Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers slice up Chargers defense

When the SoFi Stadium lights went dark to begin a hype video in the middle of the fourth quarter, hundreds of fans streamed toward the exits. The lights were out on a 40-17 Chargers loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Chargers lost ground in a tight AFC wild-card race Sunday, unraveling in the second half of a loss coach Jim Harbaugh called “thorough.”

The offense mustered just 32 yards rushing. The unshakable Justin Herbert had a pass intercepted for the first time since Week 2. The defense, which had been the team’s saving grace this season, gave up season highs in yards (506) and points, including 27 unanswered in the second half.

“Every dog has its day,” said safety Derwin James Jr. said. “Today wasn’t ours.”

After losing consecutive games for just the second time this season, the Chargers (8-6) have to regroup quickly for a critical AFC West matchup against the Denver Broncos on Thursday at SoFi Stadium.

With wins Sunday, the Broncos (9-6) and the Baltimore Ravens (9-6) pushed ahead of the Chargers in the playoff standings.

Now clinging to the seventh seed, James called Thursday’s divisional game the “most important game of our season.”

Herbert instead maintained his steady demeanor.

“I don’t think there’s a time where desperation helps anyone,” the quarterback said. “It’s just up to us as an offense and us as a team to go out and execute and play the way we need to. Obviously, they’re all important games in December and January. This is where we want to be.”

Herbert threw for two touchdowns and 195 yards, but had his second pass intercepted this season, ending his streak of passes without an interception at 357. He was one shy of tying Tom Brady for the fourth-longest streak in NFL history.

Herbert threw off his back foot as he tried to escape pressure in his face and lofted a deep ball toward Quentin Johnston, but the pass floated into the arms of cornerback Jamel Dean. With it, any hope of momentum for the Chargers disappeared.

In six second-half drives, the Chargers had two punts, two turnovers and two failed fourth-down attempts. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers scored on six consecutive drives, starting with a field goal on their last possession of the first half and overwhelming a defense that “didn’t have enough juice,” cornerback Tarheeb Still said.

“They played almost perfectly all year,” Herbert said of his team’s defense. “It’s tough, but we got to do better job of going out there as an offense and limiting the times that we put our defense out there.”

Receiver Mike Evans dominated with nine catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Baker Mayfield shook off a second-quarter interception to finish with 288 yards passing and four touchdowns. He completed 22 of 27 pass attempts against the defense that entered the game allowing a league-best 15.9 points per game.

Led by 117 yards rushing by running back Bucky Irving, the Buccaneers rolled up 223 yards on the ground, the most allowed by the Chargers this season.

“When you let the team rush for 200 yards, that always does something to me,” outside linebacker Khalil Mack said. “Just understanding how physical we want to play this game of football, it’s almost like you’re disrespecting the game when a team rushes for 200 yards on you.”

James said the team had its best week of practice of the season entering Sunday’s game. But, after the embarrassing loss, the Chargers weren’t necessarily shocked. They were angry.

“I know we’re gonna respond as a defense,” James said. “I can’t wait to go to work tomorrow.”