An ugly win in the season opener is still an important win for the Buccaneers

By Canadian Press on September 8, 2025.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Buccaneers will take an ugly win over a division rival on the road to start the season.

Baker Mayfield and the offense weren’t sharp in their first game under new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. The defense gave up big plays, couldn’t create any turnovers and didn’t generate much pressure.

Still, with the game on the line, Mayfield made all the clutch throws to lead Tampa Bay to a 23-20 victory at Atlanta on Sunday.

The four-time defending NFC South champions tried to downplay facing the Falcons, who swept the season series and had won four of the previous five meetings.

But beating the biggest challenger to their division championship run in Week 1 should have playoff implications down the road.

Considering most of the starters didn’t see any action in the preseason, it felt more like August than September.

“Those guys didn’t blink whether it was penalties, a bad play or anything else,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said Monday. “This is the first time they’ve played that many plays in a ballgame with a limited preseason, so I knew there was going to be some fatigue in the second half. But mentally, they didn’t fall off. They believed in each other and that was the biggest take out of the game.”

Mayfield finished 17 of 32 for 167 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers. Rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka caught two of Mayfield’s three touchdown passes in his NFL debut.

Grizzard is Mayfield’s third offensive coordinator in three seasons in Tampa Bay. Liam Coen (Jacksonville) and Dave Canales (Carolina) got head coach positions after working with Mayfield.

The duo looked as though they’ll need more time to get in sync.

Mayfield led the team in rushing with 39 yards and Bucky Irving was held to only 37 on 14 carries, just a 2.6 average.

The Bucs sorely missed All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs, who remains sidelined after knee surgery in the summer. The team shook up the offensive line before the game, moving center Graham Barton to left tackle instead of backup Charlie Heck. Left guard Ben Bredeson shifted to center, and Michael Jordan was promoted from the practice squad to start at left guard.

“When we gave (Barton) a couple reps out there, at first it was we were doing it out of emergency,” Bowles said. ”(We were) like, ‘Hey, he looks pretty good out there.’ Then Ben looked pretty good at center and then we just started messing with it a little bit. The more we saw it, the more it started coming into focus. When I first asked (Barton) to do it, I just said in case of emergency, so he took a few reps here and there. Then it got to kind of be kind of an emergency and he started looking better and better and he was firing off the ball in the running game.

“I was like, ’Hey, we might be more physical with Graham at tackle and Ben at center and with Jordan at guard because he had a good preseason. Nobody really wanted to say it, but it was like, ‘Hey, we probably need to do this.’ Then it kind of came into fruition.”

What’s working

The run defense led by Vita Vea in the middle of the defensive line was impressive, holding Bijan Robinson to just 24 yards rushing and limiting Atlanta to only 69 yards on the ground.

What needs help

The pass rush had more roughing-the-passer penalties (2) than sacks. Haason Reddick had the lone sack and it knocked Atlanta out of field-goal range. He also added several pressures and forced two false start penalties. Overall, the Bucs need to get more pressure from the rest of the defense.

Stock up

Egbuka, the 19th overall pick in the draft, had four catches for 67 yards, including TD grabs of 30 and 25 yards. With Mike Evans drawing attention from safeties, Egbuka should thrive against single coverage. Egbuka will play an even bigger role in the offense with the Buccaneers missing wideouts Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan.

Stock down

Chase McLaughlin was wide left on a 44-yard field goal on the first drive of the second half and then hit the left upright on the extra point after Tampa Bay scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:04 left. That allowed the Falcons an opportunity to tie the game with a field goal that was missed.

Injuries

CB Benjamin Morrison (hamstring) and S Christian Izien (oblique) joined (Wirfs (knee), Godwin (ankle) and McMillan (neck) on the sideline.

Key number

75% — The Bucs allowed the Falcons to go 3 of 4 on fourth-down conversions, including a pair of scrambles by Penix on Atlanta’s go-ahead scoring drive.

Next steps

The Buccaneers visit the two-time AFC South champion Houston Texans next Monday night.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Rob Maaddi, The Associated Press

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