After falling to the Bills 24-18 on Thursday night, the Buccaneers are now 3-4.
The club started the season 3-1 before a Week 5 bye. But Tampa Bay has fallen to Detroit, Atlanta, and Buffalo since then. The club also has scored just six, 13, and 18 points, respectively, in each loss.
“Losing three in a row sucks,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said after Thursday’s game, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “There’s no way around that. ... But we showed fight tonight. That’s the one thing we can hang our hats on. We gave it everything we had late there, but we’ve got to play better early on. You can’t hurt yourselves.”
Mayfield finished the game 25-of-42 for 237 yards with two touchdowns. He also rushed three times for 19 yards.
The quarterback came into the game questionable with a knee injury but played every snap in a gritty performance, giving Tampa Bay a chance to win with a good Hail Mary throw on the last play. Buffalo sacked Mayfield three times, finishing with a total of 10 quarterback hits.
“I’ll say this, I’m happy we’ve got a long weekend,” Mayfield said.
In seven games this season, Mayfield has a 64.2 percent completion rate, throwing for 1,600 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions — good for an 89.5 passer rating. But the Bucs are scoring just 17.3 points per game, which ranks No. 26.
“We have the fight, now we need to show we have the execution of the fundamental stuff,” Mayfield said.
Tampa Bay will be on the road again for a matchup against Houston in Week 9.