Fitzpatrick out, Winston in
Immediately the vibe changes as the former number one overall pick took the field in the Meadowlands. His first pass of the game is a 17 yard strike to wide receiver Chris Godwin, and the Buccaneers were back in business; the Buccaneers would go on to score on this drive as Mike Evans would pounce on a loose ball in the endzone.
The defense, however, was still struggling to contain Manning, Barkley, Beckham, and the Giants’ offense. They would immediately drive down the field and score another touchdown on a eight yard pass from Manning to Beckham Jr. to put the Giants up 31-14 now in the fourth quarter of play.
The now Winston-led Buccaneers, however, would not go away as they responded with a seven play drive for 77 yards and another touchdown. This time it was running back Peyton Barber who found paydirt on a five yard run to keep the Buccaneers in this one, now down 31-21.
After forcing a Giants’ three and out, the Buccaneers again put together another seven play drive for 70 yards, ending in a touchdown strike from Winston to now Tennessee Titans’ receiver Adam Humphries from eight yards out. With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, all of a sudden we had a game again as the Buccaneers cut the lead down to three points, 31-28.