Buccaneers rally to beat Chargers: Final Score, Stats & Analysis

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rally to beat Los Angeles Chargers, improve to 3-1 on the season

It wasn’t the pretty outing from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers we’ve ever seen, but it was enough to get the job done.

The Buccaneers- after taking a 7-0 lead on their first drive of the game- would allow the Chargers to score 24 unanswered (one touchdown coming off a pick-six from Brady) and get the ball back with a little less than a minute in the first half up 24-14, but that’s when everything changed. Ndamukong Suh forced a fumble that was recovered by Devin White at the Chargers’ 8-yard line. That led to Tom Brady finding Mike Evans for a 6-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 24-14 heading into halftime.

While the offense was frustrating to watch in the first half, the unit heated up in the second half. Brady found O.J. Howard for a 28-yard touchdown and then he hit Scotty Miller for a 19-yard score to give the Bucs a 28-24 lead in the third quarter. That’s when the Chargers answered with their own blow- a 72-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert to Jalen Guyton.

Down 31-28 early in the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers went on a drive and rookie RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn scored the first touchdown of his career on a 9-yard reception from Brady and then, following a defensive stop, Ryan Succop drilled a 26-yard field goal to give Tampa Bay a 38-31 lead with 2:44 remaining.

It was up to the defense to win the game and the unit did just that. Carlton Davis came away with an interception that ultimately sealed the game and gave Tampa Bay the victory.

Buccaneers Stats & Analysis from the win over the Chargers

Passing: Tom Brady 30-of-46 for 369 yards and 5 TDs, 1 INT.

Rushing: Ronald Jones II 20 carries for 111 yards (5.6 YPC).

Receiving: Mike Evans 7 catches for 122 yards, 1 TD; Scotty Miller 5 catches for 83 yards, 1 TD; O.J. Howard 3 catches for 50 yards, 1 TD; Ke’Shawn Vaughn 2 catches for 22 yards, 1 TD.

Analysis:

It was a tale of two halves in which the game can really be traced back to that forced fumble by Ndamukong Suh. That changed all of the momentum and gave the Buccaneers the added confidence needed that they could get the job done.

Both the offense and the defense struggled at times in the first half, but both units looked much improved in the second half.

Though Mike Evans clearly wasn’t 100 percent, he played at a high level and made the plays necessary to win. Tom Brady threw that pick-six in the first half and struggled, but he was absolutely lights out in the second half and was the veteran leader that Tampa Bay needed.

Perhaps the biggest blow of the day was finding out that TE O.J. Howard left the game with an Achilles injury. It looks as if he’ll be done for the season.

The Buccaneers will travel up to Chicago to take on the Bears this Thursday night in a game that will be nationally televised. The Pewter Plank will be providing complete postgame coverage and analysis as we continue to break down this win and look forward to the game on Thursday.