By: J.T. Olsen
Bucs Report
Special to Sports Talk Florida
Week one is in the books and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off to a good start. They had a convincing week one victory over the Washington Commanders with a final score of 37-20. This is exactly the kind of start to the year you would want from an ascending young team.
There were a lot of positive takeaways I walked away with from this game. Also a few things that need to be cleaned up that stood out. Here are my Buccaneers week one takeaways.
Baker Mayfield Was Baking
There was so much talk in the offseason about a possible Baker Mayfield regression. Whether it be the loss of offensive coordinator Dave Canales or the fact that he hasn’t strung together two consecutive good seasons in a row, most expected Mayfield to take a step back this year. However, those in the know expected the opposite.
Mayfield is off to an excellent start in terms of proving his doubters wrong. His 289 passing yards and 4 touchdowns was the most impressive performance of the week in terms of quarterback play. On top of that he was masterful in terms of avoiding pressure and keeping plays alive.
Is this pace sustainable for him? No, probably not. But this is the caliber of play we can expect from him on a week in and week out basis. A guy who can extend plays and hurt a defense with his mobility and really thrive in this style of offense.
Helloooooooo Liam Coen
Speaking of style of offense, the game plan for this game was excellent. New offensive coordinator Liam Coen called a game that really attacked the weaknesses of this Washington defense. If you couldn’t tell by the 37 points on offense, it was a fantastic start for the Buccaneers new offensive coordinator.
In some ways, the offense is still similar to the system that was in place last year. However, everything they did Sunday felt more advanced. More motions, more freedom for the quarterback, more options down the field. Above all, the play calling just felt more intentional.
The Bucs travel to Detroit next weekend, so the level of competition will go up, but everyone should be feeling very good about Coen so far. It’s still very early in the year, but those of us who felt like this would be an upgrade at offensive coordinator are feeling vindicated today.
Growing Pains Up Front
We knew that the interior offensive line was going to be a work in progress. With two new starters (one of them a rookie) and a second year player it will take time for this group to jell together. That was obvious on Sunday.
There were breakdowns on the offensive line in this game. Guys getting beat and at times confusion as to who was supposed to be where. It wasn’t a terrible day for the big boys up front, but it was clear that there is still work to be done.
It’s worth repeating that the Washington interior defensive line is very good. No one was expecting for the Bucs to come in and dominate this matchup. That interior trio played decently for the Bucs and we saw the flashes that could make this a very strong unit in time.
Jalen McMilan Is For Real
As if there was any doubt, Jalen McMillan looked like a legitimate NFL player. His 32 yard touchdown catch had the feel of an eight year veteran working himself open with craftiness and experience. His route running was on full display in this game.
He also had another likely touchdown where he was wide open and it slipped right through his fingers as he couldn’t adjust to the pass. On top of that, he drew a pass interference call that set the Bucs up on the five yard line where they scored soon after.
In terms of volume, you expect a rookie to take a back seat to guys like Mike EVans and Chris Godwin. But in terms of what we saw on the field, I couldn’t have been more impressed with his first career game.
Mike Evans Is Still Amazing
What else needs to be said here? His two touchdown catches elevated him to 12th in NFL history as he passed Devonte Adams with 96 in his career. He now needs just three more to tie Hall of Famer Don Hutson for 11th all time and four more to tie another pair of Hall of Famers in Tim Brown and Steve Largent for 9th all time.
Mike Evans only needs three more touchdowns to become the 26th player in NFL history to reach 100 total touchdowns in his career. He needs just nine more touchdowns this year to crack the top 20 and twelve more to tie Barry Sanders for 19th all time. Start fitting him for his gold jacket now.
The Buccaneers Were Honestly A Bit Sloppy
This game screamed week one in so many ways. There were missed tackles and mental errors all over the place in this one. The rust from starters not really playing in the preseason was obvious throughout the game.
Fortunately, the Bucs are a much better team than the Commanders. They could afford to be sloppy in this game and still win comfortably. Now that they have played a full game, the team can move forward and hopefully be a little sharper on the field.
This is as much a criticism as it is a positive. Remember that this is a very young team who didn’t play their best game on Sunday. Things should only get better as the season goes on and that should be very scary for the rest of the NFL.
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