A quick out to McLaurin with seven minutes left in the half brought seven minutes, but Ekeler got nothing on a second-down run. The Bucs quickly pressured Daniels on third down, but he made a short pass to Ekeler just past the post. Daniels ran for a total of 10 yards on the next two snaps, then escaped pressure and fought his way up the middle for five more to the Bucs’ 43rd yard. Two plays later, on third and fourth, Diaby sacked Daniels, but the drive lasted due to a defensive holding call on CB Zyon McCollum. That’s when the Bucs got the stop when McCollum parried a third-down end zone shot to McLaurin, but Washington still scored three points on a 52-yard field goal by Zane Gonzales right after the two-minute warning.

The Bucs had a shot two minutes after Rachaad White’s 24-yard kickoff return at the 26-yard route. A White run and incompletion quickly led to a third-and-nine, but Mayfield started up the middle and fought his way to the 45-yard line. Mayfield then fired a hard deep pass to Evans over midfield for 11 yards and another first down. A strike over the middle to TE Cade Otton scored another 12 before Mayfield hit Evans again with an inbreaker that moved Evans to the Washington 12. The Bucs used their second timeout with 17 seconds left in the half. Mayfield looked at Evans in one-on-one coverage and directed a pass interference call to CB Marshon Lattimore for first-and-goal. On the next snap, Mayfield took a shotgun snap and turned again to Evans, who executed a quick jab step-out and then slanted for a one-yard score.

Washington got the ball first in the second half and started at its own 30 line after a touchback. A quick pass to Zaccheaus and a Robinson run created a third-and-1, and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota came in to take the ball for the first down. Two plays later, Daniels scrambled to his right and found Brown wide open for a 30-yard catch-and-run. On the very next play, these two met again and achieved another lead of 24 on the Bucs’ three. Three plays later, on third-and-goal, CB Jamel Dean broke up a pass intended for McLaurin and the Commanders settled for another three-pointer from Gonzalez from 22 yards out.

After White’s kickoff return, the kickoff went to the Bucs’ 28 line, then he drew a facemask penalty on a first-down catch to move the ball to the 44-yard line. A five-yard run by Irving was countered by a false start by Otton. Irving ran again for six. Evans saved the day again with a deep slant shot for 18 yards to the Washington 32. A throw to left eventually sent Irving into the open field for another 19 to the 13. A 12-men-in-the-huddle cost the Bucs five yards But Irving shot through the middle for the 10th. A throw left to Irving was just enough to score first and second. The Bucs didn’t huddle, but it backfired as Irving was trapped with a three-point loss. A defensive hold on the next snap provided first-and-goal for the two. A sack on first down lost two yards, but a play-action rollout pass to Irving worked perfectly for a four-point lead with 4:31 left in the third quarter.

After another touchback, the Commanders gained five yards on a defensive call to Dean, and then a designed run up the middle netted six for Daniels. On the next snap, Daniels had plenty of time to throw and found McLaurin with a crosser for a lead of 17 at the Bucs’ 42. Robinson scored five points on a first-down catch, but the Commanders gave it back on an ineligible man. Downfield penalty. Two plays later, on third-and-six, Daniels threw low in Ertz’s direction, but the Commanders elected to go for it on fourth down to the Bucs’ 37. Daniels went to Ertz again on a cross route and this time it was good for a first down at the 23. The third quarter ended with a third-and-nine for the Commanders at the 22. After the teams switched sides, McCollum called it first-and-goal on the one for pass interference in the end zone. Daniels was chased into an incompletion by Yaya Diaby and Kancey dropped Robinson for a loss of two. LB Deion Jones nearly intercepted Daniels’ next pass, and the Commanders tried on fourth down, but the next pass ended up on the ground in the end zone.

The Bucs had the ball back on their own four with 14 minutes to go. Irving hit a quick shot over the left guard for four, but was immediately overwhelmed by DE Jalyn Holmes and lost a shot on the next play. Evans then made an incredible move, intercepting an outside pass just in front of the post but stretching the ball over the line as it fell backwards. Unfortunately, Mayfield lost the ball on the next snap on an attempted fake handoff to McMillan and Washington recovered at the Bucs’ 13.

A Daniels keeper got nothing and a pass to the left flat to Brown got four. Ekeler’s four-yard catch set up fourth-and-2, and the Commanders tried again, this time successfully when Daniels found McLaurin in the middle of the end zone.

After a White kickoff return to the 25, Mayfield found McMillan wide open in a hole in the zone in the middle of the field for a lead of 26. Irving fended off several tackles to score six on the next play, and a Mayfield keeper made it third-and-2 at the Washington 41. The Bucs stormed to the line and Mayfield threw an outlet pass to Otton for 20 yards to the 21. Yard to 12, but Mayfield had nothing on a read-option keeper. After a botched play on third down, the Bucs had to settle for a game-winning field goal from McLaughlin’s with 4:41 left.

After a touchback, Hayes quickly connected with a quick out to McLaurin to limit the game to five yards, and the Bucs’ defense overwhelmed Robinson on second down, losing a yard. On third down, Daniels had time to find Brown, who crossed from left to right for a 21-point lead to the Bucs’ 45 points. A winless run from Ekeler triggered the two-minute warning. After the break, Daniels threw a pass to Ekeler, who evaded the tacklers to get to the 27th line. Three plays later, Daniels defeated several tacklers in the backfield and managed to get past the sticks for a first down, allowing Washington to run out the clock to within three seconds of the game-winning goal.