TAMPA – Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield had one of the most efficient games of his NFL career in Sunday’s 37-20 rout of the Washington Commanders.
Mayfield had stellar numbers in completing 24 of 30 passes for 289 yards, but he had infallible ability to lead Tampa Bay to score on seven of eight drives before he took a knee on that ninth possession.
“I thought Baker did a heck of a job, said Bucs coach Todd Bowles. “He was good with his throws. He was good with his reads, with his checks. Everything was on point. He was excited. He ran when he had to. Made some plays with his feet. He played a good overall game.”
Mayfield, who had a QB rating of 146.4 in the game, found Mike Evans for two touchdown tosses while Chris Godwin and rookie Jalen McMillan caught a pair of scores of 4 and 32 yards.
“Pretty efficient for the most part,” said Mayfield. “I mentioned it right off the field – we just had to be more efficient in the red zone in the first half.”
Kicker Chase McLaughlin drilled three field goals as the Buccaneers took a 16-7 halftime lead. He hit Mike Evans for the first touchdown from 17 yards with 10:59 before halftime.
“I don’t know how he got around him and put his paws on it but somehow he did, and that’s what he does,” commented Mayfield.
Chris Godwin’s score was a four-yard pass after a pass interference penalty set Tampa Bay up on the 4-yard-line on 3rd-and-10 from the Washington 26.
Godwin had suffered a torn ACL and MCL last December, so he was back at full strength after his healing process and led the Buccaneers with 8 catches for 83 yards.
“Just back doing a lot of things that I’m accustomed to doing over the last four or five years or so,” stated Godwin. “It was a lot of fun, it felt good being in a lot of those tough positions.”
Mayfield hit McMillan on a 32-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter as the Washington Huskies rookie beat the corner as the Bucs took a 30-14 lead.
“It was just a play we repped in practice all the time,” noted McMillan. “We got a certain look that we always do in practice, and I popped – so I knew I was going to score on that one.”
Overall, the Tampa Bay offense was eclectic in the debut of offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who was on the Rams’ offensive staff from 2018-2022 and the Kentucky offensive coordinator a year ago.
With the Buccaneers’ efficiency and more depth in the skill positions, sustainability in this offense would definitely drive Tampa Bay to a fourth NFC South title.
Daniels leads Washington with Solid Debut
New Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was the biggest positive for his new team in his opening game. Daniels had won the Heisman Trophy last season with his superfluous 2023 campaign at LSU.
Daniels scored touchdowns on a pair of one-yard runs as he rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries while connecting on 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards.
“I don’t put a number or anything on how many times I’m going to run and stuff like that, but I just try to do whatever it takes to help the team win the game,” said Daniels.
The rookie QB also said that things he found at the line of scrimmage were what the Tampa Bay defense gave him, not development inside of the play opportunities that he found.
“They did a good job of dropping to their spots in their zone and forcing us to take the underneath stuff,” explained Daniels. “Obviously, there’s times where we had a spot. I missed (wide receiver) Terry (McLaurin), one I wish I could have back.”
Coach Dan Quinn made his debut as the Washington head coach and was pleased with his opener in Burgundy and Gold.
“I thought he got to fully express all the things that he has of using his legs, you know, being aggressive down the field,” said Quinn.
