Linebacker Devin White intercepted a pass to set up a score and then returned a fumble for a touchdown, as the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers built a 25-point halftime lead and held off the Gardner Minshew-led Jacksonville Jaguars 28-11 on Sunday.
Rookie quarterback Minshew replaced Nick Foles at the start of the second half, with Jacksonville down 25-0. Foles was 7 of 14 for 93 yards with one interception and two lost fumbles, with the three turnovers leading to 22 Buccaneers points.
Minshew directed a drive that led to Josh Lambo's 53-yard field goal at 5:46 of the third quarter, and then threw touchdown and two-point conversion passes to Dede Westbrook to make the score 25-11 at 13:37 of the fourth quarter.
The Minshew Magic seemed to be in full force with his fourth-and-5 completion to Keelan Cole that moved the ball to the Tampa Bay 8 midway through the fourth quarter. But on third-and-goal from the 2, Minshew's pass was deflected and then intercepted by rookie cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting with just more than six minutes left.
Jacksonville held Tampa Bay to a three-and-out, but Bradley Pinion's 63-yard punt, combined with an illegal block penalty, put Jacksonville on its own 30-yard line. The Jags failed to get a first down, giving the ball to Tampa Bay with little more than three minutes remaining.
Jameis Winston was 21 of 33 for 268 yards for the Buccaneers (5-7).
Minshew finished 16 of 27 for 147 yards, one TD and one interception for the Jaguars (4-8), who were penalized 16 times for 125 yards.
The Bucs held a 25-0 halftime lead after Jacksonville's first three possessions ended with turnovers -- an interception and two fumbles by Foles -- that led to Tampa Bay points.
Peyton Barber ran 15 yards off the right side for a score to give the Bucs a 7-0 lead with 2:49 left in the first quarter. It capped an eight-play, 69-yard drive that began after White intercepted a Foles pass.
Two plays later, White returned a fumble 14 yards for a TD after Shaquil Barrett strip-sacked Foles on second-and-7. Barber then ran for the two-point conversion to make the score 15-0 at 2:39 of the first.
Tampa Bay went ahead 22-0 after Barber ran 1 yard for his second TD. That seven-play, 83-yard scoring drive started after Foles fumbled while being sacked by Carl Nassib. Ndamukong Suh recovered the ball at the Bucs' 17-yard line.
Matt Gay's 25-yard field goal boosted the lead to 25-0 57 seconds before halftime. He also had a 37-yarder at 2:19 of the fourth quarter.
--Field Level Media
Tampa Bay | Jacksonville | |
Peyton Barber | Player | Leonard Fournette |
17 | Attempts | 14 |
44 | Yards | 38 |
2.6 | Avg Yards | 2.7 |
2 | Touchdowns | 0 |
15 | Long | 10 |
Tampa Bay | Jacksonville | |
Breshad Perriman | Player | Dede Westbrook |
5 | Receptions | 5 |
87 | Yards | 60 |
17.4 | Avg Yards | 12.0 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
32 | Long | 39 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Tampa Bay | 315 | 74 | 241 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5.0 | 3 |
Jacksonville | 242 | 49 | 193 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 1 |