Dec 28, 2025
3 min read
Three season-high turnovers and an inability to maintain momentum after a fast start doomed Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Dolphins, but Carolina's loss also kept its division title hopes alive.
Tampa Bay didn't help their pursuit of a fifth consecutive NFC South title Sunday in Miami, but they didn't see the end of that quest coming either.A 20-17 loss to the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium dropped them to 7-9 and was their seventh loss in the last eight weeks;however, Carolina's blowout loss to Seattle on Sunday meant the Panthers and the Panthers will head to Tampa next weekend for the NFC South title.(Tampa Bay needs one loss against Atlanta in its last two games to win in Week 18.)
"I think we've got to put that out of our heads before we worry about anybody else, Carolina or anybody," head coach Todd Boles said.If we play, we won't go anywhere.
"We really have to look at ourselves in the mirror as coaches and as players, we have to work with the Bucs. Whatever Carolina does, they do ... we work with the Bucs and we work with the Bucs."
The players took their first possession 68 yards to score and take a 7-0 lead but did not reach the end until the last minute of the game.Meanwhile, Miami quarterback Quinn Ewers threw several touchdowns in the first quarter to beat the home team 17-7 at halftime.With a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter, two drives in Dolphins territory ended in a fumble and a loss to Baker Mayfield, ending any hope of a comeback.A 91-yard drive with just 60 seconds to go pulled the Bucs within three with 50 seconds left but the next field goal attempt failed.
"Nakakasakit, bumalik ito sa pagpapatupad," sabi ni Mayfield. "We gave ourselves a fighting chance there but didn't do enough. That turnovers obviously hurt us. We still have a chance next week. We've been blessed with an opportunity next week and we have to deal with it the right way."
Mayfield completed 33 of 44 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns with those two picks, as well as three tackles for 16 yards, two of which led to key first downs.He was sacked three times and hit four times in the rear.Second-year wide receiver Jalen McMillan was his favorite target, and he had his first career 100-yard game.The Reds responded, catching seven passes for 114 yards. A 58-yard catch and run on the Bucs' final drive helped WR Chris Goodwin surpass 100 yards, with seven catches for 108. He and Mike Evans each caught a touchdown pass.
The players didn't have much of a ground game to take the pressure off Baker, gaining just 53 yards on 16 carries.RB Bucky Irving completed nine of those carries, but only gained 19 yards.
Tampa Bay's defense limited Miami to 298 yards and four turnovers on 12 third-down attempts, but did little to shake Ewers, who is making just his second NFL start.Ewers completed 14 of 22 passes for 172 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.He was only dismissed twice, one each by Yaya Diaby and Logan Hall, and beaten just three times.They barely conceded and lost the home game 3-0, the first time all season that they turned over three or more times in a game.
"Obviously turning the ball over three times doesn't help.
LB Sirvosia Dennis and S Antoine Winfield Jr. tied for the team lead with seven tackles, and Dennis had one tackle for loss.Cornerback Jamel Dean passed, but left the game in the second half with a shoulder injury.
He also made several mistakes on special teams.Kechez McLaughlin had a 55-yard attempt blocked in the third quarter when the Bucs were down by the 10, his first 50-yarder of the season after an 11-yarder.He also had a 47-yard punt return shortly after to cut the Dolphins' lead to 17–10 in the third quarter, leading directly to a Miami field goal.Malik Washington conceded defeat.
A four-game losing streak wasn't the way they wanted to go into their winless matchup with the Panthers in Week 18, but the fact remains that they still have a chance at the playoffs.
"It's a different way of doing it," Bowles said."Once again, the opportunity is there. There is a door of opportunity, a window of opportunity, and it's up to the coaches, the players and the team to take advantage of it."
Miami got the ball for the first time at its 35 after a fumble and started the drive with a play-action pass to TE Greg Dulcich for a fourth down.A fumble by WR Malik Washington was returned by a holding penalty, making it second-and-16 and the Ewers not getting a first down with Achane.Ewers tried to go deep on third-and-long to Washington but S Antoine Winfield easily broke it up.
WR Kameron Johnson's 15-yard punt return put the Bucs at their own 32 to start their first drive, and Mayfield's pass to TE Cade Otton was good for a quick eight yards.Irving was gifted with a wide hole to run through on his first carry and gained seven yards for a first down at the 47. A tunnel screen to WR Jalen McMillan two plays later gained eight yards and put the Bucs on third and two.The Bucs rushed the line and handed off to Irving, but he only got one yard.The offense stayed on the field and RB Sean Tucker came in to dig for a first down at the Miami 42. A swing pass to Irving picked up five, but his drive on the next play was down two.Mayfield had time to advance on third down and ended up throwing a low, hard pass that McMillan slid to the ground to grab at the Miami 21. Mayfield nearly got away with a big tackle on first down, but was tackled from behind by OLB Bradley Chubb for three yards.On an almost immediate replay, McMillan made another sliding grab at the Miami 11 for a first down.Tucker gained six yards to the right, but couldn't get a high pass near the front post on second down.On third-and-four from the 5, the Bucs flooded the end zone with receivers and Mayfield picked Godwin over the middle for the touchdown.
Tampa Bay 7, Miami 0 - 5:27 left in the first quarter
After another touchdown, WR Jaylen Waddle gained 7 yards in the end zone, but Ewers threw deep and incomplete on second.A false start then led to a third-and-8, and Ewers got even more on his next card.WR Theo Wease got open on the left side of the defense and was able to gallop all the way to the end zone for a 63-yard score.
Tampa Bay 7, Miami 7 – 4:29 left in the first quarter
A holding penalty on the Bucks on a punt return forced a kickoff at the 17.Irving's run and screen reception added four total yards, but Mayfield threw one to Evans on third-and-two in the halfback lane.A hard drive in the open field keeps the back from reaching the first down marker.The Bucs once again left the offense on the field, but this time only to encourage an offside, and when that didn't work, they punted to the Miami 13.
The Dolphins started the next drive with a jumbo pack and got good pressure on two Achan carries of 7 and 11 yards.Wright replaced Achan and had the same success with a nine-yarder to the left.Ewers' first pass of the drive was a lob up the middle to Dulcich for a 23-yard gain at the Bucs' 37. CB Jamel Dean had a nice slant coverage on TE Darren Waller on the next play and the pass fell incomplete.Wright deflected his next carry to the right and hit the open field for a 32-yard gain, with only Winfield preventing a touchdown in the end.On first down, Ewers tried to throw a pass to Waller, but OLB Yaya Diaby deflected it to the quarterback, who caught him for a loss of six.After a short pass over the middle to Dulcich, he recovered the ball at the four, Ewers threw to Dulcich to his right and OLB Haason Reddick was immediately at him for a loss of seven.The Dolphins settled for a 29-yard field goal by Riley Patterson.
Miami 10, Tampa Bay 7 – 8:18 left in the second quarter
Johnson started at the Bucs' 28 and short passes to VR Quick Johnson and Godwin added nine yards and a first down.Irving took a Wildcat snap on the next play, faked a layup and tried to run up the middle, but was stopped for a loss.Mayfield tried to go deep to McMillan on the next play, but CB Jason Marshall jumped in front of him and dived.He stood up.and returned it near midfield, but a Dolphins personal foul on the punt return gave the ball to the Miami 23.
Once again in jumbo formation, the Dolphins handed off to Aachen for a four-yard gain.A swing pass to Aachen worked even better with a first down at the Miami 43. A Dulcich pass landed in Tampa Bay territory, and Wright and Achen picked up another first down at the Bucks' 29. And the Dolphins lost a 10-yard holding penalty after halftime.An Aachen underpass returned the ball to the 10, and on third-and-goal, Dulcich cut left to right in the end zone for a 10-yard gain.was
Miami 17, Tampa Bay 7 - 1:43 left in second quarter
Starting from their 30 with 1:36 left, the Bucs has a good pass to Irving that was nullified by a block-in-the-back penalty.Two plays later, Mayfield found McMillan behind the left side of the defense and hit him for a 33-point lead to the phiami 41. The famlation stops the clock with 56 seconds left.Half.Doing's catch-and-run that would get another first down is ruined by a down call that pushed the flavor of the Miami, Maybe 44. On the miami but was covered incomplete.After a timeout, mayfield hit McMillan for a seven-yard win to put McLaughin's 55-Yard field goal, but it was blocked.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 punt return early in the second half brought the Bucks to their 35.WR Emeka Ekbook's pass game picked up a quick seven runs, but the handoff to Irving was stopped for no gain.Mayfield had a third down and Godwin tried to throw to the running back, but his pass hit the ground in front of the receiver.Riley Dixon fumbled at the Miami 31 after going just 27 yards.
After a false start, Evers threw a pass downfield toward Waller, but he couldn't reach it.On the next play, Diaby immediately rushed to the line and tackled Evers for a nine-yard sack, and the Dolphins gave it to Achan on third-and-24. He got two and the Dolphins returned it, Johnson's 12-yard return to the Tampa Bay 35-yard line. A spin pass to White was good for six yards and Mayfield came in for another three on second down.Mayfield then passed the bat in a wild back-and-forth that kept the game alive.After a seven-yard White run, Mayfield found Tez Johnson on a crossing route and hit him at the Miami 17 to the 30.A throw to Evans in the end zone didn't work. And Irving fumbled on second down to get to third-and-10. Mayfield saved the day again with another touchdown, this time darting for 11 yards and a first down to the 19-yard line. Irving's end broke on the next carry and he went up the middle for 12 yards to the seven-yard line.CB Jack Jones ran down the left sideline on first and goal, and Irving suffered two losses.White couldn't get through traffic on a short second-chance pass, leaving the Bucs on third-and-goal from the eighth.McLaughlin recovered it to set up a 33-yard field goal.
Miami 17, Tampa Bay 10 - 3:49 left in the third quarter
Return man Malik got the right return for the Washington home team, returning the ensuing kickoff 47 yards to the Bucks 45. LB Sir Vossia dropped Dennis Achan for a loss of five on first down, but on the next play, the Dolphins quarterback broke down the left sideline and went 18 yards for the A's 2-3.Evers threw to Washington short up the middle, but Parrish was quick to make the stop and sent Washington in for a 31-yard field goal to restore the Dolphins' 10-point lead.
Miami 20, Tampa Bay 10 - 14:15 lan
After the break, Mayfield went deep to Evans' left end, but the receiver was called for pass interference.A short snap to Egbuka and Godwin put the Bucs on third-and-seven, but Evans struggled through traffic and activated the playgroup.Dixon dropped the ball near the goal line, then returned on fourth down and was intercepted by long snapper Evan Deckers.
Another scam brings the balls back to two, Dennis takes care of a fairer and a push at the end of a person's average per day.Play then, with the rainforest under 10 minutes, the dolphins are hosted at the BUCKs in the BUCKs at BUCC.
The Bucs rushed and Mayfield found Egbuka for seven yards before an incompletion quickly turned it into a third down.Mayfield found McMillan wide open on the right and the receiver ran for a 33-yard gain to Miami's 43.After a miraculous escape from a near-sack on the next play, Mayfield managed to find Evans for 11 yards, but on the next play he tried to match the seam pass by covering Egbuka and was received on the other end by Dard.Davis returned it to the Miami 26 with seven minutes left in regulation.
BUCS defense quickly got off the field, with CB Benjamin Morrison cutting an acrobatic pass third to force a pound, but the clock ran down to 5:20 when the crime got back the ball, holding down from two.
Two quick passes to Godwin picked up 17 yards but a deep throw to Egbuka was dropped.A third down pass to Cicero left the Bucs on fourth and one, but Godwin broke tackles to make the necessary tackles, then continued to fight to stop the clock on the sideline.Now at the Miami 38, Mayfield throws to McMillan for seven but is sacked by Chubb on the second play and lost, with OLB Quinton Bell for the receiving defense at the Miami 41.
Ewers fumbled on the third of three plays before winning the first and running out of time. Then, the three-point play moved Miami to fourth-and-4 with a two-minute warning. The Dolphins punted the ball to the Buccaneers' 9-yard line with 1:50 left in the game.
Made it a one-score game with a 60-second, 91-yard touchdown drive. Goodwin did most of the damage, catching a pass 58 yards to the Miami 32. A pass-interference call by Evans led to a first-and-four, and Mayfield swung left and threw to Evans in the end zone for a four-yard touchdown.
The onside kick was attempted after the score and McLaughlin got a big jump near the 10 yard line, but Acane jumped up and made the catch.
