The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't help their quest for a fifth straight NFC South on Sunday in Miami, but neither did they see that quest come to an end. A 20-17 defeat at the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium dropped the Buccaneers to 7-9 and represented their seventh loss in the last eight weeks; however, Carolina's concurrent loss to Seattle on Sunday meant the Buccaneers and Panthers will battle head-to-head for the NFC South title next weekend in Tampa. (Tampa Bay also needs one loss by Atlanta in its last two games to win the division with a victory in Week 18.)

"I think we've got to erase that from our heads because we have to get ourselves together before we worry about anybody else, Carolina or anybody else," said Head Coach Todd Bowles. "We've just been shooting ourselves in the foot at every chance. That starts with me. I've got to coach them better, they've got to play it better and we've got to figure out how we can stop making mistakes and move on. If we play and do things we did today next week we won't be going anywhere.

"We definitely as coaches and as players have got to look ourselves in the mirror, and we just need to work on the Bucs. Whatever Carolina does, they do…we've got to work on the Bucs and stay working on the Bucs."

The Buccaneers took their first possession 68 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead but didn't reach the end zone again until the final minute of the game. Meanwhile, Miami's rookie quarterback, Quinn Ewers, threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes to stake the home team to a 17-7 halftime lead. With the Buccaneers trailing 20-10 in the fourth quarter, two drives into the Dolphins territory ended in an interception and a lost fumble by Baker Mayfield, ending any hopes for a comeback. A 91-yard touchdown drive that only took 60 seconds pulled the Bucs to within three with 50 seconds left but the subsequent onside kick attempt failed.

"Offensively, it comes back to execution," said Mayfield. "We gave ourselves a fighting chance right there but didn't do enough. Those turnovers obviously crushed us. We still have a chance next week. We've been blessed with a chance next week and we've got to handle it the right way."

Mayfield completed 33 of 44 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns along with those two picks, and also had three scrambles for 16 yards, two resulting in key first downs. He was sacked three times and hit in the backfield on four occasions. Second-year wide receiver Jalen McMillan was his favorite target and he responded with his first career 100-yard receiving game, catching seven passes for 114 yards. A 58-yard catch-and-run on the Bucs' final drive helped WR Chris Godwin also surpass 100 yards, with seven grabs for 108. He and Mike Evans each caught a touchdown pass.

The Buccaneers did not muster much of a ground game to take the pressure off Baker, gaining just 53 yards on 16 carries. RB Bucky Irving had nine of those carries but gained just 19 yards.

The Tampa Bay defense limited Miami to 298 yards and four conversions in 12 third-down tries but didn't do too much to rattle Ewers, who was making just his second NFL start. Ewers completed 14 of 22 passes for 172 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked just twice, once each by Yaya Diaby and Logan Hall, and was hit just three times. The Buccaneers did not force a turnover and lost the takeaway battle, 3-0, marking the first time all season they had turned it over three or more times in a game.

"Unfortunately, we weren't making any plays," said Bowles. "Obviously, turning the ball over three times doesn't help, either. Three-nothing in the turnover battle, they're going to win that game every time.

LB SirVocea Dennis and S Antoine Winfield Jr. tied for the team lead with seven tackles and Dennis added a tackle for loss. Cornerback Jamel Dean had a pass break up but left the game in the second half with a shoulder injury.

The Buccaneers also had several miscues on special teams. K Chase McLaughlin had a 55-yard field goal try blocked in the third quarter when the Bucs were down by 10, marking his first unsuccessful attempt this season from beyond 50 yards after the first 11 went through. The Buccaneers also gave up a 47-yard kickoff return to Malik Washington immediately after trimming the Dolphins lead to 17-10 in the third quarter, which led directly to a Miami field goal drive.

While a fourth consecutive loss was not how the Buccaneers wanted to get into a winner-take-all match with the Panthers in Week 18, the fact remains that they still have a shot at the playoffs.

"It's a different way of going about it," said Bowles. "Again, the opportunity is there. There's a door of opportunity, a window of opportunity, and it's up to as coaches and as players and as a team to take advantage of it."

Miami got the ball first at its 35 after a touchback and started the drive with a play-action rollout pass to TE Greg Dulcich for a gain of four. A nice tackle-breaking catch-and-run by WR Malik Washington came back on a holding penalty, making it second-and-16 and Ewers' first completion to Achane failed to gain a yard. Ewers tried to go deep down the middle to Washington on third-and-long but S Antoine Winfield easily broke it up.

A 15-yard return of the ensuing punt by WR Kameron Johnson put the Bucs at their own 32 to start their first drive, and Mayfield's rollout 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 he got seven yards for a first down at the 47. A tunnel screen to WR Jalen McMillan two plays later got eight yards and put the Bucs in a third-and-two. The Bucs rushed to the line and handed off to Irving but he only got a yard. The offense stayed on the field and RB Sean Tucker came in to burrow his way to a first down on the Miami 42. A swing pass to Irving picked up five but his run on the next play lost two. Mayfield had time to go through his progressions on third down and he eventually threw a low, hard pass that McMillan slid to the ground to grab at the Miami 21. Mayfield almost escaped for a big scramble on first down but was caught from behind by OLB Bradley Chubb for a three-yard sack. In a near instant replay, McMillan made another sliding grab at the Miami 11 for a first down. Tucker got six yards sweeping right but couldn't reach a high pass near the front pylon on second down. On third-and-four from the five, the Bucs flooded the end zone with receivers and Mayfield chose Godwin over the middle for the touchdown hookup.

Tampa Bay 7, Miami 0 – 5:27 remaining in the first quarter

After another touchback, WR Jaylen Waddle got seven yards on an end-around but Ewers threw deep and incomplete on second. A false start then made it third-and-eight and Ewers got that and a lot more with his next pass. WR Theo Wease got open on the left sideline behind the defense and was able to gallop all the way to the end zone for the 63-yard score.

Tampa Bay 7, Miami 7 – 4:29 remaining in the first quarter

A holding penalty on the Bucs during the kickoff return that followed forced the offense to start at its own 17. A run and a reception on a screen pass by Irving picked up a total of four yards, but Mayfield put one up high for Evans on an out and he hauled it in for a first down at the 37. An illegal contact penalty gave the Bucs an added five yards, and two plays later a short catch by Otton left the Bucs in a third-and-two on the midfield stripe. After the two teams switched sides to start the second quarter, Mayfield tossed a swing pass to Irving in the right flat but LB Tyrel Dodson made a strong open-field tackle to keep the back from reaching the first-down marker. The Bucs left the offense on the field again, but this time only to induce an offside call, and when that didn't work they punted away down to the Miami 13.

The Dolphins started the next drive in a jumbo package and succeeded in getting good push for two Achane carries of seven and 11 yards. Wright replaced Achane and had just as much success with a toss-sweep to the left for nine yards. Ewers' first pass of the drive was a lob down the middle to Dulcich for a gain of 23 yards to the Bucs' 37. CB Jamel Dean had good coverage on a slant by TE Darren Waller on the next play and the pass was incomplete. Wright bounced his next carry out to the right and hit the open field for a gain of 32, with only Winfield preventing the touchdown at the end. On first-and-goal, Ewers tried to throw a shovel pass to Waller but OLB Yaya Diaby deflected it back to the quarterback, who caught it and was tackled for a loss of six. After a short pass over the middle to Dulcich got the ball back to the four, Ewers threw backward to Dulcich out to his right and OLB Haason Reddick was on him immediately for a loss of seven. The Dolphins settled for Riley Patterson's 29-yard field goal.

Miami 10, Tampa Bay 7 – 8:18 remaining in the second quarter

Johnson got the ensuing kickoff out to the Bucs' 28, and short passes to WR Tez Johnson and Godwin added up to nine yards and a first down. Irving took a Wildcat snap on the next play, faked a handoff to White and tried to go up the middle but he was stopped for a loss of one. Mayfield tried to go deep on the next play to McMillan but CB Jason Marshall jumped in front of him to make a leaping interception. He got up and returned it close to midfield but a personal foul on the Dolphins during the return put the ball at the Miami 23.

Once again in a jumbo formation, the Dolphins gave it to Achane for a gain of four. A swing pass to Achane out to the left worked even better, as he ran out of bounds with a first down at the Miami 43. A rollout pass to Dulcich got the ball into Tampa Bay territory, and runs by Wright and Achane gained another first down at the Bucs' 29. Another swing pass left to Achane presented him with open field and rumbled down to the 10-yard line. A rollout incompletion brought on the two-minute warning, and after the break the Dolphins lost 10 yards on a holding penalty. An underneath pass to Achane got the ball back to the 10 and on third-and-goal Ewers found Dulcich cutting left to right just inside the end zone for the 10-yard score.

Miami 17, Tampa Bay 7 – 1:43 remaining in the second quarter

Starting at their own 30 with 1:36 left, the Bucs had a good gain on a pass to Irving erased by a block-in-the-back penalty. Two plays later, Mayfield found McMillan behind the defense on the left sideline and hit him for a gain of 33 to the Miami 41. A scrambling incompletion stopped the clock with 56 seconds left in the half. A catch-and-run by Irving that would have gained another first down was marred by a downfield holding call that pushed the ball all the way back to the Miami 44. On second-and-13, Mayfield tried a downfield shot to Evans but it was well-covered and incomplete. After taking a timeout, Mayfield hit McMillan for a gain of seven to set up a 55-yard field goal try by McLaughlin, but it was blocked by 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 touchback to start the second half put the Bucs at their own 35. A play-action pass to WR Emeka Egbuka picked up a quick seven but a shotgun handoff to Irving was stopped for no gain. Mayfield scrambled on third down and tried to throw on the run to Godwin but his pass hit the dirt in front of the receiver. Riley Dixon's punt was downed at the Miami 31 after a net of just 27 yards.

After a false start, Ewers threw downfield in Waller's direction but it was well out of reach. On the next play, Diaby broke immediately through the line and swarmed over Ewers for a nine-yard sack, and the Dolphins just gave it to Achane on third-and-24. He got two and the Dolphins punted it back, with Johnson's 12-yard return taking it to the Tampa Bay 35. A swing pass to White was good for six yards, and Mayfield scrambled on second down for three more. Mayfield then kept the game alive with a wild back-and-forth scramble that got him just past the sticks. After a seven-yard White run, Mayfield found Tez Johnson on a crossing route and hit him stride for a gain of 17 to the Miami 30. A shot to Evans in the end zone didn't work, and Irving was tackled by his foot on second down to make it third-and-10. Mayfield saved the day again with another scramble, this time diving at the end to get 11 yards and a first down at the 19. Irving final broke loose on his next carry, darting up the middle for 12 yards to the seven. CB Jack Jones run-blitzed off the left edge on first-and-goal and dropped Irving for a loss of two. White couldn't get through traffic on a short pass on second down, leaving the Bucs in a third-and-goal from the eight. On third down, Mayfield tried to pull up short on a pass and ended up loosing control of the ball. He was able to recover to set up a 33-yard field goal by McLaughlin.

Miami 17, Tampa Bay 10 – 3:49 remaining in the third quarter

Return man Malik Washington got the momentum right back for the home team, returning the next kickoff 47 yards to the Bucs' 45. LB SirVocea Dennis dropped Achane for a loss of five on first down but the Dolphins back broke tackles going around left end on the next play and got 18 yards to the Bucs' 32. Two more Achane runs took it down to the 20. OLB Jason Pierre-Paul got a hand on Ewers' next pass and a false start made it second-and-15. An eight-yard run by Wright brought the third quarter to a close. On third-and-seven, Ewers threw short over the middle to Washington but Parrish came up quickly to make the stop and the Dolphins sent out Washington for a 31-yard field goal to restore the 10-point lead.

Miami 20, Tampa Bay 10 – 14:15 remaining in the fourth quarter

After a touchback, Mayfield went deep down the left sideline to Evans but the receiver was called for offensive pass interference. Short passes to Egbuka and Godwin got the Bucs into a third-and-seven, but a difficult pass through traffic to Evans was too hard to hold onto and the punt unit came on. Dixon dropped his kick near the goal line and it bounced back to the four where it was downed by long-snapper Evan Deckers.

Another false start moved the ball back to the two, and Dennis kept Achane from gaining anything on a first-and-12 carry. S Christian Izien figured out a quick pass to Waller and dropped him at the one-yard line. However, Ewers was able to get the ball to TE Julian Hill for a 15-yard completion on third-and-11 that kept the drive moving. Three plays later, with the clock descending below 10 minutes, the Dolphins faced a third-and-nine and nearly got another conversion on a slant to WR Cedrick Wilson that went for eight. The ensuing punt was fair caught at the Bucs' 21 with 8:37 left in regulation.

The Bucs went into hurry-up mode and Mayfield found Egbuka for seven yards before a hurried incompletion made it third down. Mayfield then found McMillan wide open out to the right and the receiver raced up the sideline for a 33-yard gain to the Miami 43. After a miracle escape from a near sack on the next play, Mayfield was able to find Evans for 11 yards, but on the next play he tried to fit a seam pass through coverage to Egbuka and it was intercepted by Davis at the five-yard line. Davis returned it to the Miami 26 with seven minutes left in regulation.

The Bucs' defense managed to get off the field quickly, with CB Benjamin Morrison making an acrobatic pass breakup on third down to force a punt, but the clock was down to 5:20 when the offense got the ball back, still down two scores.

Two quick passes to Godwin picked up 17 yards but a deeper shot to Egbuka was broken up. An outlet pass to Irving on third down left the Bucs in a fourth-and-one but Godwin broke a tackle to get the necessary yards, then continued fighting to get to the sideline and stop the clock. Now at the Miami 38, Mayfield threw to McMillan for seven but he was sacked by Chubb on the next play and lost a fumble, with the OLB Quinton Bell recovering for the defense at the Miami 41.

A Ewers scramble on third down three plays later gained a first down and continued to drain the clock. Three runs then left Miami in a fourth-and-four at the two-minute warning. The Dolphins punted down to the Bucs' nine-yard line with 1:50 left.

The Buccaneers managed to make it a one-score game with a 60-second, 91-yard touchdown drive. Godwin did most of the damage, taking a pass and dashing 58 yards all the way to the Miami 32. A pass-interference call drawn by Evans made it first-and-goal at the four and Mayfield then rolled left and threw to Evans in the end zone for a four-yard touchdown.

The Buccaneers attempted an onside kick after that score and McLaughlin got his skimmer to take a big hop near the 10-yard mark, but Achane jumped to corral it and was able to hold on.