Lavonte David intercepted San Darnold with less than a minute left, setting up Chase McLaughlin for a 39-yard field goal as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned a 38-35 walkoff victory over the Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle.

Darnold’s mistake, a rare miscue on a day in which he passed for 341 yards and four touchdowns, came with 58 seconds left. Under pressure, Darnold threw low, and the ball bounced off a lineman’s helmet before settling into David’s arms at the Seattle 35-yard line. Four plays later, on a drive that included three runs by Rachaad White, McLaughlin hit his game-winner.

As good as Darnold was, Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield was even better, going 29-for-33 for 379 yards and two touchdowns. His 11-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shephard with 1:08 to play tied the score at 35 and set the stage for the win.

Tampa Bay improved to 4-1, while Seattle dipped to 3-2.

Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield show guts in win

That’s a gutsy win for the Buccaneers, who came to Seattle dealing with a myriad of injuries and lit up what was the No. 2 scoring defense on its home turf. Mayfield was excellent, consistently making something out of nothing in the pocket to buy time for his receivers to get open, which he did on his game-tying toss with 1:08 remaining.

BAKER. MAYFIELD.

📺: #TBvsSEA on CBS pic.twitter.com/u23842saT0

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 5, 2025

Tampa Bay’s defense looked like a unit that was shorthanded in the secondary. But the visitors took advantage of the moments Seattle put the ball in harm’s way. Jalen Milroe’s lost fumble in the first half turned into a touchdown for the Bucs, and Darnold’s interception off a ricochet on the final drive set up the game-winning field goal. The Bucs have been the cardiac kids all year, and they once again pulled it out in the final seconds in Week 5.

Sam Darnold was perfect … until he wasn’t

Darnold was perfect until his final pass, which bounced off the helmet of Bucs defensive lineman Logan Hall and into the arms of David. Before that pass, Darnold had completed 28 of 33 attempts for 341 yards and four touchdowns. But that’s how life in the margins can be in the NFL. Seattle has played three one-score games through five weeks. In Week 1, Darnold fumbled inside the 10-yard line and Seattle lost. In Week 4, he led a game-winning drive against Arizona. On Sunday, Darnold and the offense stalled again — somewhat due to a bad bounce — with the game on the line.

Injuries take toll on Seattle’s defense, which falters vs. Mayfield

Entering Week 5, Seattle’s defense was allowing just 16.8 points per game, second-lowest in the league behind the Houston Texans. On Sunday, the defense began the day without Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love and DeMarcus Lawrence, then lost Derick Hall and Riq Woolen in the first and second halves, respectively. Tampa Bay picked on Seattle’s backups and benefited from the lack of a Seattle pass rush (the Seahawks had just one sack, which came in the fourth quarter). Seattle simply didn’t have enough firepower to slow down Mayfield.

(Photo of Baker Mayfield scrambling during Sunday’s game: Soobum Im / Getty Images)

Oct 5, 2025

Connections: Sports Edition

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms

Find the hidden link between sports terms

Tagged To:

Michael-Shawn Dugar is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Seattle Seahawks. He previously covered the Seahawks for Seattlepi.com. He is also the co-host of the “Seahawks Man 2 Man” podcast. Follow Michael-Shawn on Twitter @MikeDugar