Bucs Nation
How is anyone supposed to go to sleep after a thriller like that?
Nothing about it came easy, but the Buccaneers displayed elite resilience for a second straight week as they overcame injuries and horrendous special teams play to skate past the Houston Texans, 20-19, in the final seconds to start 2-0.
Tampa became the first franchise since, ironically, the Houston Texans (2010-14) to start five straight seasons at 2-0. And the victory also marked the Bucs’ first-ever win visiting Houston since they became the Texans. On top of it all, the Bucs won in primetime for the first time since Christmas night 2022 — they were 0-6 between then and Monday.
While they received a glut of gutty performances across the board, here are some guys who stood out above the rest.
How could it be anyone else?
Two games this year, two fourth-quarter comebacks within 2 minutes remaining. Two wins.
Describe Mayfield anyway you’d like — dude, gamer, dawg, maniac, aggressor — but there’s one word he’s personified above all else since arriving in Tampa: winner.
Mayfield dealt with offensive line injuries against an elite pass rush, taking 4 sacks and many more pressures as the makeshift front tried with all its might to endure the losses of Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke. Mayfield himself even appeared to be banged up before the persistent loudmouth Chauncey Gardner-Johnson decided to shoot his gob off and immediately trigger Mayfield’s “You wanna f**king go or what, tough guy?” complex.
The rest was history.
Some critical vintage Mayfield scrambles, including a do-or-die play on 4th and 10 on the final drive, paired with trust in his playmakers like Bucky Irving and Mike Evans (5 catches, 56 yards) hustled the Bucs into position for Rachaad White’s walk-in TD.
Mayfield went 7-of-9 for 63 yards on the final drive along with the 15-yard run. He finished 25-of-38 for 215 passing yards and 2 TDs and no turnovers. Just a completely stupendous performance when the Bucs needed him most.
We also need to recognize both Irving and White.
With a besieged pass-blocking operation, the team needed a good running game, and they both delivered. Irving averaged a healthy 4.2 yards per carry, touting the rock 17 times for 71 yards and contributing 6 catches for 50 yards, with his uncanny tackle-breaking ability making major gains on the final drive. White proved his worth as a top-tier complementary back with 10 carries of his own for 65 yards and the game-winning score.
Both weeks, the Bucs’ defense allowed opening-drive touchdowns and heart-wrenching late scores, but really tightened up during the in-between. And to be fair to them, they got put in a very unenviable position multiple times by the special teams unit.
One player who looked a lot more comfortable this week was Tykee Smith, who’s making the full-time transition from nickel to safety. After some up-and-down moments against Atlanta, both he...
