TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally appeared to get the momentum they desperately needed as they hosted the Washington Commanders in the NFC wild-card game Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium.

Their defense had held the visitors to a field goal early in the third quarter. Their offense orchestrated a touchdown that gave them a lead, and then the Bucs defense delivered a goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter that left Washington empty-handed after an incomplete pass from Jayden Daniels in the end zone on fourth down rejected. The play gave Tampa Bay the ball back deep into its own territory with just under fifteen minutes left.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield was so pleased with his team’s apparent momentum and chances of closing the door on a time-consuming possession that he said, “That drive felt like we went 96 yards.”

And then came the collapse that led to Mayfield and the Buccaneers losing 23-20 to the surprising Commanders in the playoffs.

• An awkwardly executed jet sweep for rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan resulted in a fumble when Mayfield’s handoff bounced off McMillan’s hip and fell to the ground, where Washington linebacker Bobby Wagner caught it back at the 13-yard line.

• Four plays later – another fourth down for Washington – Daniels fired a throw into the back of the end zone to Terry McLaurin for a 5-yard touchdown, giving the Commanders a 20-17 lead with 9:46 left.

• Six plays later, a promising Bucs possession fell apart when Washington’s defensive line stuffed a Mayfield keeper in vain. Then an early snap from center Graham Barton surprised his linemates. They had barely moved when running back Bucky Irving received the handoff and was surrounded by defenders, resulting in a 2-yard loss. The Bucs had to settle for a game-winning field goal with 4:41 left rather than a touchdown that gave them the lead.

• Daniels – cooler than on the other side of the cushion – then marched his team 51 yards and completed three consecutive passes for 45 yards before scrambling for 4 yards on third-and-2 for the first down, the Washington kicker Zane Gonzalez lined up a 37-yard field goal with no time remaining. Dagger.

This ended the Buccaneers’ season. During a campaign marked by serious injuries, losing streaks and a shaky battle for the division, the Bucs showed great resilience, finishing the regular season 10-7. But on Sunday evening, numerous self-inflicted wounds ensured that Tampa Bay was eliminated from the playoffs early and thus began a long off-season.

“If you don’t do all the little things right, you’re always going to get beat in the playoffs because you’re always playing a good team in the playoffs and they’re going to capitalize on that,” Mayfield said during his postgame press conference. “So, yes, you view a loss like that as extremely disappointing because you feel like you could have controlled it and could have capitalized on some of these things.”

Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said, “We shot ourselves in the foot on first downs and took a lot of penalties in the first half… we didn’t give ourselves a chance. “We turned the ball over that way with field position. (It felt) like we never got into a good rhythm.”

Bowles’ team became the first higher-seeded team this postseason to lose. The Houston Texans steamrolled the Los Angeles Chargers and the Baltimore Ravens embarrassed the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday. On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills defeated the visiting Denver Broncos while the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers.

It’s generally hard to win games in the NFL without winning the turnover battle or gaining the lead in converting third and fourth downs. It’s virtually impossible to win in the playoffs without being successful in these areas.

The Buccaneers fell short in a number of key statistical categories. They had the decisive turnover, while Washington never spit the ball out (Tampa Bay has struggled to force turnovers all season). They committed seven penalties for 65 yards while Washington committed just five fouls for 39 yards. They had the Commanders convert eight of 15 third downs into first downs and three of five fourth downs into first downs or touchdowns. They also allowed themselves to be dominated by Washington in times of possession (35:26 to 24:34).

The team with prior postseason experience is often the one that delivers the cleanest performance. But it was the Buccaneers who were making their fifth straight playoff appearance, hosting a Washington team that hadn’t won a playoff game since the 2005 season. They were outplayed and overtaken.

“You have to give them credit,” Bowles said. “They made plays. (Daniels) did them all year long. … We had a chance to make some plays that we didn’t make. But it was a combination of both. They made plays and we didn’t make the plays when we had the chance.”

The Commanders’ storybook season continues. The Buccaneers enter the offseason shocked by what could have been.

The 2024 season started promisingly as Tampa Bay defeated Washington in the season opener and then upset Detroit in Week 2. Tampa Bay, which had a 4-2 record in mid-October, then lost four straight because of serious injuries. Then came the four-game winning streak after the bye, a loss and then two more wins to clinch the NFC South and a spot in the postseason.

As the season progressed, rookies Irving, McMillan and Barton developed into core members of the offense. Meanwhile, other young players like safety Tykee Smith, edge rushers Chris Braswell and Yaya Diaby, defensive lineman Calijah Kancey, safety Christian Izien and Kaevon Merriweather, and cornerback Zyon McCollum made significant contributions to the defense.

The Buccaneers considered themselves battle-tested entering the postseason. But a handful of errors made it virtually impossible to maintain rhythm against Washington. Late in the first half, Mayfield and Mike Evans rushed cornerback Marshon Lattimore five times for 65 yards and a touchdown. In the third quarter, Irving scored on runs of 5, 6, 19, 10 and 6 yards before scoring on a 4-yard reception.

But the mistakes kept popping up and adding up, leaving Tampa Bay at a deficit and wondering: What if?

“If you miss three or four plays, it’s a different ball game,” Barton said. “I thought that overall we were error-free, but like I said, in the playoffs you make a few mistakes like that and you’re not going to win the game, or at least you don’t deserve to. So that’s what happened tonight. And it’s unfortunate that you know the season is over for this team.”

Ultimately, the Buccaneers will reflect on the season and be encouraged by the obstacles they have overcome and the optimism of the up-and-coming players who have gained valuable experience. But the loss hurt, and no one in the locker room was interested in moral victories.

“It’s disappointing overall because I believe in this team,” Mayfield said. “I believe we have the talent, the coaching staff and everyone around us to be able to go far. But when you look back and try to take a step back, you see broadly: This group struggled. … There were a lot of young guys that will be on this roster next year that have had to make big strides for a while, and those guys who know who they are as players and as men in crucial situations, that’s something to be proud of on.

“But at the moment it’s just so disappointing again not to make the plays that we needed to make and that we were able to make.”

(Photo by Baker Mayfield: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)