TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) suffered a brutal 41-31 loss against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night. They also lost their two wide receivers, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans.
With 94 seconds left in the game, trailing by 10 points, and no timeouts left, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles kept his starters in the game, needing a miracle to pull out a win.
“You know, we talked about it on the sideline thinking if we get a quick touchdown-obviously already got an onside kick during the game-get a quick touchdown an onside kick, have a possibility for a Hail Mary,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “We have a group of fighters. We all wanted a chance to try and win that thing anyway, some way, somehow.”
Then came the heartbreaking twist.
The NFL’s leading receiver through six weeks, Chris Godwin, suffered a dislocated ankle after making a 21-yard reception. The injury will end his season.
“Chris deserves better than that,” Mayfield said. “He’s an unbelievable guy, unbelievable teammate. Obviously, you guys have seen that he's been playing extraordinary this year. Yeah, got a heavy heart right now.”
“Just for me alone you see a guy like that that works so hard go down, it’s devastating,” defensive back Zyon McCollum said.
Tampa Bay had already lost Evans before halftime after aggravating a hamstring injury.
After the game, Bowles defended keeping Godwin and his other starters in the game.
“Well, he's a player. We're trying to win the ballgame,” Bowles said. “We were still down 10, we’re trying to get extra points and kick another onside kick. It just happened. With Mike [Evans] going down, we didn't have that many receivers left as it was, so we play what we got.”
“I’m sick about it. Talk about great guys and great leaders, great players,” tight end Cade Otton added. “It sucks. It’s the terrible part of this job. But, we also have to come together for them.”
The Bucs play a critical game Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons (4-3) for first place in the NFC South with two players that Mayfield calls the “heart of this team.”
While many children have plenty of presents under the Christmas tree, that's not always the case for foster children. ABC Action News reporter Keely McCormick spoke to a 16-year-old who spent most of her life in and out of foster care about life in the system around Christmas.
