In a 2025 season peppered with game-changing injuries across the league, the Buccaneers continue to handle theirs with arguably the most resilience of anyone.
After suffering two more brutal losses in the form of rookie star Emeka Egbuka and starting right guard Luke Haggard, the Bucs soldiered forward on the back of their MVP-contender QB as they bested the equally decimated San Francisco 49ers, 30-19, on Sunday. The victory broke a four-game losing streak to the ‘9ers and marked the first one since
2018.
At some point, the injury luck either has to turn or Tampa finally gets tripped up by it, but for now the team is a sterling 5-1 — matching a franchise-best start for the first time since 2021 and sixth time ever. Baker Mayfield continues to play with unrivaled fire, and he actually received some defensive support this week in the form of splash plays that led to the Bucs getting their first win of the year by more than one score.
Let’s do some shoutouts!
Offensive Top Performer: QB Baker Mayfield
Mayfield’s gameday resume is becoming filled to the brim with MVP moments, and Sunday was no exception.
An uncharacteristically shaky first quarter quickly gave way to more high-quality plays that we’ve come to expect from No. 6 — delivering a strike to Kameron Johnson with a free rusher bearing down on him, yet another improbable scramble in a series of escapes that seem to get more and more ludicrous, and another deep bomb to a streaking Tez Johnson.
Despite being down his top 4 receivers now, two starting offensive linemen AND the next two backups, and his top running back, Mayfield keeps delivering with what’s been afforded to him. That’s the definition of an MVP.
Speaking of replacements, Kam Johnson!
Prior to Sunday, Johnson was a career special teamer. In two seasons, he garnered 10 targets and no catches, but on Sunday he led the team in receiving. His first career catch and touchdown served as part of a 4/64/1 stat line that was absolutely critical to the team’s success. Not bad for the first-ever NFL product from Barton College in North Carolina.
Tez Johnson may be the size of a cub, but he has the heart of a lion. According to Mayfield, the 143-pound receiver came up with his second big Sunday in row, making a highlight reel grab for a 45-yard touchdown. The two Johnsons will be pivotal for the team’s passing success in the short term while it waits for Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Egbuka to heal up.
Rachaad White put together another strong performance in relief of Bucky Irving. On 20 touches, White totaled 86 yards (65 rushing, 21 receiving) and another touchdown. He’s earned a steady piece of the pie once again even when Irving returns. Sean Tucker also showed positively after a total dud one week ago, carrying 6 times for 25 yards and a score.
Defensive Top Performer: CB Jamel Dean
Unlike last week, the Bucs defense decided to show up on Sunday and, who would’ve guessed, they were better off for it! The Mac Jones-led offense got its yards, as Kyle Shanahan often does against Todd Bowles, but splash plays and clutch stops made the difference.
Out of multiple standouts, Jamel Dean earned his flowers.
He fought off a hip ailment that cost him last week, which was much-needed given injuries to running mates Zyon McCollum and Ben Morrison. Dean responded by logging his first career sack, a forced fumble, and his second interception of the year on a late-game fourth down. He’s drawn the ire of fans many times over the last couple years, with some of that undeserved — he’s a good football player, it’s the staying healthy that’s the frustrating part. He’s been excellent in 2025 though, and hopefully that continues.
And who made another critical impact for the second week in a row? Lavonte David, unsurprisingly. After corraling the game-sealing interception against the Seahawks, David came storming in for a sack on a key third down to keep the 49ers out of field goal range. He added 6 total tackles as well.
The pass rush as a whole did much better, collecting a season-high 6 sacks — their highest total since last year’s Week 4 matchup against the Eagles. Pretty much everyone on the line chipped in but YaYa Diaby led the pack with 2 sacks, continuing his very solid campaign.
Jacob Parrish rebounded from his first true “welcome to the NFL” experience to total 7 tackles and a big third-down pass breakup deep in the red zone, all while again bouncing between outside corner and nickelback.
Special Teams Top Performer: P Riley Dixon
A full game of good punting is indeed possible.
The punt coverage could’ve been better, but Riley Dixon did his job very well throughout the day and contributed largely to the Bucs winning the field position battle throughout the day. He pinned all three of his kicks inside the 20, with two inside the 10, and averaged a healthy 55.3 yards per punt. Between Sunday and the week before, Dixon seems to be regaining his confidence and delivering more consistency. Given how horrible the unit’s been overall, this is more than welcome.
Chase McLaughlin made the game harder than it needed to be when he missed a late field goal attempt. The miss broke his hot streak that followed his early week struggles, but he made good on it when he hit a 45-yarder with less than 2 minutes remaining to make it a two-score game, effectively sealing the deal.
