3 takeaways as Tampa Bay overcomes late blocked field goal Chase McLaughlin kicked a 36-yard field goal as time expired and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a 29-27 thriller over the Jets on Sunday. The Bucs had to hold on after New York came from 17 points down in the fourth quarter, even taking the lead with less than two minutes left on a blocked field-goal attempt that was returned for a touchdown. It was a frantic final few minutes. The Buccaneers led 23-6 early in the fourth quarter and held a 26-13 lead before Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor - filling in for Justin Fields, who was out because of a concussion last week - threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard with 3:40 seconds left. Tampa Bay then drove into Jets territory and, with two minutes left, McLaughlin lined up for a 43-yard field goal attempt, which would have given the Bucs a two-score advantage. Instead, New York's Will McDonald IV leaped over Tampa Bay's offensive line and blocked the kick. He scooped the ball up and ran untouched for a 50-yard touchdown. Suddenly, the Jets led 27-26 with 1:49 left, and their first win under coach Aaron Glenn seemed like a real possibility. It was not to be. The Buccaneers went 48 yards on seven plays to set up McLaughlin's game-winner, improving Tampa Bay to 3-0. Despite the furious comeback in the fourth quarter, the Jets fell to 0-3. It was a sweltering day in Tampa. At one point, Fox's broadcast showed a thermometer on the sideline registering about 130 degrees, though no official measurement was announced. Jets still fall short For most of Sunday's game, it felt like the Jets were headed toward the expected outcome: a loss full of mind-numbing mistakes and poor execution. Slowly in the second half, they started to turn things around. The Jets' defense was keeping the Buccaneers' offense out of the end zone, and the Jets' offense was finding its groove in the passing game. Still, after a Baker Mayfield 33-yard run in the fourth quarter set up a field goal that would've put the Bucs up by nine points, it felt like the game was over. Instead, McDonald blocked the field goal, picked it up and rumbled the other way for a 50-yard touchdown - completing a 17-point comeback. Well, not quite complete. The Jets' offense needed the defense to do its part on the final drive, to simply prevent the Buccaneers from getting into scoring range - and they failed to do that. Mayfield easily worked his way up the field and the Buccaneers closed out the game with a game-winning 36-yard field goal. Inconsistency is once again an issue The problems in this game started much earlier than the fourth quarter. Usually, the Jets find themselves getting killed by early-game penalties that come back to bite them. Sunday, the Buccaneers were the ones getting penalized - and the Jets still got bitten anyway. On one long, weird drive early in the game, the Buccaneers were called for seven penalties, including five holding penalties, but still finished the drive with a field goal. And that about summed up the day for the Jets: Even when things, in theory, were going their way, they really weren't. As they have all season, the Jets started off the game sloppily and looking, at times, unprepared for the moment. The defense missed tackles and had penalties at ill-advised moments - including a Sauce Gardner pass interference penalty on third-and-29 on that penalty-filled drive in the first quarter. The Jets briefly held a 3-0 lead, and then a 6-3 one, and then it was mostly a disaster. The Jets' defense failed to get any pressure on Mayfield despite the fact that Tampa Bay was without three of its five starters on the offensive line. On offense, Taylor was a roller coaster for much of the game, mixing in some impressive throws with some dumbfounding mistakes, including a strip sack and a brutal pick six just before halftime. If there was any fear that Taylor would cause a quarterback controversy with Fields out, that went away fairly quickly - though he wasn't helped by a Jets offense that struggled to pick up Todd Bowles' incessant blitzing. Taylor was hit 10 times and sacked four times in total. The Jets' supposed run-dominant offense didn't exactly dominate - Taylor was the Jets' leading rusher (48 yards) and Breece Hall (nine carries for 21 yards) struggled. Bucs' Evans, Jets' Williams are injured There were a few notable injuries in this game, including Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans, who left in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury - he walked right off the field and went to the locker room - and was later declared out. Jets linebacker Quincy Williams suffered a shoulder injury in the first half and didn't return, while Gardner left the game in the fourth quarter to be evaluated for a head injury but eventually returned. Zack Rosenblatt, The Athletic, published 22 September 2025