HOUSTON (AP) — Baker Mayfield led an 11-play, 80-yard drive capped by Rachaad White’s 2-yard touchdown run with 6 seconds left, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rallied past the Houston Texans 20-19 on Monday night.
Mayfield threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns for the Bucs (2-0), and his 15-yard scramble on fourth-and-10 kept the game-winning drive going.
The Texans (0-2) took a 19-14 lead on a 25-yard TD run by Nick Chubb with 2:10 left. Houston went for 2 but C.J. Stroud was sacked.
Trailing by one,
the Texans got a quick stop thanks to a sack by Will Anderson on third down. Rookie Jaylin Noel returned the punt 53 yards to get Houston inside the 30.
Two plays later, Chubb slipped through the line and dashed into the end zone untouched for his first touchdown as a Texan after spending his first seven seasons with the Browns.
Stroud threw for 207 yards and a touchdown but failed to move the offense effectively for much of the second half.
Houston trailed by four and hadn’t scored in the second half when Riley Dixon’s punt was blocked by Jakob Johnson and the Texans recovered on the Tampa Bay 35 with about 6 1/2 minutes to go. The Texans failed to move the ball and settled for Ka'imi Fairbairn's 53-yard field goal that cut the lead to 14-13 with just over five minutes left.
Tampa Bay had a chance to pad the lead late in the third period after both teams struggled offensively after halftime. But Chase McLaughlin’s 38-yard field-goal attempt bounced off the right upright.
Houston had first-and-goal at the 8 early in the fourth quarter and Nico Collins was stopped a yard short of the goal line on a first-down catch. Chubb was stuffed for no gain and Stroud threw incompletions intended for Collins on the next two plays to leave the Texans empty-handed.
Houston took an early lead on Collins' 29-yard TD catch. That score was set up when Stroud connected with Chubb for a 27-yard gain on a screen pass the play before.
The Buccaneers tied it at 7-all when Mayfield threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Miller on their first possession.
Emeka Egbuka had a 15-yard TD catch with about 10 minutes left in the first half to put Tampa Bay up 14-10. Egbuka, a rookie first-round draft pick, became the sixth player since the merger with three TD catches in his first two games.
Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter forced a fumble and had two sacks to give him 101 1/2 in his 10-year career.
Tampa Bay OT Luke Goedeke left in the first quarter with a foot injury. … DE Calijah Kancey injured a pectoral muscle in the first half and didn’t return.
The Buccaneers host the New York Jets and the Texans visit the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
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