As the lights dimmed at SoFi Stadium midway through the fourth quarter to start a hype video, hundreds of fans streamed toward the exits. The lights went out with the Chargers’ 40-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Chargers lost ground in a tight AFC wild-card race on Sunday, giving up 27 unanswered points in the second half and falling to seventh place in the AFC playoff standings.

Entering Week 15 as one of three 8-5 teams in a playoff berth, the Chargers (8-6) gave up a season-high in yards (506) and points and fell behind the Baltimore Ravens and the Baltimore Ravens in the playoff standings Denver Broncos back.

After losing consecutive games for just the second time this season, the Chargers will have to quickly regroup for an important AFC West matchup against the Broncos on Thursday at SoFi Stadium.

Quarterback Justin Herbert threw for two touchdowns and 195 yards, but had a pass intercepted for the first time since Week 2. His streak of passes without an interception ended at 357, just one point less than Tom Brady for the fourth-longest streak in NFL history.

But a personal record was the least of Herbert’s worries when Tampa Bay cornerback Jamel Dean blocked the quarterback’s errant pass.

The Buccaneers (8-6) converted Herbert’s miss four plays later into a 35-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield to Mike Evans to lead 30-17 with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

Tampa Bay erased a four-point halftime deficit caused in part by two turnovers in the second quarter by scoring 17 points on three consecutive drives in the third quarter.

Evans had nine catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns, while Mayfield threw off a second-half interception and finished with 288 passing yards and four touchdowns. He completed 22 of 27 pass attempts against defenses entering the game, yielding a league-best 15.9 points per game.

With 117 yards rushing from running back Bucky Irving, the Buccaneers were able to demonstrate their balanced offense compared to the Chargers’ running game, which only managed 32 yards on the ground.