The fourth quarter of Sunday night’s exhilarating NFC Wild Card matchup between the No. 6 seed Washington Commanders and No. 3 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers started with two drastic shifts in momentum.
The first came in favor of the home team when Todd Bowles defense came away with a significant goal-to-go stand of Jayden Daniels and the Commanders to maintain a 17-13 lead with 14:01 to play. But the pendulum carried even harder on its return swing.
That swing saw Baker Mayfield muff an exchange with receiver Jalen McMillan on an end around play. The ball sputtered onto the ground and off a few feet into the arms of Bobby Wagner at the Bucs’ 13.
In totality, that mishap became the game’s deciding play. Besides the lone miscue, Mayfield turned in a clean night when Tampa Bay needed it most. 15 of 18 passing saw him execute the right throws without taking unnecessary risks, resulting in two touchdowns and no interceptions.
At most, Mayfield risked his body on physical runs that churned out key gains for Tampa Bay in timely situations.
But as a result of that fumble, the Bucs would finally concede a second half touchdown, a rare occurrence of late, and had to press the remainder of the game after falling behind 20-17.
Barring that turnover, it is quite possible Tampa Bay walks into the locker room unscathed and preparing for a rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles next weekend.
Mayfield built on that drove the Bucs down the field at the start of the third to get the go-ahead touchdown. The Bucs’ fourth down stand on the ensuing Commanders possession seemed to signal closing time for the NFC South champions after their last two drives.
Even on their final possession, it took a odd exchange under center with Graham Barton to stall a Bucs drive that had marched to the Washington 12.
Now there is also no guarantee in any other outcome besides what actually happened. Nonetheless, the unfortunate and stunning Mayfield turnover will be a tough one for the Bucs and their fans to simmer on as the season now comes to a close.
