Monday, 4 a.m.
They are wounded. They are limping. They are playing with practice squad players, some who were not even on their own practice squad.
Ah, but as long as games have a final minute, it seems the Tampa Bay Bucs have a chance.
The Bucs won their fourth game of the year in the final sixty seconds Sunday, rallying to beat the Seattle Seahawks 38-35. The Bucs are now 4-1, tied for the bests record in the NFC.
Once again, it was Baker Mayfield who starred against a strong Seattle defense. He completed 29 of 33 passes for 379 yards. The injured Bucs' defense kept giving up huge yardage to Sam Darnold, but every time, Mayfield would drive his team downfield.
The notable stars?
-- Start with Mayfield, who had his 14th career fourth-quarter comeback (and 15th game-winning drive).
-- Consider rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka, who caught seven passes for 163 yards.
-- How about Lavonte David, who intercepted a pass (that bounded off the helmet of Logan Hall) to set up the winning points?
-- There was Chase McLaughlin, who nailed his third field goal of the game as time expired, a 39-yarder.
For the Bucs, it was a game of survival. They were without receiver Mike Evans and leading rusher Bucky Irving and cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Ben Morrison and defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and offensive tackle Luke Goedekke and guard Cody Mauch.
And still, they won.
At first, it looked like it would be easy. The Bucs took a 13-0 lead in the first half on one of Rashaad White's two touchdowns and two McLaughlin field goals.
But Seattle found life late in the first half. They scored late in the second period, then took the second half kickoff and drove down to take the lead.
In the second half, Darnold hit 15 of of 17 passes for 211 yards.
Seattled led 35-28 with 9:28 to play. But Mayfield led his team 70 yards to take the lead, hitting Sterling Shepard on an 11-yard touchdown.
David's interception shut the door. After that, the Bucs drove 14 yards for the winning field goal.
The Bucs are home on Sunday against San Francisco at 4:25 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium.