Tampa Bay 7, Miami 0 – 5:27 remaining in the first quarter
After another touchback, WR Jaylen Waddle got seven yards on an end-around but Ewers threw deep and incomplete on second. A false start then made it third-and-eight and Ewers got that and a lot more with his next pass. WR Theo Wease got open on the left sideline behind the defense and was able to gallop all the way to the end zone for the 63-yard score.
Tampa Bay 7, Miami 7 – 4:29 remaining in the first quarter
A holding penalty on the Bucs during the kickoff return that followed forced the offense to start at its own 17. A run and a reception on a screen pass by Irving picked up a total of four yards, but Mayfield put one up high for Evans on an out and he hauled it in for a first down at the 37. An illegal contact penalty gave the Bucs an added five yards, and two plays later a short catch by Otton left the Bucs in a third-and-two on the midfield stripe. After the two teams switched sides to start the second quarter, Mayfield tossed a swing pass to Irving in the right flat but LB Tyrel Dodson made a strong open-field tackle to keep the back from reaching the first-down marker. The Bucs left the offense on the field again, but this time only to induce an offside call, and when that didn’t work they punted away down to the Miami 13.
The Dolphins started the next drive in a jumbo package and succeeded in getting good push for two Achane carries of seven and 11 yards. Wright replaced Achane and had just as much success with a toss-sweep to the left for nine yards. Ewers’ first pass of the drive was a lob down the middle to Dulcich for a gain of 23 yards to the Bucs’ 37. CB Jamel Dean had good coverage on a slant by TE Darren Waller on the next play and the pass was incomplete. Wright bounced his next carry out to the right and hit the open field for a gain of 32, with only Winfield preventing the touchdown at the end. On first-and-goal, Ewers tried to throw a shovel pass to Waller but OLB Yaya Diaby deflected it back to the quarterback, who caught it and was tackled for a loss of six. After a short pass over the middle to Dulcich got the ball back to the four, Ewers threw backward to Dulcich out to his right and OLB Haason Reddick was on him immediately for a loss of seven. The Dolphins settled for Riley Patterson’s 29-yard field goal.
Miami 10, Tampa Bay 7 – 8:18 remaining in the second quarter
Johnson got the ensuing kickoff out to the Bucs’ 28, and short passes to WR Tez Johnson and Godwin added up to nine yards and a first down. Irving took a Wildcat snap on the next play, faked a handoff to White and tried to go up the middle but he was stopped for a loss of one. Mayfield tried to go deep on the next play to McMillan but CB Jason Marshall jumped in front of him to make a leaping interception. He got up and returned it close to midfield but a personal foul on the Dolphins during the return put the ball at the Miami 23.
Once again in a jumbo formation, the Dolphins gave it to Achane for a gain of four. A swing pass to Achane out to the left worked even better, as he ran out of bounds with a first down at the Miami 43. A rollout pass to Dulcich got the ball into Tampa Bay territory, and runs by Wright and Achane gained another first down at the Bucs’ 29. Another swing pass left to Achane presented him with open field and rumbled down to the 10-yard line. A rollout incompletion brought on the two-minute warning, and after the break the Dolphins lost 10 yards on a holding penalty. An underneath pass to Achane got the ball back to the 10 and on third-and-goal Ewers found Dulcich cutting left to right just inside the end zone for the 10-yard score.
Miami 17, Tampa Bay 7 – 1:43 remaining in the second quarter
Starting at their own 30 with 1:36 left, the Bucs had a good gain on a pass to Irving erased by a block-in-the-back penalty. Two plays later, Mayfield found McMillan behind the defense on the left sideline and hit him for a gain of 33 to the Miami 41. A scrambling incompletion stopped the clock with 56 seconds left in the half. A catch-and-run by Irving that would have gained another first down was marred by a downfield holding call that pushed the ball all the way back to the Miami 44. On second-and-13, Mayfield tried a downfield shot to Evans but it was well-covered and incomplete. After taking a timeout, Mayfield hit McMillan for a gain of seven to set up a 55-yard field goal try by McLaughlin, but it was blocked by DT Zeek Biggers.
That left Miami with 20 seconds and three timeouts, with the ball on Tampa Bay’s 45. Ewers dropped back to pass on first down but was hurried into an incompletion by a blitzing Winfield. Ewers tried a swing pass to Achane on the next snap but it hit the ground and rolled out of bounds and was ruled a backwards pass out of bounds that resulted in a five-yard penalty. Miami faced a third-and-15 with 13 sacks left and DL Logan hall brought the half to an end with a 10-yard sack.
A touchback to start the second half put the Bucs at their own 35. A play-action pass to WR Emeka Egbuka picked up a quick seven but a shotgun handoff to Irving was stopped for no gain. Mayfield scrambled on third down and tried to throw on the run to Godwin but his pass hit the dirt in front of the receiver. Riley Dixon’s punt was downed at the Miami 31 after a net of just 27 yards.
After a false start, Ewers threw downfield in Waller’s direction but it was well out of reach. On the next play, Diaby broke immediately through the line and swarmed over Ewers for a nine-yard sack, and the Dolphins just gave it to Achane on third-and-24. He got two and the Dolphins punted it back, with Johnson’s 12-yard return taking it to the Tampa Bay 35. A swing pass to White was good for six yards, and Mayfield scrambled on second down for three more. Mayfield then kept the game alive with a wild back-and-forth scramble that got him just past the sticks. After a seven-yard White run, Mayfield found Tez Johnson on a crossing route and hit him stride for a gain of 17 to the Miami 30. A shot to Evans in the end zone didn’t work, and Irving was tackled by his foot on second down to make it third-and-10. Mayfield saved the day again with another scramble, this time diving at the end to get 11 yards and a first down at the 19. Irving final broke loose on his next carry, darting up the middle for 12 yards to the seven. CB Jack Jones run-blitzed off the left edge on first-and-goal and dropped Irving for a loss of two. White couldn’t get through traffic on a short pass on second down, leaving the Bucs in a third-and-goal from the eight. On third down, Mayfield tried to pull up short on a pass and ended up loosing control of the ball. He was able to recover to set up a 33-yard field goal by McLaughlin.
Miami 17, Tampa Bay 10 – 3:49 remaining in the third quarter
Return man Malik Washington got the momentum right back for the home team, returning the next kickoff 47 yards to the Bucs’ 45. LB SirVocea Dennis dropped Achane for a loss of five on first down but the Dolphins back broke tackles going around left end on the next play and got 18 yards to the Bucs’ 32. Two more Achane runs took it down to the 20. OLB Jason Pierre-Paul got a hand on Ewers’ next pass and a false start made it second-and-15. An eight-yard run by Wright brought the third quarter to a close. On third-and-seven, Ewers threw short over the middle to Washington but Parrish came up quickly to make the stop and the Dolphins sent out Washington for a 31-yard field goal to restore the 10-point lead.
Miami 20, Tampa Bay 10 – 14:15 remaining in the fourth quarter
After a touchback, Mayfield went deep down the left sideline to Evans but the receiver was called for offensive pass interference. Short passes to Egbuka and Godwin got the Bucs into a third-and-seven, but a difficult pass through traffic to Evans was too hard to hold onto and the punt unit came on. Dixon dropped his kick near the goal line and it bounced back to the four where it was downed by long-snapper Evan Deckers.
Another false start moved the ball back to the two, and Dennis kept Achane from gaining anything on a first-and-12 carry. S Christian Izien figured out a quick pass to Waller and dropped him at the one-yard line. However, Ewers was able to get the ball to TE Julian Hill for a 15-yard completion on third-and-11 that kept the drive moving. Three plays later, with the clock descending below 10 minutes, the Dolphins faced a third-and-nine and nearly got another conversion on a slant to WR Cedrick Wilson that went for eight. The ensuing punt was fair caught at the Bucs’ 21 with 8:37 left in regulation.
The Bucs went into hurry-up mode and Mayfield found Egbuka for seven yards before a hurried incompletion made it third down. Mayfield then found McMillan wide open out to the right and the receiver raced up the sideline for a 33-yard gain to the Miami 43. After a miracle escape from a near sack on the next play, Mayfield was able to find Evans for 11 yards, but on the next play he tried to fit a seam pass through coverage to Egbuka and it was intercepted by Davis at the five-yard line. Davis returned it to the Miami 26 with seven minutes left in regulation.
The Bucs’ defense managed to get off the field quickly, with CB Benjamin Morrison making an acrobatic pass breakup on third down to force a punt, but the clock was down to 5:20 when the offense got the ball back, still down two scores.
Two quick passes to Godwin picked up 17 yards but a deeper shot to Egbuka was broken up. An outlet pass to Irving on third down left the Bucs in a fourth-and-one but Godwin broke a tackle to get the necessary yards, then continued fighting to get to the sideline and stop the clock. Now at the Miami 38, Mayfield threw to McMillan for seven but he was sacked by Chubb on the next play and lost a fumble, with the OLB Quinton Bell recovering for the defense at the Miami 41.
A Ewers scramble on third down three plays later gained a first down and continued to drain the clock. Three runs then left Miami in a fourth-and-four at the two-minute warning. The Dolphins punted down to the Bucs’ nine-yard line with 1:50 left.
The Buccaneers managed to make it a one-score game with a 60-second, 91-yard touchdown drive. Godwin did most of the damage, taking a pass and dashing 58 yards all the way to the Miami 32. A pass-interference call drawn by Evans made it first-and-goal at the four and Mayfield then rolled left and threw to Evans in the end zone for a four-yard touchdown.
The Buccaneers attempted an onside kick after that score and McLaughlin got his skimmer to take a big hop near the 10-yard mark, but Achane jumped to corral it and was able to hold on.
