It was a Sunday night that went from bad to worse for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were dominated by the Los Angeles Rams in a 34-7 defeat and lost quarterback Baker Mayfield, who suffered a left shoulder sprain.
After a 5-1 start, Tampa Bay has lost four of five — and three straight — to drop into an overnight first-place tie in the NFC South with 6-5 Carolina, pending the Panthers' game Monday night against San Francisco.
Over the past three games, the Bucs have given up 106 points and 1,183 yards to the opposition. The Rams' offense accounted for 333 yards on Sunday as Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes — two to Davante Adams.
"They outplayed us," Bucs coach Todd Bowles understated.
Of greater concern for Tampa Bay is the health of Mayfield, who is scheduled to undergo an MRI on his non-throwing left shoulder on Monday, Bowles said.
Mayfield went into the medical tent after throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tez Johnson in the second quarter, holding his left shoulder.
Mayfield returned to the game but aggravated the injury on a Hail Mary attempt that was intercepted by Emmanuel Forbes Jr. to end the half. After the play, Mayfield knelt while clutching his shoulder in discomfort.
Backup Teddy Bridgewater came into the game on the first possession of the second half, and Mayfield was seen on the Tampa Bay sideline in street clothes with his left arm in a sling.
With Mayfield's status unknown, Bowles said he was confident with Bridgewater, a 10-year veteran who came out of retirement this season after spending a year coaching at Northwestern High School, his alma mater in Miami.
“Well, Teddy will play if he’s out for some time,” Bowles said. “Very confident in what Teddy can do with a full week of practice taking every snap and every play. We think he’ll be fine.”
Before the injury, Mayfield completed nine of 19 passes for 41 yards, the one TD and two interceptions. He was sacked twice and ran four times for 19 yards.
Bridgewater entered with the Bucs down 31-7 and managed just 70 net yards passing.
"Not the ideal situation to be in when they’ve got a big lead and they’ve got their ears pinned back every play," Bowles said. "But he performed well under pressure.”
Rams are the NFC's top seed after 12 weeks
Los Angeles, winner of six straight, is in sole possession of the NFC West at 9-2 and sits as the conference’s top seed with six weeks remaining in the season.
Most of the night, Stafford torched the Bucs' defense at will, finding open receivers downfield while facing little in the way of a pass rush. He completed 25 of 35 for 273 yards while extending his streak to 308 pass attempts without an interception — only the NFL's eighth such streak with at least 300 attempts this century.
"It was an embarrassing performance all around," Bucs linebacker Lavonte David said. "We can't have football games like this if we want to be the team we want to be."
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The Rams' defense also shined, allowing just 123 yards in the first three quarters on a night when the team honored Aaron Donald, who retired in March 2024 after 10 superb seasons on the team's defensive line.
Jared Verse and Kobie Turner had two sacks apiece for the Rams, who haven't lost since Oct. 2 and haven't trailed since the second quarter of a win over Baltimore in Week 6.
Puka Nacua had seven catches for 97 yards, while Adams boosted his NFL lead to 12 touchdown receptions, including nine in the Rams' last five games. New kicker Harrison Mevis also made his first two NFL field goal attempts.
Rams take a big early lead
Adams capped the Rams' 80-yard opening drive with a 1-yard fade in the right corner of the end zone, his eighth straight scoring grab that covered fewer than 5 yards over the last five games.
Less than three minutes later, Cobie Durant ripped the ball away from a juggling Cade Otton and returned the interception 50 yards for his second career TD, with Kam Kinchens blocking Mayfield near the goal line to finish it.
"I didn't focus enough and tried to run before I made the catch," Otton said of his bobble. "A huge play that turned the game."
In the second quarter, Stafford completed his first 12 passes before hitting Colby Parkinson for a 5-yard TD.
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"Obviously, the big plays on defense, the three or four plays, the pick-6 when the ball bounces off," Bowles said. "Once you get off to a slow start that way against a team like that, that's great within their own right, it's hard to play catch-up in that aspect."
Down 21-0, Mayfield and the Bucs finally answered with a drive ending in Johnson's 14-yard TD catch. But Los Angeles needed just four plays to score again, with Adams getting loose for a 24-yard TD.
What's next for the Bucs?
Tampa Bay returns home to host the Arizona Cardinals (3-8) at 1 p.m. Sunday, the first of three consecutive games at Raymond James Stadium. At halftime, Simeon Rice will become the 16th member of the Bucs Ring of Honor.
"We got a bad taste in our mouth the last two weeks," Bowles said. "We come home for a three-game homestand. Everything we need to do is right in front of us, and we've got a lot of work to do."
The Panthers and Buccaneers will play twice in the final three weeks of the regular season. It could be Bridgewater starting those crucial games
Bridgewater arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday morning after attending a funeral in Miami.
“My mentor actually passed away and I went back home for his funeral, so I got here about 10:30 this morning, and had to play in the game,” Bridgewater said. “I think it’s pretty cool. My lifestyle is more like a rock star, I guess. But it’s unfortunate that, you know, it came by way of injury.
Bridgewater didn’t want to speculate about whether Mayfield would be available against the Cardinals.
“You never want to see guys injured, especially your leader. But Baker’s a tough guy, man. He tried to come back out there and tough it out for the guys. That says a lot about him, says a lot about this team.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
