Buccaneers’ video review disputes a whistle on called back Antoine Winfield Jr touchdown
In their win over a division rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the last laugh and put up some impressive defensive plays. But they should have had another big play because video review disputed there was a whistle on the called-back Antoine Winfield Jr. touchdown, according to a post on X by Jenna LaineESPN.
“Re: the ‘erroneous whistle’ with Antoine Winfield Jr., I went back to check NFL Next Gen Stats, to review the play, and in both the TV copy and all other views, this is where the film cuts off.”
However, there’s an admission from an official that he blew his whistle, according to NBC Sports.
“We ruled that there was a fumble,” referee Ron Torbert said. “It was recovered by the defense, but there was a whistle blown from the other side of the field. The official thought that the runner was down. We were able to award the defense the ball after the fumble, but because the whistle had been blown, we could not award the advance afterwards.”
Bottom line: Buccaneers got a raw deal
The good news for the Buccaneers is that they won the game, picking up an important division victory over a rival.
Still, head coach Todd Bowles apparently felt miffed about the reversal of a score, according to joebucsfan.com.
“No, he said it was an erroneous error in blowing his whistle,” Bowles said. “[Winfield] legitimately stripped him. I have no answer.”
And Bowles said he liked the way Winfield played throughout the game.
“He had a hell of a day,” Bowles said. “I’m still pissed off over some of it, but that’s tough sledding. He did a hell of a job today getting the ball out.”
And Bowles said he’s happy to see the bye week roll around, according to buccaneers.com.
“It will be huge,” said Bowles of the Bucs’ upcoming bye. “It’s halfway through the season. We need it more than anybody. I credit those guys for fighting week-in and week-out, people stepping up, and people moving to different positions and helping us win, which you have to do in order to be a good team. So we’ve done that the first half. We’ve got to rest up. It’s going to be a hell of a second half, so we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Patrick Mahomes Shares Scary Thought About Chiefs Offense After Week 8
After the Kansas City Chiefs routed the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football, quarterback Patrick Mahomes shared a simple thought about the current KC offense entering Week 9, and it should terrify the rest of the NFL.
While talking about bouncing back from penalties to finish drives and consistently put points on the board, Mahomes revealed the following.
“It speaks to the mindset [that] this team has,” the Chiefs QB said during his Week 8 postgame press conference. “That’s kind of the mindset that I had early in my career — that the penalties weren’t going to affect us, we were going to go out there and score no matter what.”
As a reminder, earlier in his career, Mahomes led one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL year after year, including two 5,000-yard passing seasons and one campaign with 50 passing touchdowns in 2018.
Mahomes is not quite on that sort of pace in 2025, but he has only just gotten his full complement of playmakers back, with star wide receiver Rashee Rice returning in Week 7. Needless to say, if he and this current KC offense can mirror 2018 down the stretch, that’s a scary thought for the rest of the league.
Chiefs Offense Turns It Up a Notch in the Second Half in Week 8 as Patrick Mahomes & Co. Match Commanders’ Energy
After the game, Mahomes admitted that he felt the Chiefs’ offense didn’t match the Commanders’ energy in the first half of the Week 8 Monday Night Football outing. That’s fair, considering it was a 7-7 scoreline entering the break.
From there, Kansas City promptly closed the game out with 21 unanswered points and three Mahomes passing touchdowns.
“When we got in the locker room, we just talked about executing, you know?” Mahomes told reporters. “Sometimes you want to press and make stuff happen, especially in a big game like Monday Night Football… They had more energy than we did; their defense versus our offense, and so we had to match their energy and execute at a higher level. And we were able to do that in the second half. It started off with that first drive, and then we kind of continued that momentum through the rest of the second half.”
The Chiefs’ offense really displayed its true potential in quarters three and four, facing the Commanders.
Whether it was Travis Kelce getting loose in the secondary, Rice gashing the opposition, Isiah Pacheco hammering the defensive front, Kareem Hunt leaking out in the passing game, or Xavier Worthy bringing his speed element, KC was firing on all cylinders.
And they didn’t even utilize a couple of early-season playmakers like Hollywood Brown and Tyquan Thornton all that much.
This Chiefs offense is more diverse and more dynamic than it has been in a long time, and more than anything else, that speaks volumes. Mahomes sees it, and soon the rest of the NFL will, too.
Chiefs’ Offensive Leaders in Week 8
GettyKansas City Chiefs veteran playmakers Kareem Hunt (left) and Travis Kelce (right) celebrate a touchdown in Week 8.
Kelce led the way in receiving yards in Week 8, finishing just 1 yard shy of 100 (6 for 99). He also caught a historic touchdown to add to his Hall of Fame career.
After a somewhat slow start in the first half, Rice nearly matched Kelce in yardage by the end of the game, with 93 receiving yards off 9 catches. Rice also notched another TD.
Worthy was next with 5 catches for 53 yards, and veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster got on the board with 2 receptions for 29 yards, as did backup tight end Noah Gray (2 for 23).
Finally, Pacheco rushed for 58 yards on 12 carries, while Hunt added 40 rushing yards on 9 carries. Hunt finished with 2 touchdowns in this outing, 1 rushing and 1 receiving, and Mahomes finished with 299 passing yards and 3 touchdowns despite 2 early interceptions.
The Chiefs’ next matchup is a big one, as Kansas City will head to northern New York to face the AFC rival Buffalo Bills in enemy territory.
