The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ future is a lot brighter than it looked at the beginning of the year.
The Bucs turned in an utter display of dominance on Monday night at Raymond James Stadium. Here are some fun facts from the game:
- Bucs cornerback Zyon McCollum had two special teams penalties leveled against him on successful field goal attempts by the Eagles, one a point after touchdown and the other of the regular, 3-point variety. Both led to Philly going for more points. Both led to Philly failing to convert
- Tight end Cade Otton set a Buccaneers franchise records for receptions by a tight end in a playoff game
- The Bucs came away with their first postseason safety in franchise history
- Baker Mayfield’s touchdown to Chris Godwin in the fourth quarter was one of the silliest throws I’ve ever seen
OK, so that last one wasn’t really a fact, but it was worth mentioning. The Bucs came out and absolutely put on a show for the ages, dominating Philly 32-9 on Monday Night Football.
—
The story of this game from the Bucs’ perspective is absolutely how great the offense looked, but my goodness did the Eagles look absolutely lifeless in every aspect of the game. Offense? Washed. Defense? Sloppy.
Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts was clearly hobbled and uncomfortable without top receiver AJ Brown, and the Eagles missed about 4,000 tackles on the game, with a couple of them leading to big-play touchdowns from guys not named Mike Evans or Chris Godwin.
I mean, Bucs receiver Trey Palmer is a dynamic, speedy receiver, but he’s a rookie sixth-round pick. David Moore, the other Bucs touchdown recipient, was signed off a practice squad earlier this year.
—
And yet they both made huge, game-changing plays that heavily contributed to Tampa Bay winning this game in such laughable fashion.
Now… it’s time to get a bit real. This season has been an absolute success. It’s hard not to be just blown away by this team shattering expectations in every possible way, and Todd Bowles has done everything necessary to secure his job for next year.
But the Bucs have to go to Detroit to face the Lions next week, another team this squad lost to early in the regular season.
“Any given Sunday,” all that mumbo jumbo, but the Bucs are facing a very uphill battle against a team coming off this first playoff victory in the Baker Mayfield era.
With the Cowboys continuing their amazing tradition of blowing it in the playoffs, this weekend couldn’t have gone any better.
Fire those cannons.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
This article originally appeared on CLTAMPA.COM and is used with permission.
Follow @ctbrantley12 on Twitter and listen to him on the RBLR Bucs podcast
Follow, Like and Subscribe to Bucs Report
For more on this and everything Tampa Bay Buccaneers check back here hourly at BucsReport.com
