Tampa Bay Buccaneers Waste Fourth Quarter Comeback in Overtime

It took just seven seconds for it all to come crashing down.

After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stormed back in the fourth quarter and headed to over time with the Minnesota Vikings, Austin Seferian-Jenkins fumbled on the opening play of the extra quarter and saw it returned by Anthony Barr for a 19-13 Minnesota win.

ASJ took a Mike Glennon pass for 10 yards but was stripped by Barr who recovered the loose ball and returned it 27 yards for the game winning score.

The Bucs (1-6) had entered the fourth quarter trailing 10-0 but scored on three straight drives to take the lead.

Rookie kicker Patrick Murray made 54 and 45-yard field goals before Glennon hit ASJ for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 2:02 left to give Tampa Bay a 13-10 lead.

The Vikings (3-4) tied the game as time expired as Blair Walsh hit a 38-yard field goal after Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater drove his team down the field. The game could have ended before that though as Johnthan Banks jumped a route but couldn’t hold on to the interception that would have sealed a Buccaneers win.

Minnesota had taken a 3-0 lead as time expired in a dismal first half when Walsh kicked a 46-yard field goal. He had missed a 56-yard attempt on the Vikings’ opening drive of the game.

It was 10-0 Minnesota midway through the third quarter after Bridgewater tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings.

It was an offensive struggle all game long for the Bucs as they finished with just 225 yards on offense and went a measly 1-of-12 on third down.

Glennon was 19-of-28 for 171 yards but also threw an interception on the Bucs’ opening drive of the game.

Doug Martin, milled in trade rumours, was poor again, adding just 27 yards on the ground. His back up, Bobby Rainey, had 66 yards of total offense while Mike Evans had four catches for 78 yards.

Defensively, the Bucs gave up 322 yards but managed to stop the Vikings offense routinely despite not having a takeaway. As a team, they had six tackles for loss, broke up seven passes and had five quarterback hits. Fresh of his new contract, Gerald McCoy had a half sack with Clinton McDonald. Lavonte David had 14 tackles while Alterraun Verner and Dashon Goldson had eight each.

This is the second overtime loss of the season for Tampa Bay after they lost 37-31 to New Orleans in week 5.

The Bucs are on the road next Sunday when they take on the Cleveland Browns.