A catchable Hail Mary fell untouched in the end zone as the Buffalo Bills held on to win an NFL game they seemingly had in hand 24-18 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay cornerback Jamel Dean broke up a pass on fourth-and-one at the Buccaneers 1-yard line on the first play of the second quarter. But Buffalo scored two touchdowns before halftime and open the third quarter with another TD to take a 14-point lead.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay had possessions that began at its 1-, 3-, 4- and 8-yard lines. But the Bucs cashed in once – going 92 yards to cut the Bills’ lead to six points. But it took 17 plays and 7:21 off the fourth-quarter clock, and Tampa Bay had 21 seconds and 80 yards to go when it got the football back for the final time.

Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield ran off three straight completions before uncorking a pass for the end zone from the Bucs 45. The football landed in the center of the players waiting for it to come down without any getting a hand on it.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen completed 31-of-40 passes for 324 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and ran for 41 yards and one TD on seven carries.

Mayfield completed 25-of-42 passes for 237 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Four players from Alabama high schools and colleges got on the field at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, during the Tampa Bay-Buffalo game:

· Buccaneers linebacker K.J. Britt (Oxford, Auburn) made one tackle on special teams.

· Carlton Davis (Auburn) started at cornerback for the Buccaneers. Davis made five tackles and broke up one pass.

· Jamel Dean (Auburn) started at cornerback for the Buccaneers. Dean made eight tackles and broke up two passes.

· Bills running back Damien Harris (Alabama) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

· Buccaneers cornerback Keenan Isaac (Midfield, Alabama State) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Buccaneers wide receiver Cephus Johnson III (Davidson, South Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Bills cornerback Siran Neal (Eufaula, Jacksonville State) did not record any stats.

· Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers (Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

· Buccaneers guard Logan Stenberg (James Clemens) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

On Nov. 5, Tampa Bay (3-4) visits the Houston Texans at noon CDT and Buffalo (5-3) visits the Cincinnati Bengals at 7:15 p.m.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.