Photo via Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield finished the game with a 100.2 quarterback rating, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-16 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 29, 2024.
After a disappointing outcome in last week’s matchup against the lowly Denver Broncos (who put up an abysmal offensive performance against the New York Jets Sunday afternoon, even in a win), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came out firing on all cylinders, smoking the Philadelphia Eagles 33-16 at Raymond James Stadium.
Baker Mayfield had one of his best games as a Buc, picking apart the Eagles defense and making smart, calm decisions, avoiding the silly mistakes and taking the bad sacks he was unable to avoid last week.
Mayfield—who finished the game with a 100.2 quarterback rating—totaled 347 yards on 30/47 and mixed in a couple TDs through the air for the afternoon. Baker truly had a great game, despite the weirdly bitter comments from Tom Brady, who made his first appearance at RayJay as an announcer since beginning the gig this season.
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Running backs Rachaad White and Bucky Irving had a wonderful complementary game, splitting time in the backfield and packing some nice punch for this offense both in the air and on the ground, as they combined for over 100 all-purpose yards.
Wide receiver Mike Evans also had himself quite a bounceback after being a non-factor against lockdown corner Patrick Surtain last week, hauling in eight receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown.
But the most impressive part of the Bucs’ Sunday afternoon might have been the defense. The pass rush woke up, bringing Eagles star QB Jalen Hurts down six times, with the steady veteran linebacker Lavonte David being responsible for a couple and one of them even being a huge forced fumble that set up a Bucs field goal.
Speaking of that kick, Chas McLaughlin was responsible for that 52-yarder, and he did so with a new long snapper and new holder, since starting punter Jake Camarda was benched for Trenton Gil and long snapper Zach Triner was brought back after being replaced by Evan Deckers before the season.
So, for as bad as the Bucs can look, this is as good as they’ve looked all year.
They were able to move the ball efficiently, avoiding the big negative plays that plagued them so much and stalled so many of their drives last week, and took advantage of a banged up Eagles offense by getting after Hurts and making for a miserable trip for many Eagles fans.
The Bucs travel for their first divisional matchup of the season on Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons, who took down the New Orleans Saints 26-24 in a nail biter.
Fire those cannons, the Bucs were absolutely cooking.
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