In their opening drive towards the Philadelphia Eagles, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers switched the lead and never looked back. After dominating at home and securing their spot in the divisional round towards the Detroit Lions, the Bucs annihilated the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 in a postseason demolition. Normally, we would compile a list of players we thought were the best as well as the worst, but tonight, just like the Jacksonville game, we’re highlighting five players who are major contributors to the team. See who we felt stood out in Tampa Bay’s decisive victory:
Table of Contents
Quarterback Baker Mayfield
Baker Mayfield baked when it counted. Since the team experienced six drops, Mayfield actually performed better than his stat line of 22/36 for 337 total yards along with three touchdowns. On Monday, despite having an injured ankle as well as sore ribs, he was in his bag. Many questioned Mayfield’s arrival in Tampa Bay during the offseason, but the Bucs are now one of the NFL’s eight remaining teams.
White Rahaad RB
On Monday, the run game began, and Rachaad White played a significant role in it. He kicked off a great ground game by rushing for 72 yards at an average rate of 4 yards per carry. In Detroit, if he can capitalise on this, the Bucs have a chance to compete with the Lions.
Cade Otton, TE
He did indeed more than make up for his rough spots, though. Otton was Tampa Bay’s leading receiver, catching eight passes for 89 yards and facilitating the passing offence. The Bucs could have a potent, multifaceted offence against Detroit if he can continue to be as effective in completing passes as he was in getting those drops eliminated from the way.
Jamel Dean, CB
Dean was a major factor in the Eagles offense’s lack of success on Monday. He had ten total tackles in addition to covering, flooding the field in both the run and pass games at every chance. Despite having a fluctuating season, Dean managed to secure the playoff victory by playing a strong game against the Eagles when it mattered most.
WR David Moore
Before being activated following the 49ers game, David Moore spent the majority of the season on the practice squad, and he has made an impact. Moore had made a huge play sooner in the drive that resulted in him breaking multiple tackles for the game’s first touchdown. He demonstrated that he belongs in the offence with a 66-yard touchdown and two receptions.
Bucs thrash Eagles, Bills defeat Steelers to advance.
The NFL playoffs began on Monday, and Josh Allen resulted the Buffalo Bills through a 31-17 triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers crushed the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9, ending the team’s once-promising season.
The Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, thrashed the seventh-seeded Steelers in subfreezing circumstances at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium. Allen also produced a spectacular 52-yard run for a touchdown on the ground.
The win places the Bills in another postseason matchup with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his team, the defending Super Bowl champions, who will visit Buffalo on Sunday for an exciting Divisional Round matchup.
In two historic, high-scoring games during the American Football Conference (AFC) playoffs in 2022 as well as 2021, Buffalo was defeated in Kansas City. Allen stated that playing the Chiefs would require a team effort. “We know the type of team that they are, obviously the type of quarterback that they have in Pat over there.” Allen and the Bills’ dominating first-half performance, which fully capitalized on Pittsburgh’s offensive shortcomings, set the stage for victory.
Because of the frigid temperatures that engulfed large portions of the US this past week, the game was moved from Saturday to Monday. Thick snow covered the stands at Orchard Park, but the pitch had been ploughed in time for kickoff. When the game did finally start, the Bills jumped out to a 21-0 lead thanks to Allen’s intensity.
Following an 80-yard drive that culminated in a Steelers fumble, Allen found tight end Dalton Kincaid for the opening touchdown, which was followed by a 29-yard pass into the end zone to punish the fumble. In the middle of the second quarter, Allen electrified the crowd with an incredible individual touchdown. His rush of 52 yards for a touchdown while running made the score 21-0.
The Steelers offence had produced three punts, a fumble, and an interception in their opening five material possessions of the game, and the Bills appeared to be coasting to a landslide victory at that point.
Eagles collide.
From the beginning in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh managed to pull within seven points at 24-17 thanks to a 75-yard run upfield by Mason Rudolph, who then found Calvin Austin III over the score. However, the Bills answered with their fourth landing of the contest, with Khalil Shakir bending to catch an Allen pass before scuttling into the end zone, to reestablish the 14-point lead.
In the meantime, Philadelphia’s eventual late-season collapse that turned them from potential Super Bowl candidates into whipping boys culminated in their playoff exit in the Monday’s NFC Wild-Card game. The Eagles, who were narrowly defeated in the previous year’s Super Bowl, were 10-1 at the beginning of December and appeared to be a strong contender to play in the NFL championship game the following month.
But after five losses in their final six regular season games, the Eagles’ season came to an end, with Tampa Bay becoming the latest team to reveal their fragile nature on Monday in Florida. In the divisional round, Tampa Bay, who won the Super Bowl in 2021 while quarterbacked by Tom Brady, will now play Detroit on Sunday.
Baker Mayfield of the Bucs, who finished with 337 yards passing and three touchdowns along with no interceptions, considered Monday’s victory a personal victory. Mayfield made his NFL debut in 2018 after being selected with the first overall pick by the Cleveland Browns.
The 28-year-old, however, was released by the Browns in the year 2022 and had trouble reestablishing his career alongside the Carolina Panthers as well as Los Angeles Rams prior to combining Tampa Bay in 2023. When Mayfield found David Moore for a 44-yard pass on Monday, the Bucs took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
Following a 56-yard touchdown pass to Trey Palmer in the third quarter, Mayfield sealed the victory with a 23-yard pass to Chris Godwin in the fourth to create a winning memory. “To get here, we’ve battled so hard to make it to the playoffs,” Mayfield remarked following the game. “I’m really happy with how quickly we launched into the game. We set out to take a chance on ourselves, and we succeeded. “We’re moving on to the next game, but we can play more effectively than we did tonight. Onward to Detroit we go.”
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