Bucs Nation
Playoff football, let’s talk about it.
Welcome to the playoffs. Football is a game of inches, but it’s also a game of quarters. Let’s dive into a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of some postseason Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ football. The 2024-2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made it into the tournament. From this point forward no more games are guaranteed, each future contest must be earned— Round one, the Washington Commanders.
First Quarter:
Beginning on offense, the Bucs looked like they still thought they needed to get Mike Evans to his 1,000-yard milestone. Starting with a toss to Evans on the first play of the game, the receiver tallied 34 total yards before the game’s introductory drive ended with three Chase McLaughlin points. 3-0, Bucs.
Despite a deep ball to Terry McLaurin, the Washington Commanders’ offense stalled out inside of field goal range with an incomplete pass on fourth down. Jaden Daniels’ second chance would come quickly. Following a Tampa’s first punt, Jayden Daniels found a bit of groove heading into the game’s second period.
Second Quarter:
With quarter number two getting underway, Washington had possession in Tampa Bay territory and a quick first down. Faced with their second fourth down of the game, Dan Quinn stayed aggressive. Opting to leave his offense on the field again would be a decision that would prove fruitful— A new set of downs and ultimately a touchdown would follow. 17 plays, 92 yards and a wide open touchdown pass where wide might be a large understatement. Jayden Daniels to Dyami Brown and the Commanders grabbed the lead. 7-3, Washington.
Another Buccaneers’ kick set up the Commanders to respond with a kick of their own. Unfortunately, for Buccaneers’ fans the Bucs’ kick left the foot of Jack Browning, Washington’s was off the toe of Zane Gonzalez— extending their lead. 10-3, Commanders.
Evoking flashbacks of last week’s game against New Orleans, Baker Mayfield took off up the middle scrambling past and through defenders for a team-uplifting first down. Tampa Bay took that momentum and ran with it. Liam Coen and Baker Mayfield gave all those in attendance what they came to see, Mike Evans against Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore gets a significant amount of credit for his play against Evans. Prior to tonight, the two had only met up once before in the postseason. In that matchup, Evans came away with a pivotal score. Tonight’s matchup would be noteworthy because it would mark the first time the two would suit up without the rest of the New Orleans Saints’ defense. Minus a strong defensive unit, who the Buccaneers have had team-wide struggles against, Lattimore versus Evans looked like a bit of a mismatch for the better part of the first half. Evans put an exclamation point on the end of that statement with the last three plays of the half, finishing with three straight passes sent in his direction— A catch, a pass interference, and then a second catch. That second grab put Evans in the end zone and tied...
