During Tampa Bay’s 20-19 win over the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football, Nick Chubb rushed for a go-ahead 25-yard touchdown with 2:10 remaining.
Due to Antoine Winfield Jr.’s apparent lack of urgency to chase Chubb down as he raced toward the end zone, many speculated that head coach Todd Bowles made the heads-up call to let the Texans score to give his offense another chance with the ball rather than allowing Houston to run out the clock.
Both Winfield Jr. and Bowles spoke to the media after practice Wednesday, and neither did much to dispel the theory.
Winfield Jr. and Bowles address the (alleged) strategic late-game decision
When reporters asked Winfield directly if he gave it his all on Chubb’s touchdown run or intentionally let him score, he coyly responded, “It was a great run. I’m just going to say that.”
Pressed multiple times with the same question, Winfield smiled and simply repeated, “It was a good run.”
“It was a great run by him,” Antoine Winfield says with a smile, asked if he might have let Nick Chubb score to get the Bucs the ball back late in Monday’s win over the Texans.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 17, 2025
Similar to Winfield, Bowles offered little clarity, opting to stay cryptic and instead of dispelling the theories.
Bowles was asked if he’d confirm the speculation that Tampa Bay let the Texans score. “I don’t think it matters. We won the game, so we’ll go from there,” he said.
When pressed again with a follow-up of, “Not going to tell us?” Bowles smirked and shut it down with just two words: “At all.”
Todd Bowles doesn’t reveal whether or not the Bucs let the Texans score at the end of the game on Nick Chubb’s run.
— River Wells (@riverhwells) September 17, 2025
“Not gonna tell us?”
“At all.” pic.twitter.com/ioxuPk8z9H
Ultimately, whether or now the Buccaneers intentionally let the Texans score isn't too important. What matters is that it paid off by allowing Baker Mayfield and the offense to get one more chance with the ball to put together a signature moment with a last-second victory.
With the win, the Buccaneers broke their prime-time curse, earning their first win in the national spotlight in the Mayfield era after going 0-2 in 2023 and 0-5 in 2024. Prior to the win over Houston, the Buccaneers' last prime-time win was all the way back in 2022 when Tom Brady led a comeback win in a 16-13 overtime thriller on Christmas night against the Trace McSorely-led Arizona Cardinals.
Getting this monkey off their back was huge for Tampa Bay, as they still have three prime-time games remaining on the schedule – all against NFC playoff contenders in games that could have massive postseason implications, and building on this momentum in the national spotlight will be crucial to their long-term success.
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