Tampa Bay 10, Arizona 0 – 1:36 remaining in the second quarter

Tampa Bay’s coverage unit stopped WR Andre Baccellia at the Arizona 23. Under quick pressure from LB SirVocea Dennis, Brissett threw the ball away wildly and was flagged for intentional grounding. A short pass over the middle to RB Michael Carter put Arizona into a third-and-nine, and the Bucs used their first timeout hoping to get the ball before halftime. Brissett foiled those plans by finding Harrison deep over the middle for a gain of 21. A deep out to Wilson tacked on 10 more to the Bucs’ 45. One more catch by TE Elijah Higgins put the ball at the 34 and the Cardinals spiked the ball with two seconds left. K Chad Ryland drilled a 52-yard field goal straight down the middle but not before the Bucs had called a timeout. He got another shot at it and did the exact same thing to avoid the first-half shutout.

Tampa Bay 10, Arizona 3 – 0:00 remaining in the second quarter.

Arizona got a boost to start the second half as Baccellia returned the kickoff all the way to the Arizona 42. Knight broke a tackle in the backfield to find the right edge for a 13-yard run into Bucs territory. Knight found a gap up the middle on his next carry but Hall poked the ball out and Tykee Smith immediately fell on it at the 40.

A nice run around right end by Tucker was nullified by offsetting penalties. Mayfield’s next pass to Egbuka was incomplete, and Tucker’s next run was met in the backfield for a loss of two. Mayfield started to scramble away from trouble on third down but could see no solution and just threw the ball away. Dixon’s punt was fair caught at the Arizona 20 but a holding call moved it back to the 10.

Brissett got the Cardinals some breathing room with a quick slant to Wilson for 15 yards, but his deep throw to McBride was out of reach. A receiver screen to Dortch was well-blocked for another 12-yard gain, and two plays later a flare pass to Knight led to a 13-yard pick-up into the Bucs’ half of the field. A swing pass to Carter found him wide open for another big gain to the Bucs’ 32. Three plays later, on third-and-three, Brissett took a shot to the end zone to Harrison but it was incomplete and Ryland came out to try a 43-yard field goal. This one he pushed to the right to keep the Bucs up by seven.

Tampa Bay’s came back onto the field at its 33-yard line and Irving pushed through a pack for two yards on first down. A rollout pass on second down was well-covered and incomplete, but on third down the Bucs set up max protection for Mayfield, giving him time to rip a pass downfield to Egbuka for a gain of 23 to the Arizona 42. Two plays later, Godwin ran a curl into the left flat and was able to sprint downfield after the catch for 22 yards to the 18. Two plays later, Irving got a handoff headed towards the middle of the pack but then dashed out to the left and cut up through a seam to make it all the way to the end zone on a 13-yard run.

Tampa Bay 17, Arizona 3 – 3:56 remaining in the third quarter

Arizona’s next drive started at its 28 and Brissett immediately hit Harrison on a deep out for a gain of 17. DL C.J. Brewer got a hand on Brissett’s next pass but the resulting wobbler still made it to McBride for 18 yards and a first down at the Bucs’ 37. Two plays later, Knight found a gap over right guard and dashed upfield to the Bucs’ 22. Two snaps after that, Brissett eluded two would-be sackers in the backfield and sprinted left, eventually throwing on the run to a wide-open Knight for a 15-yard score.

Tampa Bay 17, Arizona 10 – 0:31 remaining in the third quarter

Kam Johnson muffed the ensuing kickoff and thus had to take a knee in the end zone, putting the ball at the Bucs’ 20. A pass to Irving in the right flat turned into a 20-yard gain to get the drive started as the third quarter expired. The fourth period started with a five-yard Irving run up the middle, but Mayfield had to throw the ball away on second down. Mayfield then dialed up a very deep shot to Shepard on third down and it was broken up by S Jalen Thompson. Kam Johnson was on the spot to drag Dortch down after he field Dixon’s punt at the Arizona 12 with 14 minutes left in regulation.

The Bucs swarmed over Carter for a loss of two on first down, and a quick pass to Higgins left Arizona in third-and-four at the 18. Carter caught a flare pass short of the line to gain but broke three tackles to get six yards and an improbable third-down conversion. Three plays later, on third-and-one, the Cardinals tried to catch the Bucs napping and threw deep to Wilson but it was well-covered and incomplete. The Cardinals went for it on fourth-and-inches with Brissett pitching left to Knight, but Anthony Nelson wrapped him up and dropped him just short of the sticks.

The Bucs thus took over on downs in Arizona territory. Irving made half the Cardinals defense miss on a first-down flare pass but all for just three yards, and his next run was stopped for a loss of three. A third-down seam pass to Egbuka was too tall but McLaughlin came out to drill a 57-yard field goal and make it a two-score game.

Tampa Bay 20, Arizona 10 – 8:58 left in the fourth quarter

The Bucs’ coverage team didn’t let Baccellia to get past the 27 but Carter pounded for six yards on first down. Brissett’s next pass found McBride in a hole in the zone to get the ball across midfield. A pass out to the right to Wilson was good for 10 more, and Carter took a pitch left for eight to the Bucs’ 29. After getting a first down at the 25, Brissett ran up the middle two plays later for another set of downs at the 15. After one shot into the end zone missed, Brissett got the next one between two defenders to McBride for the 15-yard score.

Tampa Bay 20, Arizona 17 – 4:58 left in the fourth quarter

Kam Johnson was dropped quickly at the Bucs’ 21 on his ensuing kickoff return, and a swing pass to White only got two. Tez Johnson caught a rollout pass on second down and slipped past two tacklers to get five more. The Bucs trusted Irving on third-and-three and he bounced off tacklers long enough to get past the sticks. After Irving’s next run got nothing, the Cardinals used their first timeout with 2:38 left. Mayfield threw to Irving on second down for no gain and the Cardinals used a second timeout. Mayfield had to scramble on third down and was wrapped up five yards short of the line to gain as the two-minute warning arrived. Dixon then hit a 58-yard punt and Markees Watts dropped Dortch at the Arizona nine.

A swing pass under pressure to Dortch was good for three but kept the clock running, as it did after a five-yard underneath pass to Carter. Brissett’s third-down pass was incomplete, and Dennis broke up a fourth-down pass to Wilson to end the possession. Since there were only 52 seconds left and the Cardinals were down to one last timeout, the Bucs were able to finish the game with a trio of kneel-downs.