Rachaad White scored on a 2-yard run with six seconds left as the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned a dramatic 20-19 victory over the Houston Texans on Monday night.
The Buccaneers (2-0) covered 80 yards in 11 plays to stun the Texans (0-2), who turned a blocked punt and a 53-yard punt return from rookie Jaylin Noel into a 19-14 lead with 2:10 remaining.
On the winning drive, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield scrambled 15 yards on fourth-and-10 before completing a 22-yard pass to Bucky Irving to the Houston 23. White then capped a strong performance for the Buccaneers’ rushing attack, as he combined with Irving to rush for 136 yards on 27 carries.
Mayfield finished a resilient effort by completing 25 of 38 passes 215 yards and two touchdowns, overcoming four sacks. He rushed for 33 yards on three carries.
Nick Chubb gave the Texans the late lead with a 25-yard scoring run, a surprising jolt after Houston running backs had totaled 32 yards on 14 carries before that play. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud produced 207 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-24 passing and was sacked three times.
Both teams failed on two-point conversion attempts after their late touchdowns.
Tampa Bay led 14-10 at halftime, and Mayfield and Stroud were under duress throughout the third quarter. Sheldon Rankins dropped Mayfield on third down to force a Buccaneers punt before Tykee Smith sacked Stroud on third down on the ensuing Texans drive. Following another Tampa Bay punt, Stroud endured another third-down sack, with Lavonte David and Elijah Roberts combining to force the punt.
However, after amassing only 28 yards on 11 plays in the second half, the Buccaneers got a 22-yard reception from Mike Evans and runs of 12, 9, and 16 yards to move to the Houston 20. The Texans held the line in the red zone, and Chase McLaughlin clanked a 38-yard field-goal attempt off the right upright with 1:01 left in the third.
The Texans responded to the opportunity as Stroud produced passes of 28 yards to Jayden Higgins and 16 yards to Dalton Schultz. A 7-yard pass from Stroud to Nico Collins set the Texans up at the Tampa Bay 1, but the Buccaneers stuffed Houston three times to reclaim possession.
At the start of the game, Stroud capped a six-play, 64-yard drive with a dazzling 29-yard scoring strike to Collins that gave the Texans a 7-0 lead.
The Buccaneers put together consecutive touchdown drives, converting all four third downs they faced. Mayfield finished the drives with scoring passes to Ryan Miller for 20 yards and Emeka Egbuka for 15 yards.
Danielle Hunter had two sacks for the Texans, including the 100th of his career.
–Field Level Media
