POLL: Should the Bucs have gone for 2 to win the game against the Chiefs?

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The injury-ridden, down-on-their-luck Bucs took the defending Super Bowl champs to overtime during Monday Night Football.

That might be a victory for some teams even if it didn’t improve their win-loss record.

But for a Tampa Bay team with high expectations heading into the 2024 season, dropping below .500 on the season and further behind the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South race leaves no more room for a feel-good moral victory.

The game’s story is familiar to Bucs fans in 2024. Despite a valiant offensive performance from Baker Mayfield and the Bucs, who were down their top three receivers on Monday night, the defense couldn’t hold up on their end of the bargain, allowing the Chiefs to score a season-high 30 points in the overtime win.

This time, though, the loss comes with extra criticism on how Bucs Head Coach Todd Bowles handled the end of the game.

Down 24-17 with just over 1 minute to go in the 4th quarter, Mayfield and new Offensive Coordinator Liam Cohen Florida manufactured a brilliant 12-play, 81-yard drive that ended with a game tieing touchdown pass from Mayfield to Ryan Miller, who the team signed off the practice squad after injuries to star receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin left them severely short-handed.

Bowles, facing the NFL’s only undefeated team on the road in a game heavily affected by the weather, decided to kick the extra point to tie the game rather than going for two and potentially winning the game in regulation.

When asked if he considered going for the win, Bowles didn’t seem like a guy who gave it any real thought.

“Very minor,” he said in the post-game press conference. “We wanted to get it to overtime. With the wet conditions on the field, we felt like we had to go into overtime.” 

Fans and pundits online quickly questioned the decision, noting that giving the league’s best quarterback — Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes — a chance to touch the ball in overtime seemed like playing with fire.

Sure enough, the Bucs got burned. The Chiefs won the coin toss and marched 70 yards over 11 plays and nearly six minutes to win the game on a two-yard touchdown run by Kareem Hunt.

Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid seemed to agree with the online criticisms when asked if he was surprised by Bowles’ decision to play it safe.

“No,” said Reid. “But I’m glad he didn’t [go for two].”

At the end of the day, the more aggressive coach won the game for his team.

Late in the 4th quarter with the game tied at 17, Bowles elected to punt the ball when the Bucs faced a 4th and 2 on the team’s 38-yard line, while Reid went for it on 4th and 1 on KC’s 46-yard line.

Kansas City went on to score a touchdown and go up 24-17.

Similar situations on similar parts of the field, but very different results. All because one coach took the chance and trusted his offense to make a play.