Mayfield leads Bucs to 20-19 win over Texans with last-minute drive

By Canadian Press on September 15, 2025.

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.

CHARGERS 20, RAIDERS 9

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Justin Herbert passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns, leading Los Angeles to a victory over Las Vegas and giving coach Jim Harbaugh a win over rival coach Pete Carroll.

The Chargers, however, lost defensive end Khalil Mack to a left elbow injury late in the first quarter. He went to the locker room, but returned with his arm in a sling.

Herbert also led the Chargers in rushing with 31 yards. His two TD passes went to Quentin Johnson and Keenan Allen, who returned to the Chargers on a one-year contract after playing last season in Chicago.

It was Los Angeles’ defense that suffocated the Raiders, holding them to 218 yards. Linebacker Daiyan Henley set the tone from the first play with an interception, and he also recorded 10 tackles that included two for loss and a sack. He also broke up two passes.

For the Raiders (1-1), Geno Smith threw three interceptions while completing 24 of 43 passes for 180 yards. Ashton Jeanty, taken sixth in this year’s draft, gained 43 yards on 11 carries and has 81 yards through two games.

This win puts the Chargers (2-0), who open this season with three consecutive games against divisional opponents, atop an AFC West that has belonged to Kansas City since 2016. Los Angeles is making an early claim on a division in which the Chiefs are off to an 0-2 start.

The Associated Press