Bowles defends Buccaneers not going for two

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles defended his decision to kick an extra point and not try a two-point conversion after his team scored a touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in regulation in Monday night’s eventual 30-24 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

“We wanted to get into overtime with the wet conditions on the field, we thought we had to go into overtime instead of going for two. We had our shots. We lost the game,” Bowles said.

The Bucs surrendered a 5-yard touchdown to DeAndre Hopkins with 4:20 to go in regulation that, with the point after, gave the Chiefs a 24-17 lead. After the teams traded quick three-and-outs, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield led an 11-play drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown pass to receiver Ryan Miller.

But instead of going for two, which could have put Tampa Bay ahead by one point with 27 seconds remaining, out came Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin.

“We went for one,” Bowles said. “We took our shots. We had our chances all game. We just lost the game. It didn’t come down to that.”

In Week 9, four teams that scored a touchdown in the last two minutes of regulation decided to kick an extra point to tie the game. ESPN Analytics modeling agreed with the decision to kick the extra point in all four instances. But all four of those teams lost.

The Miami Dolphins were tied with 1:38 left and then lost on a 61-yard field goal in regulation at the Buffalo Bills. The New England Patriots tied the game with no time left and then lost on a 25-yard field goal in overtime at the Tennessee Titans. The Seattle Seahawks tied the game with 0:51 left and then lost on a 39-yard touchdown pass in overtime against the Los Angeles Rams. And then the Bucs lost on a 2-yard touchdown from running back Kareem Hunt.

Asked about putting the ball in the defense’s hands, Bowles said, “We were gonna take our punches. We were playing OK defensively. We thought we were moving the ball offensively. We thought we had a good shot in overtime. We didn’t make the plays.”

The Chiefs improved to 8-2 including playoffs in overtime games since 2018, when Patrick Mahomes became the full-time starter, which is the best record of any team in that span.

For the Bucs, this was their second overtime loss in prime time on the road this season in which the defense surrendered a touchdown on the first possession. The Bucs also lost to the Atlanta Falcons 36-30 in overtime on Thursday night in Week 5. Since 2012, when the NFL adopted the regular-season overtime rule in which a team scoring a touchdown on the initial possession ends the game, there have been only four teams to lose multiple prime-time games in overtime, according to ESPN Research: the 2015 Cowboys, 2021 Chargers, 2022 Broncos and 2024 Buccaneers (all 0-2).

“It’s tough. You don’t take anything from it but a loss,” Bowles said. “And we can’t get used to losing, and that’s the biggest thing. We’re not gonna get used to losing. We had some good plays. We took our swings. They connected more than we did. We fought but it wasn’t good enough so we gotta get ready next week for another one.”

The Bucs have won the NFC South title the past three seasons, and prior to that, they defeated the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV as a wild card, but they now have lost three straight games, slipping to 4-5 and below .500 for the first time this season.

It started with their 41-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens two weeks ago in which receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin both went down with injury. Miller was called up from the practice squad shortly after, and Monday night’s touchdown was the first of his NFL career. However, Mayfield was missing a third receiver against the Chiefs in Jalen McMillan, who was deemed not healthy enough to play because of a hamstring injury after the team’s pregame warmup.

Mayfield showed a bit of frustration when the television cameras zoomed in on him when the Bucs lost the coin toss in overtime.

“Against a team with an offense like that, you can only give them so many chances,” Mayfield said. “They win the coin toss, and that’s what happens. I’m proud of our guys on offense that stepped up. Coach had a good message … ‘We’re that close. Don’t get used to losing but just turn this thing around. We’ve got a home game next week against an NFC opponent and we’ve got to find a way to win. That’s it.'”

Mayfield said nearly knocking off the NFL’s only unbeaten team on the road was no consolation prize.

“Right now, it’s about us,” Mayfield said. “It doesn’t matter who we play. We need to focus on doing our job and finding ways to win. That’s all that matters. We just have to stop the skid. We have to look at the things of why we lost when we look at the tape and go from there.”

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