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Chase McLaughlin's Long-Range Heroics Make NFL History | Data Crunch

On an afternoon of big plays in a showdown with the Eagles, K Chase McLaughlin produced the longest outdoor field goal in NFL history and Baker Mayfield tied a team record with two 70+-yard completions

DataCrunch

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles admittedly didn't know if Chase McLaughlin had a 65-yard field goal within his range when he sent his kicker onto the field in the last seconds of the first half of Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Perhaps McLaughlin didn't know either; he never saw the kick go through and only realized it was good when his teammates started reacting.

Now, however, everyone knows. McLaughlin has put his name near the top of the list of best long-range kickers in NFL history. His kick was just one yard short of the longest successful field goal in league annals, and it is now one of the three longest of all time.

Longest Successful Field Goals in NFL History:

1. 66 yards…Justin Tucker, Baltimore, at Detroit, 9/26/21

2t. 65 yards…Chase McLaughlin, Tampa Bay, vs. Philadelphia, 9/28/25

2t. 65 yards…Brandon Aubrey, Dallas, vs. Baltimore, 9/22/24

4t. 64 yards…Matt Prater, Denver, vs. Tennessee, 12/8/13

4t. 64 yards…Brandon Aubrey, Dallas, vs. N.Y. Giants, 9/14/25

Notably, Tucker's 66-yarder was in a domed stadium, Detroit's Ford Field, and Aubrey's 65-yarder came with the roof closed at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. That means McLaughlin's 65-yard kick is the longest outdoor field goal in NFL history.

McLaughlin later made a 58-yard field goal as well, which made him the first kicker in Buccaneers history to hit two field goals of 55 or more yards in the same game. He had nearly accomplished that feat the week before with successful boots from 55 and 54 yards against the New York Jets. He now owns two of the six longest field goals in franchise annals.

McLaughlin is just the fourth player in league history to make two field goals of 58 or more yards in the same game, and the second to do so in a contest outdoors. McLaughlin's 19 field goals made from 50-plus yards since joining the Buccaneers in 2023 is a team record, and he is 19 of 22 on such attempts for a success rate of 86.4%.

McLaughlin played for six other teams before joining the Buccaneers and has been a long-range sharp-shooter throughout his NFL career. He has made 36 of his 43 career attempts from 50yards and beyond, the second highest success rate in NFL history.

Best Field Goal Percentage, Kicks of 50+ Yards, NFL History

(minimum 20 attempts)

Kicker Team(s) 50+ Att. 50+ Made Pct.
Brandon Aubrey Cowboys 28 31 90.3%
Chase McLaughlin Seven teams* 36 43 83.7%
Chris Boswell Steelers 45 54 83.3%
Matt Prater Five teams* 82 109 75.2%
Stephen Gostkowski Patriots/Titans 32 43 74.4%

(* McLaughlin has played for the Chargers, 49ers, Colts, Jaguars, Jets, Browns and Buccaneers. Prater has played for the Falcons, Broncos, Lions, Cardinals and Bills.)

McLaughlin added another field goal from 42 yards out on Sunday and made both of his extra point tries for a total of 11 points but the Buccaneers fell to the Eagles, 31-25 after a hard-charging second-half comeback attempt fell short. That loss dropped the Bucs to 3-1 on the season, but the team remains in first place in the NFC South over the 2-2 Atlanta Falcons, a team they beat on the road in Week One. Tampa Bay has now had at least a share of first place in the division in 62 of the last 76 regular-season weeks as the team seeks a record fifth straight NFC South title.

McLaughlin wasn't the only Buccaneer scoring from long range on Sunday. Quarterback Baker Mayfield sparked the team's comeback attempt with touchdown passes of 77 yards to rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and 72 yards to second-year running back Bucky Irving. That marked just the second time in franchise history the Buccaneers have had two receptions of 70-plus yards in the same game, matching a feat that was also first accomplished against the Eagles. On September 16, 2018, Ryan Fitzpatrick hit both DeSean Jackson and O.J. Howard on 75-yard touchdown passes in a 27-21 victory at Raymond James Stadium. In that game, as in Sunday's contest, the Eagles were the defending Super Bowl champions.

Irving's catch-and-run down the left sideline in the third quarter was the second-longest reception ever by a Tampa Bay running back. It was the longest touchdown reception ever for a Bucs back.

Longest Receptions by a Running Back, Buccaneers Franchise History:

1. 74 yards…Gary Anderson, 74 yards, vs. Green Bay, 10/14/90

2. 72 yards, touchdown…Bucky Irving, vs. Philadelphia, 9/28/25

3. 68 yards…Warrick Dunn, vs. Detroit, 12/12/99

View the top images of Tampa Bay's game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, September 28th, 2025 at Raymond James Stadium.

Irving finished the game with 102 yards on five receptions, marking the first 100-yard receiving game by a Tampa Bay running back since Jacquizz Rodgers had 102 yards on eight grabs against Washington on 11/11/18. Irving added 63 rushing yards on 15 carries to give him 165 yards from scrimmage, the third-highest single-game total of his young career. He is the first Buccaneer player ever to record 100-plus receiving yards and 50-plus rushing yards in the same game.

Egbuka added 101 yards on four grabs for his first career 100-yard receiving game. The last time the Buccaneers had two players eclipse 100 receiving yards in the same contest was on 1/1/23, when Mike Evans had 207 yards and Chris Godwin added 120 in a win over the Carolina Panthers.

Mayfield finished the game with 289 yards on 22-of-40 passing, in the process moving up another spot on the Bucs' all-time passing yardage chart. He now ranks eighth in team history in that category, with 9,448 yards, passing Steve DeBerg (9,439). Mayfield's two touchdown passes gave him eight through the first four weeks of the season, which is tiedfor third in the NFL. Since he joined the Buccaneers in 2023, Mayfield has 77 regular season touchdown passes, the most in the NFL in that span.

Most Touchdown Passes, NFL, 2023-25:

1. Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers: 77

2. Jared Goff, Lions: 76

3. Lamar Jackson, Ravens: 75

4. Jordan Love, Packers: 65

5. Josh Allen, Bills: 64

Egbuka now has 18 receptions for 282 yards and four touchdowns in his debut season. Those yardage and touchdown reception totals are the most ever by a Buccaneer rookie through his first four games, and he is the first NFL rookie with 14-plus catches, 280-plus receiving yards and four-plus touchdowns through his first four games since Detroit's Roy Williams in 2004.

Among players with at least 25 targets this season, Egbuka has produced a 128.0 passer rating when targeted, the third-highest mark in the NFL. Only Indianapolis' Michael Pittman (139.8) and Detroit's Amon-Ra St. Brown (133.2) have produced higher ratings.

The Buccaneers were trailing 24-3 before McLaughlin's 65-yarder but were able to pull within one score in the second half. Unfortunately, two possessions that reached Eagles territory in the game's last 12 minutes failed to produce any points and the Bucs' three-game winning streak was snapped. The close-call comeback was only possible because Tampa Bay's defense clamped down after halftime, forcing six punts on eight possessions and only allowing one score after an Irving fumble gave Philadelphia the ball at the Bucs' 25-yard line.

Thanks in part to an intentional safety taken by punter Braden Mann on the game's last play that was scored as a rushing attempt for negative-34 yards, the Buccaneers' defense held Philadelphia to negative-one yard in the second half. Overall, Tampa Bay outgained the Eagles 277 yards to 33 in the second half, not counting Mann's run. Ten different Buccaneer defenders recorded a tackle for loss, as the team's 11 TFLs on the day were the most by any team in a game this season.

Defensive lineman Vita Vea helped produce two of Eagles' three straight three-and-out possessions to start the second half with sacks of Jalen Hurts. It was the fifth two-sack game of Vea's career and it put him on the verge of cracking the top 10 in team history in career sacks. He now has 32.5 in his career, needing just one more to surpass both Brad Culpepper and Jason Pierre-Paul, who are tied for ninth with 33.0. Vea has 29.5 sacks since the start of the 2019 season, the most among all NFL nose tackles in that span.

Notably, Tampa Bay's secondary shut down the connection between Hurts and his top receiver, A.J. Brown. Hurts targeted Brown nine times but that produced just two receptions for seven yards and his passer rating when targeting Brown as just 39.6. It was the first time in Brown's career that he had been targeted nine or more times and been held to two or fewer catches and 10or fewer yards.

Wide receiver Kameron Johnson continued the Bucs' big-play theme on special teams, recording punt returns of 46 and 27 yards. He finished the game with an average of 16.7 yards on six returns, the highest single-game mark by a Buccaneer (minimum five returns) since Karl Williams averaged 20.0 yards against the Cleveland Browns on 10/13/02.

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