Holy shit, are the Bucs actually Super Bowl contenders?

Of course, it’s too early to delve into this topic, but Tampa Bay just made a strong statement when they went to Detroit and defeated the heavily favored Lions 20-16 on Sunday afternoon.

And it wasn’t just the scoreboard that was impressive.

The Bucs accomplished this without three injured starters who were unable to play (Antoine Winfield Jr., Calijah Kancey, Luke Goedeke) and then had to do without defensive lineman Vita Vea for most of the second half, who suffered a knee injury.

Tampa Bay’s secondary allowed 307 passing yards to Jared Goff, but intercepted two passes and held the Lions to 16 points despite being red zoned six times. The Bucs made two defensive plays in the final minute, stopping the Lions at the 6 and then again at the 26.

While Baker Mayfield didn’t have the impressive passing stats that led the NFL in Week 1, he kept plays alive with numerous scrambles and scored the game-winning touchdown on an 11-yard quarterback draw late in the third quarter.

Match of the day

Welcome home, Jordan Whitehead. Two years after leaving for New York for a pair of free agents, Whitehead has returned to Tampa Bay and saved the Bucs on Sunday. Not only was he the team’s best player with 11 tackles, but he also made the biggest stop of the game when he brought down Jahmyr Gibbs on fourth down in the final minute of the game, 6 yards from the end zone and 3 yards from the first down marker.

Play ball

Looking back, the inability to get the ball to Chris Godwin was perhaps Tampa Bay’s worst sin in 2023. New offensive coordinator Liam Coen has fixed that problem in 2024. Godwin had seven pass catches for 117 yards on Sunday, including a beautiful 41-yard touchdown down the sideline. It was the first time since 2022 that Godwin scored a touchdown and rushed for over 100 yards in the same game.

Keep an eye on

The running game needs to improve. It was shaky in the first three quarters of the season opener and was nonexistent against the Lions.

Rachaad White and Bucky Irving combined for 40 yards on 17 carries, averaging 2.3 yards. Mayfield ultimately led the Bucs in the running game with 34 yards.

Depending on the severity, Vea’s injury could be life-threatening and the Bucs could resort to the waivers list looking to add to the interior defensive line.

NFC South Update

Is it too early in the season for an unexpected twist? We knew it would be harder to beat the South in 2024, but who the hell would have expected New Orleans to be the biggest threat? A week after mowing down helpless Carolina, the Saints made an even bigger statement by crushing the Cowboys 44-19 in Dallas. That not only keeps the Bucs on their toes, but also puts pressure on Atlanta, who face the Eagles on Monday Night Football.

Next

Considering how tough the rest of the schedule looks, the Bucs will need to use games like next week to their advantage. Tampa Bay comes home to face a Broncos team that struggled with rookie quarterback Bo Nix in his NFL debut last week.

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