by Carter Brantley
The Bucs went out and took care of business in their first game of the season, taking down the Washington Commanders 37-20, based on the strength of an excellent performance by the offense and a decent-enough job by the defense of limiting a relatively weak Commanders offense.
In a game that Baker Mayfield punctuated late in the 4th quarter with one of his signature silly scrambles for a first that ended with him doing a fun little first-down celebration, the Bucs were able to spread the ball around to all 3 of their starting receivers and to one of this writer’s favorite players, elite receiving back Rachaad White.
Speaking of Mr. White, he even selected the All-American Rejects classic “Gives You Hell” as his song of the game. Just in case you were wondering.
Jalen McMillan, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin all hauled in TDs from Baker Mayfield, who ended up with 289 yards passing and 4 TDs on a clean day for the Bucs where they had no turnovers and only punted once.
Things couldn’t have gone any better for the Bucs on either side of the ball, as they were able to run the ball well enough to compliment an elite passing attack, with rookie backup running back Bucky Irving earning some quick love from the crowd, “Buc-ky” chants erupting from the crowd and the young rookie racking up some solid runs in the 4th quarter.
Defensively they limited Washington through the air but let Jayden Daniels run a bit wild, doing a poor job of containing and allowing the rookie to run for 88 yards and a pair of TDs in his first NFL game.
Chase McLaughlin also sprinkled in a trio of field goals in addition to making all 4 of his extra points, putting some of those concerns about the kicker due to his lackluster preseason performances to rest, for now at least.
Cornerback injuries were unfortunately a big part of the game for the Bucs as well, as starting outside corner Zyon McCollum and backup outside corner Bryce Hall both left the game with injuries and were unable to return. It’s of note that typical slot corner Christian Izien had to step in and play out of position to finish out the game, as another backup Josh Hayes also suffered a game-ending injury.
Will the Bucs look to acquire more secondary help before next week? Or are they cool with with running Izien out there at the outside corner position?
The Bucs hit the road to take on the high-powered Detroit Lions next Saturday, a rematch of the NFC Divisional matchup from last season that ended in a Bucs loss, knocking them out of the playoffs.
