Things couldn’t have gone any better for the Buccaneers, who took care of business against Washington

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went out and took care of business in their first game of the season, taking down the Washington Commanders 37-20, all 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 Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield punctuated late in the fourth quarter with one of his signature silly scrambles for a first that ended with him doing a fun little first-down celebration, Tampa Bay was able to spread the ball around to all three 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.

Receivers Jalen McMillan, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin all hauled in touchdowns from Baker Mayfield, who ended up with 289 yards passing and four touchdowns on a clean day for the Bucs where the team 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, as “Buc-ky” chants erupted from the crowd while the young rookie racking up some solid runs in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Tapa Bay limited Washington through the air but let quarterback 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.

Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin also sprinkled in a trio of field goals in addition to making all four 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 starter 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 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.
GENERAL FOOTER
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