The Buffalo Bills scored the final two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on Sunday at Highmark Stadium, securing a 44-32 win in a game in which the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers held the lead five different teams. There were nine lead changes in the game in total, with the Bucs going up 32-31 early in the third quarter on Baker Mayfield's 28-yard scoring pass to RB Sean Tucker.

"You score 32 points, you're supposed to win the game," said Head Coach Todd Bowles.

Josh Allen then led touchdown drives of 81 and 85 yards, finishing both of them with touchdown runs, his second third of the game. The NFL's reigning MVP also threw for 317 yards and three scores, though he was picked off twice, once each by CB Jacob Parrish and LB SirVocea Dennis.

"When we went after him, he made some plays in the second half," said Bowles. "When we covered, he stayed in the pocket longer and beat us with his feet. He's a great player and he did a heck of a job. Hats off to him."

The Buccaneers' offense did most of its damage on the ground, rushing for a season-high 202 and three touchdowns and averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Tucker turned in the second 100-yard game of his career, carrying 19 times for 106 yards and two scores in addition to his touchdown catch. Mayfield completed 16 of 28 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown. He also ran five times for 39 yards and a score after not attempting a single rush in the last three games combined.

"He got started off hot early," said Bowles of Tucker. "We went with the hot hand. Once you get a hot hand, we're going to leave him in there regardless of who the back is, and today it was him. He did a great job today."

Mayfield also threw just his third interception of the season, and it helped turn the tide in the home team's favor in the second half. The Buccaneers had the ball and a 26-24 lead late in the third quarter when S Cole Bishop made a diving interception in Tampa Bay territory. Allen threw a 25-yard pass to RB James Cook on the very next play.

"We didn't make enough plays today," said Mayfield. "It goes back to where the momentum swung on the interception in the third quarter. That can't happen."

For the second week in a row, the Buccaneers' defense was stung by big plays. After giving up four plays of 54 or more yards, including three long touchdowns, in a 28-23 loss to New England in Week 10, the Bucs surrendered Allen touchdown passes of 52, 43 and 25 yards, the last of which came one play after a Cole Bishop interception. Overall, the Bills racked up 414 yards of offense. With Keon Coleman a healthy scratch for the game, Tyrell Shavers emerged as Allen's favorite target, catching four passes for 90 yards and a touchdown.

"Sometimes it's coverage, sometimes it's pass rush," said Bowles. "But at the same time, it's got to get fixed. We're playing hard, but then we have lapses here and missed tackles there, and we give up big plays. That's what happened in the second half and two times in the first half. When we're covering, we can't get to the quarterback; when we get to the quarterback, we're covering wrong on the play. We'll get that fixed going forward."

The Buccaneers' special teams unit had a long afternoon trying to cover kickoffs, as Mecole Hardman and Ray Davis combined for returns of 62, 44, 41 and 44 yards, consistently giving Allen short fields to work with. The Bucs did make a big play on punt coverage, with CB Josh Hayes causing a fumble by Hardman that was recovered by Ryan Miller in Buffalo territory, setting up a third-quarter touchdown drive. In addition, Chase McLaughlin hit field goals of 23 and 24 yards on a very windy afternoon in Western New York.

"It was not very good," said Bowles of the kickoff coverage. "We were playing seven-on-seven football starting at midfield and beyond the entire game. That's tough to do consistently throughout the game. We gave up yardage in field position and that really killed us."

Parrish's interception, the first of his career, ended Buffalo's first drive of the game and led to McLaughlin's first field goal. In second quarter, Dennis also secured his first career pick on a pass deflected by S Tykee Smith to end another Buffalo drive that had reached the Bucs' half of the field. The Bucs broke up six of Allen's passes but didn't record a single sack. Antoine Winfield Jr. and Zyon McCollum tied for the team lead with six tackles each.

The first half was a shootout, with the lead changing hands five times after the Bucs' took an early 3-0 lead. The Bucs put up 231 yards of offense in the half, including 136 on the ground, their most in a single half since 2016. Buffalo had most of its success through the air with the wind at its back in the second quarter, with 155 of their 188 yards coming on Allen passes. The Buccaneers had the only two punts of the first half, but the Bills committed the only two turnovers as the home team took a 21-20 lead into the intermission.

The loss dropped the Bucs to 6-4 as they have lost three of their last four, albeit all to top NFC and AFC contenders. The Carolina Panthers' comeback win over Atlanta on Sunday means the Bucs lead in the NFC South has been trimmed to half a game, and next up is a trip to Los Angeles to play the Rams, who were 7-2 heading into a first-place showdown with Seattle in the NFC West on Sunday. The Bucs don't believe they are in danger of the sort of midseason lull that plagued them in each of the past two seasons.

"I think we're in a good place mentally," said Bowles. "We won't go by the last couple years. Every year's a new year for us. We're in a good place mentally. Our fight is outstanding. Our execution needs to be cleaned up, but we know exactly where we are and we know exactly where we've got to get to. To a man and to a coach that's our goal and we understand that."

The game started with a touchback, giving the Bucs the ball at their own 35. White got three yards off right tackle to start the drive, and a tunnel screen to Egbuka got the ball to within inches of a first down. White moved the chains, taking a handoff out of shotgun and going right again for three more. White got it once again on the resulting first down and went straight up the gut for 12 yards into Buffalo territory. After a pair of one-yard plays, the Bucs faced a third-and-eight at the Buffalo 39 and Mayfield got the ball to WR Tez Johnson but the rookie couldn't hold onto the ball after a hard hit from CB Christian Benford. After the Bucs unsuccessfully challenged the ruling of an incompletion, the punting unit took the field and Riley Dixon's punt was downed by Kam Johnson at the five-yard line.

Allen threw in Joshua Palmer's direction on first down but it was incomplete. On second down, a blitzing SirVocea Dennis got Allen in his grasp just inside the end zone and the Bills quarterback tried an improvised two-handed heave to WR Khalil Shakir. The pass instead went straight to Parrish, who caught it at the 10 and got it down to the seven.

Two Tucker runs only got two yards and Mayfield's attempt to Egbuka in the back middle of the end zone was out of reach. The Bucs settled for McLaughlin's 23-yard field goal to open the scoring

Tampa Bay 3, Buffalo 0 – 8:54 remaining in the first quarter

The Bills immediately swung the momentum, as newly-acquired Bills wideout Mecole Hardman took the kickoff, burst through a hole on the left side and raced down the sideline for 61 yards to the Bucs' 36. A six-yard catch by WR Tyrell Shavers put Buffalo in a third-and-two and S Tykee Smith broke up Allen's next pass, nearly intercepting it. Buffalo left its offense on the field and Allen hit WR Gabe Davis on a quick slant despite blanket coverage from Zyon McCollum. Parrish spilled Cook for a loss of one on the next first down, Johnson broke tackle on a short pass to get eight yards. LB Lavonte David forced Johnson to fumble but the back was able to fall on the ball to make it third-and-one, and Allen kept the ball on third down to get four. After a nine-yard run by Johnson and an incompletion made it third-and-one at the two, Allen kept it again and plowed over left guard for the score.

Buffalo 7, Tampa Bay 3 – 4:09 remaining in the first quarter

Kam Johnson's return on the ensuing kickoff was stopped at the Bucs' 31

Runs of four and six yards by Tucker around left end were sandwiched around a 16-yard snap throw by Mayfield to WR Sterling Shepard. After another two-yard run, Mayfield called his own number on third-and-two and fooled the defense, getting out into the open for a gain of 13 to the Buffalo 28. A neutral zone infraction by Matt Milano helped put the Bucs in a second-and-one at the 19 as the first quarter came to an end. After the teams switched ends, White got a new set of downs with a six-yard run over right guard. An attempted end-around to Tez Johnson was sniffed out and he was dropped for a loss of four. Mayfield then made a nifty escape from a pair of defenders and scrambled for six yards to the Buffalo 11. On third-and-eight, White took a short pass and weaved his way down to the four. The Bucs left their offense on the field and Mayfield it kept it again, flipping over a defender to get into the end zone for his first rushing touchdown of the season.

Tampa Bay 10, Buffalo 7 – 12:00 remaining in the second quarter

Another good kickoff return for the Bills took the ball out to the Buffalo 33 for the next possession. With the wind now at his back, Allen went deep on the first play but Hardman was well-covered by rookie CB Benjamin Morrison and he couldn't haul it in. Two plays later, on third-and-six, Allen hit Palmer on a slant and he caught it in stride for a gain of 13. Cook broke a tackle near the line on first down to get six yards over right guard, but he was stopped by Dennis after just one yards on second down. While Allen was scrambling back and forth on third down, Shavers snuck behind the defense down the left sideline and Allen sighted him, getting off a 43-yard pass that the receivers caught while falling down in the end zone.

Buffalo 14, Tampa Bay 10 – 8:52 remaining in the second quarter

A shoestring tackle kept Kam Johnson from breaking free on the ensuing kickoff return, but he did get it out to the 34. White's pinball run up the middle gave the drive a nine-yard boost on first down, and he moved the chains with a three-yard sweep to the left. A rollout out pass to Egbuka went off the receiver's hands, and a swing pass to Tez Johnson (technically a run), lost three yards to make it third-and-13. Thanks to a great blitz pickup, Mayfield had time to slide a step to his left and fire off a low pass that Shepard caught on his knees for a first down at the Buffalo 43. On the next play, Tucker ran left, found a seam and used a key block from Tristan Wirfs to get to the sideline and sprint untouched to the end zone.

Tampa Bay 17, Buffalo 14 – 5:37 remaining in the second quarter

Ray Davis gave the Bills yet another big kickoff return, making it to the Buffalo 49 before being run out of bounds. Allen once again started the drive with a deep heave but it was well out of the reach of Curtis Samuel down the right sideline. Shakir got open on a deep out but Allen misfired to make it third-and-10. Good downfield coverage led to an Allen scramble, and when Dennis dropped him two yards short of the line to gain, the Bills went for it again on fourth down. Allen tried to hit TE Dawson Knox in a whole in the zone over the middle but Smith reacted quickly to deflect the pass and Dennis hauled it in at the Buccaneers' 32.

Runs of for gains of eight and one by Tucker put the Bucs in a third-and-nine and White took care of the rest with a 12-yard burst up the middle as the clock ticked below three minutes in the half. A swing pass to White got nothing as the two-minute warning arrived with the Bucs on the Buffalo 48. The first play after the break was a five-yard run by Tucker, but Mayfield's attempt to hit Otton on a crossing route on third down was a bit behind the tight end and broken up. The Bucs punted and Dixon's kick hit the ground at the eight and bounced sideways out of bounds with 1:08 left in the half.

Allen got the Bills away from their end zone with a 20-yard pass to a wide-open Shavers, then absorbed a roughing-the-passer from Logan Hall that put the ball at the Buffalo 43. Morrison broke up a pass intended for Knox and a sideline pass to Samuel took him out of bounds at the 48. On the next play, the Bills blocked a receiver screen perfectly and Johnson took it to the house for a 52-yard score.

Buffalo 21, Tampa Bay 17 – 0:36 remaining in the second quarter

After Kam Johnson ran the next kickoff out to the 36, Mayfield hit Egbuka with a well-timed screen then found Shepard on a deep out for 24 yards to the Buffalo 32. The Bucs used their last two timeouts after those two completions, leaving the first half clock at 16 seconds. Mayfield threw a quick-hitter to Egbuka, who slid down at the 11 as the offense hurried to line up for a spike. The clock instead stopped at nine seconds when LB Terrel Bernard kicked the ball away and drew a delay-of-game penalty. The Bucs chose to run one more play to get it closer and Mayfield hit Tez Johnson on an out for six yards. That made it a 29-yarder, which became a 24-yarder when an apparent blocked kick was erased by a holding penalty on the defense. McLaughlin hit that easily to make it a one-point game at halftime.

Buffalo 21, Tampa Bay 20 – halftime

The Bucs had to kick off to start the second half, heading into the wind and the Bills once again ended up with great field position as Davis got it out to the Buffalo 41. A two-yard Cook run and a false start were followed by a screen to Shakir that Parrish expertly diagnosed and stopped for a loss of three. Allen escaped several near sacks on third-and-16 and went on a wild scramble that neared the first-down line but he chose to flip the ball to Johnson near the end of it when he was well past the line of scrimmage, resulting in an illegal forward pass penalty that resulted in a fourth-and-nine. The Bills punted for the first time in the game and the ball slowly rolled down to the four before going out of bounds.

The Bucs' first two plays only gained a yard, but a pass to TE Cade Otton in traffic was complete and close to the line to gain. The ball was ruled inches short, which was confirmed by a virtual measurement. The Bucs elected to punt and that turned into a positive when Hayes forced a fumble by Hardman that was recovered by Miller at the Buffalo 43.

The Bucs took that field position and got the ball moving right away with an eight-yard catch by Egbuka and a 14-yard run by Tucker. An end-around by Shepard got another seven but Tucker's second-down run was stopped for no gain. Mayfield escaped the pocket and outran Bernard to the sideline for a first down at the six. Tucker got the handoff on second down and started up the middle before bouncing right and waiting for a lane to the end zone, which he eventually found for his second score of the game. The Bucs went for two and Mayfield was stopped short on an attempted scramble.

Tampa Bay 26, Buffalo 21 – 7:26 left in the third quarter

Incredibly, the Bils broke another long kickoff return, this time getting Davis out to the Bucs' 46. Allen immediately fired over the middle to Shavers for a gain of 2, followed by two Cook runs for a gain of four. On third-and-six, Allen was chased out of the pocket and his attempted running throw towards Palmer that was off-target. Matt Prater came on to boot a 39-yard field goal to reduce the Bucs' lead to two.

Tampa Bay 26, Buffalo 24 – 5:01 left in the third quarter

The Bucs' next drive started at their own 28 but quickly faced a third-and-six. Mayfield tried to throw a pass to Shepard on a crossing route but was off target, allowing Cole Bishop to make a diving interception. The result was a one-play drive, as Allen hit Cook on a wheel route for a 25-yard go-ahead touchdown.

Buffalo 31, Tampa Bay 26 – 3:48 left in the third quarter

The Bucs started anew at their 38 and got to a third-and-one after an eight-yard catch by Egbuka on which he absorbed several hard hits. Tucker got the call on third-and-one and got the needed yardage after briefly sliding horizontally down the line. That got the ball just over midfield, but two more Tucker runs to the right amounted to just four yards. Mayfield kept the drive alive with his legs, scrambling out to the right and getting nine yards after juking DE Joey Bosa. That put the ball at Buffalo's 36 as the third quarter came to an end. The fourth period began with a six-yard end-around by Tez Johnson and a three-yard carry by White. On third down, Tucker released out of the backfield and Mayfield hit him on the run, with the back tiptoeing down the sideline to score on a 28-yard pass. Another two-point attempt failed, leaving the Bucs with a one-point lead.

Tampa Bay 32, Buffalo 31 – 13:38 remaining in the fourth quarter

The Bucs managed to stop the ensuing kickoff return at the 19 but Allen immediately hit Cook over the middle for a gain of 18. Three plays later, on third-and-11, Allen found Samuel on the right sideline past the sticks. Samuel bobbled the ball and the play was initially ruled incomplete as he fell out of bounds at the 50, but replay assistance changed it to a completion, and on the next play Allen scrambled to buy time for a 22-yard pass downfield to WR Gabe Davis. Antoine Winfield Jr. broke up a short pass meant for Shakir. On the next play, Allen made another throw on the run, this time to Dawson Knox at the Bucs' five-yard line. Allen scored his second rushing touchdown of the day on first-and-goal, stretching it wide right before darting in. The Bills went for two and failed.

Buffalo 37, Tampa Bay 32 – 9:06 remaining in the fourth quarter

Tucker got a combined eight yards on a run and a catch after the Bucs took the kickoff out to their 31. Shepard couldn't hold on to a diving attempt on third down and the Bucs punted at the midway mark of the fourth quarter. Dixon's kick rolled to a stop at the Buffalo 15.

Cook took a pitch and cut back inside on first down to pound for eight yards on first down. Davis gained 11 yards on a short catch for a first down, followed by a nifty, multi-cut run by Cook for eight more. Cook released from the backfield on the next play and had nothing but green grass in front of him as he caught a short pass, rushing all the way down to the Bucs' 35. Two more Cook runs made it third-and-four and while the defense stopped Shakir short on a screen left, Parrish was flagged for a facemask, taking the ball all the way down to the Bucs' 14. After a Cook run for nine, Allen once again took care of business with his legs, scoring his third rushing touchdown of the game.

Buffalo 44, Tampa Bay 32 – 2:35 remaining in the fourth quarter

After a touchback, Mayfield converted a third-and-10 with a 19-yard strike to Otton in traffic. Two plays later, Bosa was flagged for roughing the passer, moving the ball to Buffalo's 31. However, Mayfield was sacked on the next play, losing the football, with Buffalo recovering. Three Cook runs produced nine yards and the Bills punted with 50 seconds left. Teddy Bridgewater came in for the Bucs to kneel out the last 38 seconds.