Baker Mayfield threw touchdown passes of 77 yards to Emeka Egbuka and 72 yards to Bucky Irving and Chase McLaughlin stunningly made field goals of 65 and 58 yards, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers couldn't quite climb out of a 21-3 hole against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in a 31-25 loss on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

"It's tough to come back from that against a good team," said Head Coach Todd Bowles. "The winner of these games when we play [the Eagles] usually starts out fast. We've started out fast in the past, they started out fast today and you're not going to catch a team like that when you start out like that. Credit to them."

The game was only matchup of unbeaten teams on the NFL's Week Four schedule and a good early test for both teams in terms of the NFC title hunt. Philadelphia, which has won 20 of 21 games since a Week Four loss in Tampa last season, is now 4-0 as it looks to defend its Super Bowl LIX title, while the Bucs fall to 3-1. Tampa Bay remains in first place in the NFC South over the 2-2 Atlanta Falcons, who beat Washington at home on Sunday.

The game started very badly for the home team, as the Bucs had the game's first possession but were forced to punt after gaining one first down. The Eagles' punt-rush team broke through the line and TE Cameron Latu blocked Riley Dixon's punt sending the ball bouncing out to the left. S Sydney Brown scooped it up on a bounced and ran untouched 36 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 lead two minutes into the first quarter. Through four games, the Bucs have already had three kicks blocked – two punts and one field goal – and two of them returned for scores.

"That's something we'll figure out in the meetings," said Bowles. "We'll look at the total operation, how we're doing it, why we're doing it and if we're doing it with the right people and if we're doing it with the right scheme. Three weeks in a row something went wrong, and we'll get that fixed."

The Eagles then followed with 73 and 67-yard touchdown drives, both ending in shovel-pass touchdowns from Jalen Hurts to TE Dallas Goedert. The Eagles scored on three of their four first-half possessions while the Bucs managed just two field goals on six possessions. The Bucs' offense was much improved in the second half and the defense forced six punts on eight possessions, but a pair of turnovers – the only two of the game – eventually doomed the home team's comeback attempts.

McLaughlin's 65-yard field goal just before halftime seemed to cause a momentum shift in the game, as the Bucs' defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs to start the second half and Mayfield hit Egbuka on the first long score for one-play drive that cut the Eagles' lead down to 11 points with eight minutes still to play in the third quarter. Unfortunately, a Bucky Irving fumble in Bucs territory ended that run, leading to an Eagles touchdown. The Bucs also failed to capitalize on a 46-yard punt return by Kameron Johnson into Eagles territory, turning the ball over on downs.

"The fight, we're going to have that every week," said Bowles. "But you can't fight and get behind the eight ball against good teams and expect to win. We're always going to have fight; we just have to clean up mistakes now. It's getting to that point where we have to cut them down."

However, the loss of momentum was only temporary. Mayfield hit another huge play, a scrambling improvisational throw down the sideline to Irving, who caught on the run and then raced untouched to the end zone for a 72-yard score, and McLaughlin hit from deep again, a 58-yarder that pulled the Bucs to within eight points with a little over 12 minutes left in regulation. Another three-and-out forced by the Bucs' defense and a 27-yard return by Johnson had the Bucs in Philadelphia territory needing one score to tie with 11:48 left.

That drive, however, ended in the Bucs' second giveaway, as Mayfield threw short under heavy pressure in an attempt to get the ball to Chris Godwin in the end zone and it was intercepted at the goal line by LB Jihaad Campbell. Tampa Bay got the ball back one more time with six minutes left and was able to get into Eagles territory, but a key nine-yard sack by DT Moro Ojomo created a third-and-23 situation the Bucs couldn't convert.

"Obviously, situationally, in the red zone, you've got to be careful with the ball," said Mayfield. "It just kind of slipped out of my hand; I don't know if it got tipped or what but [we need] extra precaution down there. We were driving down, it was a one-score game. We fight. I've talked about it. The standard is fight back, we won't stop fighting until the game's over, and that's the positive take out of it. But the negative is directly related to [the slow start]. We talked about starting fast and we did the opposite today. We've got to fix that. You can't expect to beat teams of that caliber when you start slow like that."

There were other special teams concerns for the Bucs during the game. Dixon mis-hit another punt in the second quarter that went only 18 yards and the Bucs had an average drive start of their own 22-yard line on kickoffs. A holding call erased a long kickoff return by Kameron Johnson that would have put the Bucs well into Eagles territory in the second quarter.

There were some bright spots on special teams for the Buccaneers, and one in particular made franchise and NFL history. With four seconds left and no timeouts at the end of the first half, Bowles sent McLaughlin out to try from 65. Remarkably, McLaughlin made it to set a new team record for longest field goal, topping the 62-yard game-winning kick that Matt Bryant made against, coincidentally, the Eagles in 2006. The successful three-pointer was just one yard shy of tying the league record, as Baltimore's Justin Tucker hit a 66-yarder in Detroit in 2021. The Cowboys Brandon Aubrey also made a 65-yard field goal against Baltimore under a closed roof in Dallas last season, meaning McLaughlin's kick is currently the longest successful outdoor field goal in NFL history. Kam Johnson also had punt returns of 46 and 27 yards in the game, though the Bucs failed to score on either of the resulting drives.

The Buccaneers' personnel shuffle continued on offense, most notably with the 2025 debuts for LT Tristan Wirfs and WR Chris Godwin. With Wirfs back in the lineup at his customary spot, Graham Barton was able to return to center and Ben Bredeson slid back to left guard. Godwin started the game and finished with three catches for 26 yards. However, the Buccaneers were without top receiver Mike Evans for the first time after he suffered a hamstring injury late in the Week Three win over the New York Jets, which likely contributed to the slow start on offense. The Bucs' surge in the second half, however, allowed them to win the overall yardage battle over Philadelphia, 376 to 200.

Mayfield finished the game with 289 yards on 22-of-40 passing, with the two long touchdowns and one interception, his first of the season. Both Egbuka and Irving topped 100 receiving yards, with Egbuka continuing the red-hot start to his rookie season with four catches for 101 yards and a score. However, he was targeted 10 times, as was Godwin, as the Eagles got strong coverage efforts from second-year cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, who combined for seven passes defensed, five by Mitchell. Irving also ran for 63 yards to finish with 165 yards from scrimmage.

"Emeka did a hell of a job on a play-action keeper, just his concentration to make the catch," said Mayfield. "[Reed] Blankenship was diving for it – whatever you want to say, 'distraction drill' – he focused through the catch and then obviously extending it for a touchdown. Bucky's touchdown, [it was] really an unbelievable job of pass protection by those guys, holding up for quite a while there, and he turned it upfield. He had an edge rusher, a linebacker, on him and he did a great job catching that ball and extending it for a touchdown, as well. Our guys are fight. Lavonte [David] hit on it postgame, and I couldn't have said it better myself: This group is too damn good to start slow, and until we take accountability for that…it should piss us off. Even though it's Week Four, this should piss us off. We've talked about starting fast, playing better ball and we did not do that today."

DL Vita Vea produced the Bucs' only two sacks of Hurts, who was able to escape pressure and run for 62 yards on nine carries. The Bucs held Eagles RB Saquon Barkley to just 43 yards and 2.3 yards per carry and held a 12th straight opposing team to below 100 rushing yards, though mostly on a technicality because P Braden Mann's intentional safety at the end of the game was scored as a run for a loss of 34 yards. S Tykee Smith led the Bucs' defense with nine tackles and two passes defensed and LB SirVocea Dennis added eight stops and a tackle for loss.

The Bucs had the ball first but had to start at their own 20 after the Eagles' kickoff bounced in the landing zone and split the return man to go into the end zone for a touchback. The drive started off well, however, with an eight-yard catch by rookie WR Tez Johnson – the first of his career – and a 15-yard run over left tackle by Irving. After an incompletion in Godwin's direction, Irving got five more up the middle to set up third-and-five. Mayfield tried to throw a quick sideline pass to Egbuka but CB Quinyon Mitchell broke it up. The punt attempt turned disastrous, as Latu rejected the kick and Brown took it back for the game's first points.

Tampa Bay's second drive started with a seven-yard completion to Godwin but Mayfield's next two passes in Egbuka's direction produced just one completion and one yard. Dixon got his second punt off and it was fair caught at the Eagles' 27.

The Eagles' first play from scrimmage was a flare pass to Barkley that found him wide open for a 12-yard gain. A similar play to the opposite side gained just two before OLB Haason Reddick shut it down. CB Jamel Dean provided good coverage on a deep shot to WR A.J. Brown and caused an incompletion, but the Eagles had the right call on for a third-down blitz and Hurts got the ball out quickly to WR DeVonta Smith just past the sticks. RB A.J. Dillon barreled up the middle for 11 yards to the Bucs' 39 and TE Dallas Goedert ran an out for eight yards. Hurts scrambled right on second down and found a lot of green grass as he got all the way down to the Bucs' two-yard line. The Eagles lined up in a jumbo formation but instead of sneaking the ball, Hurts quickly shoveled it right to Goedert, who ran it in for a 14-0 Eagles lead.

Tampa Bay's next drive started at its own 28 after a short return by Sean Tucker. Irving bounced a first-down carry out to the right but couldn't get around the corner as Mitchell tripped him up for a gain of just two. Mayfield dumped an outlet pass to Irving, who eluded a tackle attempt by CB Kelee Ringo and got a first down at the 38. However, a sweep right on first down was met by a gang of Eagle defenders as White was dropped for a loss of one. RB Rachaad White got four yards on a short pass on second down and 15 yards were tacked on the end due to a taunting flag on CB Cooper DeJean. The Bucs tried some trickery with a flea-flicker but it didn't work as it was nearly intercepted by DeJean. It was, in fact, originally ruled an interception but replay assist overturned it and a personal foul call on OLB Jalyx Hunt gave the Bucs' 15 yards to the Eagles' 29. Irving broke several tackles to get eight yards around left end but his second-down run to the right got only one. White came in on third-and-one and powered straight up the middle for five yards and a first down. A run and a screen for Irving accounted for zero net yards. On third-and-10, Mayfield juked out a free rusher but lost control of the ball and had to fall on it for a Zack Baun sack and a loss of nine. Chase McLaughlin came in to boot a 42-yard on the final play of the first quarter.

Barkley fought through tacklers for seven yards on first down of the Eagles' next drive, which opened at their 30. He slipped going left, however, bringing up third-and-five. Philadelphia went right back to Barkley on third down but Reddick blew up an attempted tunnel screen to the right and the Eagles sent out their punt unit. Kameron Johnson was stopped on his return at the Bucs' 16.

A swing pass to White only got two yards on first down thanks to a good tackle by S Reed Blankenship, but Mayfield scrambled right on second down and directed Egbuka to come back toward him so he could hit him with an 18-yard sideline strike. Three plays later, the Bucs faced a third-and-seven at their 39. Mayfield was chased into a desperation downfield heave that Godwin couldn't quite corral. Dixon hit the resulting punt off the side of his foot and it only went 18 yards before going out of bounds, though a holding call on the return team pushed the starting line back to the Philly 33.

Hurts started the resulting drive by throwing down the middle to Goedert for a gain of 22 into Bucs territory, which was followed by a 16-yard grab for fellow TE Grant Calcaterra. Reddick flushed Hurts out of the pocket with a deft spin move two plays later but the quarterback was able to escape for a two-yard scramble to make it third-and-six. Hurts converted the third down by scrambling left and throwing a dart down the seam to Smith for a gain of 20 to the eight. The Eagles then went back to the shovel play, with Goedert scoring this time going up the middle for eight yards. That pushed the Eagles' lead to 21-3 with six minutes left in the first half.

An end-around to WR Sterling Shepard worked for six yards but DeJean broke up a quick out pass intended for Egbuka. Mayfield's third-down pass was batted away at the line, leading to another punt. Dixon booted it 52 yards to make the Eagles start their next drive at their 25.

Barkley made a jump-cut to find a seam for seven yards on first down, and a short pass out to the right to WR John Metchie got just enough for a first down. Two plays later, Hurts once again got out of a collapsing pocket, this time running straight up the middle for a gain of nine to the Bucs' 49. A seven-yard catch by Metchie brought on the two-minute warning. After the break, CB Jacob Parrish dropped Brown for a loss of two to bring up third-and-five, but Hurts beat the blitz again with a pass over the middle to Brown to the Bucs' 35. Barkley caught a short pass and spun out of a tackle to get the ball down to the 20. Antoine Winfield Jr. sniffed out a flare pass to Barkley and dropped him for a loss of five and the Bucs called a timeout with 1:10 remaining in the half. Reddick chased down Hurts from behind on second down to keep him to a gain of two, and Tampa Bay's second timeout came with 1:04 left. Hurts handed it back to Barkley on third-and-long but he got just two and the last timeout stopped the clock at 1:01 as the Eagles sent out their field goal unit. Jake Elliott nailed it from 39 yards out to increase the Eagles' lead to 24-3.

The Bucs had 53 seconds to work with when they started at their own 23 and Irving took a short pass out of bounds for a gain of three. A quick curl by Otton left the Bucs in a third-and-one with the clock running. A roughing the passer call on DT Jalen Carter extended the drive and put the ball at the 46 with 22 seconds left. A six-yard pass to Shepard kept the clock running and the Bucs had eight seconds to work with after a spike. After an incompletion, the Bucs sent McLaughlin out to try a 65-yard field goal and he just snuck it over the crossbar to produce one of the longest field goals ever.

The Eagles got the ball first to start the second half but their first two plays went backward. LB SirVocea Dennis shot up the middle to drop Barkley for a loss of three and Vea finally got Hurts to the ground for a nine-yard sack. The Eagles gave it to Dillon on thir-and-22 but he got just three. On the resulting punt, Kameron Johnson countered a 63-yard kick with a 46-yard return to the Eagles' 40-yard line.

Irving went left on first down but was stopped after a two-yard gain. An Egbuka catch left the Bucs in third-and-three but the rookie was hit hard on a third-down incompletion right at the sticks. The Bucs went for it on fourth-and-three but Tez Johnson couldn't hang on to Mayfield's scrambling throw on the sideline.

Philadelphia took over on downs at its own 34 and Hurts kept the ball on a zone-read and ran for seven yards before sliding down. Hurts had a long time to throw on second down and ended up taking a downfield shot to Brown but it sailed well out of bounds. S Tykee Smith blitzed around the left edge on third-and-three and was able to jump and knock Hurts' pass off target, leading to a punt. The kick went out of bounds at the Bucs' 23.

The Bucs only needed one play to score from there. Mayfield rolled to his right and threw downfield to Egbuka while on the run. The pass just split two defenders to get to the receiver, who then broke free and ran up the right sideline for the 77-yard touchdown. The extra point cut the Eagles' lead to 24-13 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

RB Will Shipley got his ensuing kickoff return all the way out to the Eagles' 40 and Hurts threw one incompletion before scrambling for two yards. Vea's second sack of the game knocked them back nine yards and led to a punt that put the Bucs back at their 17. Irving got the ball on the first two snaps, getting five yards on the first carry but fumbling on the second one. The Eagles recovered at the 25-yard line. Philadelphia turned the Bucs' first takeaway of the season into seven points, as Barkley ended a six-play drive with a six-yard touchdown run.

The Bucs had to start at their own 14 after a penalty on the kickoff. A deep shot to Godwin fell incomplete but a swing pass to White worked for 10 and a first down at the 24. After another four-yard run by White, the Bucs scored from deep again. This time, Mayfield scrambled left and threw deep down the sideline to Irving, who hauled it on the run and scampered the rest of the way for a 72-yard touchdown.

The Eagles started their next drive at their 35 and got a first down when Yaya Diaby was hit with a hands-to-the-face penalty. However, a Dillon run got just three yards and was followed by a deep incompletion. On third-and-seven, the snap went over Hurts head and he had to chase it down and was tackle for a loss of 15. A punt followed on the first play of the fourth quarter and put the ball on Tampa Bay's 31.

An eight-yard completion to Godwin had a roughing-the-passer call tacked on the end to move it to the Philly 46. Two plays later, a pass interference call drawn by Irving led to another first down at the 38 but that was followed by a holding call on the Buccaneers. Three plays later, on third-and-12, Mayfield was pressured into an incompletion and the Bucs sent McLaughlin out for another long-range shot. His 58-yard field goal cleared the bar with ease and trimmed the Eagles' lead to eight points.

The Bucs defense got the ball back quickly, with successive pass break-ups by rookies Jacob Parrish and Benjamin Morrison leading to another punt. Johnson found room to run again on his return, getting 27 yards to the Eagles' 47 with 11:48 left in regulation.

Irving got the ball on first down and got five tough yards. Godwin just missed getting two feet down on a remarkable sideline catch on second down, but the drive was extended by a pass interference flag drawn by Shepard. Now at the Eagles' 37, Irving got seven yards apiece on two runs, the first on a direct snap to him. A White run for one yard and an unsuccessful fade to Egbuka left the Bucs in third-and-nine, but Mayfield fired a laser to Godwin over the middle for 11 yards and a first down at the 11. However, on the next snap, Mayfield went on a long scramble before what appeared to be a throwaway attempt was intercepted at the goal line by LB Jihaad Campbell.

The touchback put the Eagles offense back on the field at their own 20. Rookie DL Elijah Simmons broke through the line on first down to drop Barkley for a loss of two, but he powered up the middle on the next play for 10 yards to make it third-and-two. The Bucs got quick pressure on Hurts and his attempted pass to Brown on the right sideline wasn't close. The punt team came back out and the resulting kick and short return gave the Bucs the ball at their own 22 with six minutes left.

Mayfield scrambled for six yards on first down and Irving got the ball close to the sticks on second down. An end-around to Egbuka looked like it would work but the rookie was stonewalled just as he turned up the field and fell short. White got the ball on fourth-and-one and was able to get just enough to move the sticks. Irving took a swing pass and made several stunning open-field moves to elude tackles and gain 18 yards to the Eagles' 49. Three plays later, on third-and-six, Mayfield pulled out one of his patented crunch-time scrambles and fought through defenders to get to the 38 for a first down. A false start and a three-yard Irving run made it second-and-12 as the two-minute warning arrived. After the break, Mayfield was sacked for a loss of 11 and the Bucs used their first timeout to talk things over. A dump-off pass to White got about half of the 23 yards needed, but a fourth-down completion to Otton wasn't long enough to sustain the drive.

To burn the final 53 seconds of the game and the Bucs' last two timeouts, the Eagles ran the ball three times to end up at fourth-and-11 with six seconds left. The punting unit came out, but punter Braden Mann just took the snap and ran backwards into the end zone clock, resulting in a harmless safety for the final six-point margin of victory.