Buccaneers Fall to Chiefs 30-24 in OT Despite Strong Fourth Quarter Comeback

Todd Bowles' defense put together their best performance in weeks, but it still wasn't enough to knock off Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Nov 4, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) is tackled by Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis (56) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, having lost three of their last four games, were reeling heading into this matchup with the defending Super Bowl champs, and only remaining undefeated team in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs. 

The Bucs were heavy underdogs coming into this contest, which isn’t surprising when you consider how depleted they were following the injuries to Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Jamel Dean.

Excuses don’t exist in the NFL, though. Every team deals with injuries, and it’s up to the coaches on the sidelines and the players in the lineup to find ways to get the job done, no matter the circumstances.

Which is exactly what the Buccaneers needed to do if they were to have any hope of knocking off Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead on Monday Night Football.

Let’s take a closer look at how exactly this game played out. 

The Buccaneers won the opening coin toss but chose to defer to the second half. Patrick Mahomes wisely targeted his tight end early and often, with Kelce having three catches for 24 yards on the opening drive. Then, what looked like a 32-yard completion to Xavier Worthy at the front pilon was negated because the rookie receiver couldn’t get his second foot down. Shortly after, on 3rd-and-long, a huge sack by Vita Vea on 3rd-and-long resulted in a loss of 10 yards. More importantly, it pushed the Chiefs out of field goal range, forcing them to punt the ball away on their first possession of the game.

The Buccaneers’ offense couldn’t take advantage though, as Baker Mayfield was almost picked off on a downfield pass attempt to Trey Palmer, and the Bucs were forced to punt the ball back to KC.

After a strong return by Mecole Hardman gave the Chiefs the ball near midfield to start their second drive, Mahomes began targeting Deandre Hopkins with success. But similar to the first drive for the Chiefs, the Bucs’ defense was able to finish strong, this time thanks to a huge play by Yaya Diaby to break up a reverse when he tackled Xavier Worthy for a 10-yard loss, ultimately derailing the drive. The Chiefs were still able to put their first points on the board though as Harrison Butker knocked a 40-yard field goal attempt through the uprights. 

Bucs 0 Chiefs 3

Baker Mayfield and Liam Coen settled in on the following drive, as a variety of different players, including Cade Otton, Bucky Irving and Sterling Shepard, all contributed to what was an impressive 11-play, 70-yard drive that lasted 7 minutes. It came to an end when Rachaad White took a handoff off tackle and patiently followed Tristan Wirfs before slashing his way through the hole into the end zone for the Buccaneers’ first touchdown of the game. 

Bucs 7 Chiefs 3

Despite the Bucs’ defense playing significantly better in this game than what we’ve seen in recent weeks, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense is too good to stay down for long. After it appeared as though the Bucs would get a big stop near midfield, Mahomes — who appeared to be completely swallowed up in the backfield — somehow launched a ball into the air between three Bucs’ defenders that Deandre Hopkins came down with, giving KC a fresh set of downs from the 3-yard line. Just a couple plays later, Mahomes hit Hopkins for his first TD reception as a member of the Chiefs to regain the lead for Kansas City.

Bucs 7 Chiefs 10

The Bucs following drive went nowhere, they punted the ball right back to KC with 1:40 remaining until halftime. Mahomes was able to find a soft spot in the Bucs’ zone defense when he hit Kelce up the seam for a 21-yard completion. But with less than a minute left, and the Chiefs threatening, standout rookie DB Tykee Smith — who missed last week with a concussion — forced a fumble when tackling Travis Kelce. Josh Hayes alertly jumped on the ball, giving the Bucs possession from their own 45-yard line, with all of their timeouts, and 55 seconds remaining in the first half

Unfortunately, the Bucs couldn’t do anything with the opportunity, and after punting the ball back to the Chiefs, a clutch sack by Calijah Kancey brought the Chiefs' chance of putting more points on the board to a close. 

HALFTIME: Bucs 7 Chiefs 10

A huge return by Bucky Irving gave the Buccaneers excellent field position to start the second half. A horse collar tackle added 15 yards to a run by Sean Tucker that went for a first down, and Rakim Jarrett joined the party at the perfect time, as the second-year receiver came down with a tough catch in traffic to bring the ball deep into the red zone. Then, a beautiful play design by Liam Coen was realized by flawless execution from Baker Mayfield who threw a beautiful pass to Cade Otton in stride for an 11-yard touchdown.

READ MORE: Bucs QB Baker Mayfield Finds TE Cade Otton for Second TD vs. Chiefs

Bucs 14 Chiefs 10

Todd Bowles’ defense continued their strong play on the ensuing Kansas City possession, where the defensive line came up with suffocating pressure that resulted in Calijah Kancey finishing the job by sacking Mahomes (his second of the game) for a loss of 12 yards, forcing the Chiefs to punt the ball back away. 

Calijah Kancey takes down Mahomes again, this time for a 12-yard loss on third down. Kancey joins Vita Vea as Buccaneers with a multi-sack performance tonight.

It marks the first multi-sack outing of Kancey's NFL career.

— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) November 5, 2024

Just a few minutes into the second half and the Buccaneers' defensive tackles had already made their presence felt, with both Kancey and Vea combining for a total of 4 sacks on their own.

All four sacks on Mahomes have come from Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey, who have two each. It's the most he's been sacked all season.

This is only the seventh game ever he's been sacked four or more times.

— Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV) November 5, 2024

With the ball back in their possession, the Bucs put together another solid drive highlighted by Cade Otton, making a number of contested catches before earning more yards after contact. Unfortunately, a couple penalties by both Bucs’ tackles set them back, and the Bucs were happy to escape the trouble with a 47-yard field goal by their reliable kicker, Chase McLaughlin, who extended his streak to 31 straight successful field goals from inside the 50-yard line. 

Bucs 17 Chiefs 10

With the rain really starting to come down at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City decided to work some clock on their next possession, and they did so with a heavy dose of Kareem Hunt, who had no problem finding yards running straight up the middle of Todd Bowles' defense.

Facing 3rd-and-goal from the 7-yard line, Patrick Mahomes was able to evade pressure from the Buccaneers' defense before eventually flipping the ball forward to RB Samaje Perine for a TD to tie the game. Unfortunately for Kansas City, Mahomes could be found lying face down on the ground following the play, as he appeared to suffer a non-contact injury to his ankle. Although he needed assistance to make his way to the sideline, he could be seen hopping around on the sidelines shortly thereafter, with plans to return to the game.

Bucs 17 Chiefs 17

The rain was starting to have an impact on the Bucs' offense, as an accurate pass from Mayfield that would have went for a first down slipped right through Cade Otton's hands on the following drive. After Baker was unable to pick up the first down with his legs on the following play, the Bucs were forced to punt the ball back to the Chiefs after a quick three-and-out.

Unlike the Buccaneers on the previous possession, the Chiefs had no problem sticking with the run game to match the sloppy field conditions. After Vita Vea made a big stop on 3rd down from the Chiefs side of midfield, Andy Reid opted to go for it on 4th, and Kareem Hunt had no problem picking up the necessary yardage to extend the drive.

Although the Bucs managed to force the Chiefs into numerous 3rd down situations on the drive, Patrick Mahomes was able to find an open receiver every time. And that's exactly what happened when Patrick Mahomes hit Deandre Hopkins for his second TD of the game, with Hopkins abusing Josh Hayes in coverage for both of those scores.

Bucs 17 Chiefs 24

With the Bucs unable to generate anything positive on offense, Todd Bowles made the decision to punt on 3rd-and-long, deep in their own area, with approximately 3 minutes left in the game. And his defense rewarded him for that trust as they were able to force the Chiefs into a 3-and-out in quick order, giving the ball back to Baker Mayfield and the offense with just over two minutes remaining in the game.

After a holding penalty on LG Ben Bredeson set the Bucs back, Baker Mayfield was able to find Sterling Shepard for a gain of 18 yards, and then nine yards on the following play, to move the ball to the Kansas City 40-yard line with 1:30 remaining.

A Rachaad White run, an acrobatic Sterling Shepard catch, and a fantastic catch-and-run by Trey Palmer brought the ball all the way to the Chiefs 1-yard line with 33 seconds remaining. Todd Bowles chose to burn the Bucs' final timeout following the play, which left many, including Troy Aikman and Joe Buck on the ESPN broadcast, scratching their heads.

Then, Baker Mayfield ran play action before finding Ryan Miller all alone in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to bring the Bucs within 1. And after Todd Bowles bypassed the opportunity to win the game outright with a 2-point conversion, Chase McLaughlin knocked in the extra point, and the game was all tied up with 27 seconds remaining.

Bucs 24 Chiefs 24

The problem? Kansas City was getting the ball back with all of their timeouts because Todd Bowles chose to use a timeout when he didn't necessarily need to.

After moving the ball to the 40-yard line, two Patrick Mahomes passes were nearly picked off by a diving Antoine Winfield Jr., which forced the Chiefs to punt the ball with 8 seconds left on the clock.

OVERTIME

As always seems to be the case when two captains meet at midfield in Kansas City to determine OT, the Chiefs won the coin toss and had the first crack at winning the game.

It didn't take long for KC to advance the ball into plus territory against an exhausted Buccaneers defense. Completions to Hunt, Kelce, and Hopkins allowed the Chiefs to move the ball to the Bucs' 10-yard line. After a completion to Kelce brought the ball to the doorstep of the end zone, Kareem Hunt finished the job with a short run into the end zone.

FINAL (OT) Chiefs 30 Bucs 24

Final Thoughts

Although the Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren't able to secure a road victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football, they gave it their best shot. Most encouraging from this loss was that Todd Bowles' defense finally showed some life after getting bullied in the weeks that preceded this matchup.

Cade Otton, Vita Vea, and Calijah Kancey all had exceptional performances in this game. But the absence of Jamel Dean was glaring, as reserve cornerback Josh Hayes, to put it kindly, had his hands full trying to contain Deandre Hopkins all night.

There's no moral victories in the NFL, I get it. But the Bucs hung with the best team in football in a hostile environment, and put together their best performance in quite a few games. Unfortunately, Todd Bowles' decision to call a timeout, and then settle for an XP instead of going for two (and ultimately the win) after the Bucs final touchdown ended up giving the Chiefs the only opportunity they needed to win this game with a methodical, demoralizing, game-winning drive in overtime.

The Bucs will try to rebound next Sunday when they host the San Francisco 49ers at Raymond James Stadium next Sunday at 1:00 pm.

Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2024 season.

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