by Carter Brantley
With the Atlanta Falcons losing to the Minnesota Vikings Sunday afternoon, the Bucs had a great chance to jump the Dirty Birds in the NFC South standings into first place.
And the Bucs did just that, with a closer-than-they-would-have-liked 28-13 victory over the 2-win Las Vegas Raiders, moving the Bucs to 7-6 on the season, the first time they’ve been over .500 since mid-October.
The Bucs got off to a scorching start, with Baker Mayfield wheeling and dealing his way to a pair of touchdowns in the 1st quarter, one to Rachaad White and one to rookie receiver Jalen McMillan.
From that point forward though, the Bucs struggled to put together any offense whatsoever, with Mayfield committing 3 turnovers in the 2nd quarter via a pair of picks and a fumble.
It took all the way until the 4th quarter for the Bucs to get back in the scoring column, but they managed to do so twice in the final period, with those 2 same players racking up touchdowns, White’s coming on the ground and McMillan coming via the air.
Luckily for the Bucs, their defense came to play (or maybe the Raiders’ offense didn’t), limiting potential offensive rookie of the year candidate and star tight end Brock Bowers to 3 catches and 49 yards for the afternoon and forcing a couple turnovers from one of the most turnover-prone teams in football.
Unfortunately the injury bug bit yet again for the Bucs, as star safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. left the game with a knee injury not to return, and Bucky Irving was forced out of the game with a back problem, giving White and 2nd year back Sean Tucker more of the spotlight for the afternoon.
White and Tucker took full advantage, with White cracking 100 all purpose yards and Tucker managing 47 yards on 3 carries, the biggest coming in the 4th quarter via a 34-yard run that helped set up a Bucs touchdown.
Next week the Bucs head to Los Angeles to take on star quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers, who were 8-4 on the season entering their Sunday night matchup with Kansas City.
The Bucs have earned a loss, and the Chargers are a solid team that will give them plenty of trouble, especially with the Bucs on the road, and that’s ok.
They get to finish the year against the Saints, Cowboys, and Panthers, all very winnable games, so they’ll be playing with house money next Sunday in the City of Angels.
Fire those cannons, the Bucs are in first place.