and a tackle for loss. His hit on Herbert in the end zone in the third quarter led to the fluttering throw that Dean intercepted. DL Logan Hall added 1.5 sacks and LB Vi Jones forced a fumble that ended the Chargers’ last possession.

The Buccaneers actually had a 208-142 advantage in total yards heading into halftime, and the offense didn’t punt once on five possessions. Unfortunately, two of those five ended in turnovers, and one led to the touchdown that allowed the Chargers to take a 17-13 lead into halftime. The Bucs did mount a successful three-minute drill but the drive stalled just outside the red zone and the team settled for McLaughlin’s second field goal.

The Bucs won the opening coin toss and elected to take the ball, starting at their own 30 after a touchback. Mayfield had a lot of time to study the field on second down and eventually threw a strike down the middle of the field to McMillan for 19 yards, taking the ball into Chargers territory. White got five yards over left tackle on the next snap, and a play-action pass to TE Cade Otton moved the sticks down to the Los Angeles 33. A shot down the left numbers to Otton was out of the tight end’s reach, but a curl by Evans in the right flat was good for seven. On third-and-three, McMillan got wide open down the left sideline and Mayfield lobbed it to him for the 26-yard score.

Herbert got his squad moving with a quick out to McConkey for seven yards, then faked a handoff and found the rookie wideout over the middle again for 13 yards to the midfield stripe. Two plays later, WR Quentin Johnston spun away from a pair of defenders to get 13 more to the Bucs’ 34. The Chargers’ first run of the game was a Gus Edwards sweep around left end, which was good for eight yard, and Edwards bounced his next carry left, too, to pick up a first down at the 22. LB J.J. Russell broke up a short pass intended for RB Kimani Vidal and the defense swarmed over Edwards for no gain. On third-and-10, Herbert was pressured by a blitz into an errant pass but DB Christian Izien was flagged for pass interference, putting the ball at the 12. An incompletion and an offsides penalty made it second-and-five at the seven, and Herbert then scrambled right and threw a dart into McConkey’s stomach for a touchdown despite S Kaevon Merriweather being draped all over the pass-catcher.

After another touchback, the Bucs’ second drive opened with a simple five-yard out to Evans, and Irving’s first run added two more. On third-and-three, Evans ran a crisp in-breaker and Mayfield put it on him for 14 and a first down. The Bucs went no-huddle on the next snap and Mayfield threw to WR Sterling Shepard in a hole in the zone for 16 more to the Chargers’ 35. Irving made two quick cuts to get six yards up the middle but a holding call on rookie C Graham Barton erased what would have been a first-down catch for McMillan. Two plays later, on third-and-12, Mayfield found McMillan again down the middle for 21, and this one stood. From the 16, Irving took a pitch right and picked his way for five yards, and an offsides flag on the Chargers made it first-and-goal at the six. An attempted tunnel screen to Irving didn’t work, and that brought the first quarter to an end. After walking the length of the field to face the opposite end zone, the Bucs gave it to White and he tried to make the left corner but CB Kristian Fulton made a great play to trip him up for no gain. Mayfield was flushed on third and goal and tried to dash for the left front pylon but he was pulled down at the four. K Chase McLaughlin came on to complete the drive with a 22-yard field goal.

L.A.’s second drive started at their own 26 after a short kickoff return. Two plays into the drive, Herbert got one into a deep spot in the zone, with McConkey hauling in the 20-yarder to the Buc’ 47. After a short run by Vidal, Herbert went deep again, this time finding TE Stone Smartt on a flay down the right seam for a gain of 31. David pushed the Chargers back on David’s 11-yard sack. An illegal formation penalty and a pressured incompletion left Los Angeles in a third-and-26 at the 40. The Chargers played it safe, handing off to Vidal, who got seven to set up a 41-yard field goal try. Cameron Dicker tied the game by splitting the uprights with nine minutes left in the first half.

The Buccaneers next drive lasted one play. After a touchback, Mayfield looked for Evans on a deep slant but still cut in front of the play and intercepted it on the run, getting down to Tampa Bay’s 18. A seven-yard catch by Smartt made it first down at the 13, and Herbert then hit Johnston at the seven, with the receiver spinning through tacklers to get over the goal line for the Chargers’ first lead of the game.

Sean Tucker took the ensuing kickoff out of the end zone and found a seam good enough to get to the Bucs’ 35. A five-yard run by White and a quick-hitter to McMillan left the Bucs in third-and-one. White took an underneath handoff and was able to power over the line to gain, but he coughed up the ball and the Chargers’ Elijah Molden recovered at the L.A. 49.

David’s stop of RB Gus Edwards for no gain and a blitz that hurried Herbert into an incompletion made it third-and-10. An out to Smart got four and the Chargers elected to punt from the Bucs’ 42 and it went into the end zone for a touchback.