The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made history in their 16-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
For the second straight week, the Buccaneers dominated on the ground and in the trenches to win. As in their win over the Carolina Panthers
, when Baker Mayfield threw the ball only 11 times for 64 yards, it was even clearer in their win over the Falcons when he completed zero of his three pass attempts, yet the Buccaneers still won.Tampa Bay became the first team since 1974 to win a game with zero pass completions, rushing for a franchise-record 324 yards.
Head coach Todd Bowles commented on what it was like winning a game with zero pass completions.
"I have not, but there's a first time for everything," Bowles said after the win, when asked whether he ever envisioned
winning a game like that. "Only if we're running the ball, that's good. If we run it, if we're not running the ball, then it's not a dream. We knew it was going to be a nasty day and what type of conditions it was going to be. We were worried about ball security, and we took care of it other than a fumble in the end zone."
The Buccaneers rode their ground game to victory on an ugly day of rain and mud. Bucky Irving ran for 170 yards and one touchdown on 6.3 yards per carry while Kenneth Gainwell added 140 yards on 5.6 yards per carry.
Over the last two weeks (both wins), the Buccaneers have had 14 pass attempts, with eight takeaways and six sacks. But the biggest stat is the 582 rushing yards over the past two weeks.
"They've done a great job pounding the rock, especially the last two weeks," said Bowles of Irving and Gainwell. "They've been getting yeoman's work carries, and the offensive line has done an outstanding job. Of course, that includes the receivers and tight ends, we knew what kind of game was going to be last week. It just turned into that this week with the weather. Both sides was going to pound the ball and kind of see who made mistakes in that way. We won the turnover battle, so you know that was important."
The Buccaneers are suddenly back in the playoff hunt at 3-5 and just a half-game behind the Panthers for the division lead. They'll look to carry that momentum in a big Sunday Night Football matchup against the Chicago Bears next week.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Todd Bowles gives blunt take on Buccaneers' win with zero pass completions
