After closing the regular season with six wins in their final seven games, the No. 3 seed Bucs will look to stay hot as the playoffs begin with an NFC Wild Card matchup on Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium. The No. 6 seed Commanders will be in town for a primetime contest, with the winner advancing to the NFC Divisional Round next weekend while the loser heads into the offseason earlier than they’d hoped.

The Bucs will be looking to win a game in back-to-back postseasons for just the second time in franchise history. The first instance came in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, with five wins between those two postseasons. Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia in the NFC Wild Card Round last January before falling to Detroit in the NFC Divisional Round.

Meanwhile, the Commanders come in winners of five straight to end the regular season. The Washington franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since January 2006 when it beat Tampa Bay in the NFC Wild Card Round at Raymond James Stadium. Jayden Daniels and Co. will be looking to keep their season rolling with a big road win over a more experienced and more playoff-tested Bucs team.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and WRs Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan – Photo by: USA Today

As usual, there are other storylines to follow in this playoff matchup at Ray Jay, and that’s the reason we’re here right now. As we do every week here on PewterReport.com, it’s now time to take a look at what else is on the line during this week’s game. Of course, we’re talking about some of the records and milestones that some Bucs are moving toward. Now that we’re into the postseason, this will be a special playoff edition of the usual Record Watch series.

Last week, Mike Evans tied Jerry Rice’s NFL record for most consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons (11) in addition to passing Larry Centers for the 35th-most receptions in league history. Baker Mayfield finished the regular season with the second-most single-season passing touchdowns in franchise history (41), while Jalen McMillan scored a touchdown for the fifth straight game, which tied the second-longest streak by a rookie in league history.

Tampa Bay also set new a single-season franchise record for rushing yards, while Bucky Irving passed Warrick Dunn for the second-most yards from scrimmage by a rookie running back in team history.

Here’s where things stand for several Bucs in terms of playoff records heading into the NFC Wild Card Round:

Baker Mayfield

With 187 passing yards on Sunday night, Mayfield will pass Brad Johnson (872) for the second-most in Bucs playoff history.

Mayfield would need 382 passing yards to set a new single-game franchise playoff record, as Tom Brady (381 on Jan. 9, 2021 at Washington) currently holds that record.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Mayfield had 300+ passing yards and 3+ passing touchdowns in both of his playoff games for Tampa Bay last January. If he reaches those marks for a third straight postseason game on Sunday, he would tie Josh Allen and Matt Ryan for the longest such streaks in NFL playoff history.

With three passing touchdowns, Mayfield would match the Bucs’ single-game playoff record and become the first Buccaneer quarterback with three or more playoff games with 3+ passing touchdowns.

A four-touchdown performance would set a new single-game franchise record in the playoffs, passing himself (twice in 2024) and Tom Brady (twice).

A win over the Commanders would make Mayfield one of three quarterbacks in Tampa Bay history to record multiple playoff wins with the team, joining Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Brad Johnson and Tom Brady.

Mike Evans

With one touchdown on Sunday, Evans would tie Leonard Fournette (6) for the second-most touchdowns in scrimmage in Bucs playoff history. Two total touchdowns would tie him with Mike Alstott (7) for the most scrimmage touchdowns in the team’s postseason history.

With 100 receiving yards against the Commanders, Evans would break a tie with Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs and Tyreek Hill for the second-most 100-yard receiving games in the playoffs among active players. He would then only trail Travis Kelce (8). Plus, Evans would also tie Antonio Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Reed, John Stallworth and Hines Ward (5) for the fifth-most 100-yard receiving games in NFL playoff history. He would trail only Kelce, Jerry Rice (8), Julian Edelman (6) and Michael Irvin (6).

Cade Otton

Bucs TE Cade Otton – Photo by: USA Today

Otton needs 10 receiving yards to pass Cameron Brate (221) for the second-most playoff receiving yards by a tight end in Bucs playoff history. He only needs 15 more to pass Rob Gronkowski (226) for the most by a tight end in the franchise’s postseason history.

With three receptions, Otton will pass Brate (19) for the most postseason receptions by a tight end in franchise history.

One receiving touchdown would tie Otton with Brate (2) for the second-most by a tight end in Bucs postseason history, while two scores would tie him with Gronkowski (3) for the franchise’s playoff record for a tight end.

Jalen McMillan

If McMillan records a receiving touchdown for the sixth straight game, he would have sole possession of the second-longest receiving touchdown streak by a rookie in NFL history, trailing only Randy Moss (9 games).

A receiving touchdown against the Commanders on Sunday night would also make McMillan one of five players in franchise history to bring in a receiving touchdown in their first career playoff game. He would join Horace Copeland, Jimmie Giles, Chris Godwin and Trey Palmer, plus he would join Palmer as the only rookies in Tampa Bay history with a receiving touchdown in the playoffs.

McMillan needs 50+ receiving yards and a receiving touchdown to tie Randy Moss (6) for the most consecutive games with those marks by a rookie in league history.

With 63 receiving yards, McMillan would pass Reidel Anthony (62 on Dec. 28, 1997 vs. Detroit) for the most single-game receiving yards by a rookie in Bucs playoff history.

And finally, five receptions would move McMillan ahead of Cade Otton (4 on Jan. 16, 2023 vs. Dallas) and Rachaad White (4 on Jan. 16, 2023 vs. Dallas) for the most single-game receptions by a rookie in the team’s playoff history.

Bucky Irving

Bucs RB Bucky Irving Photo by: USA Today

Irving would need 73 receiving yards to pass Warrick Dunn (72 on Dec. 28, 1997 vs. Detroit) for the most single-game rushing yards by a rookie in Bucs playoff history.

With 143 rushing yards, Irving would pass Ricky Bell (142 on Dec. 29, 1979) for the most single-game rushing yards overall in the franchise’s postseason history.

With a rushing touchdown against Washington, Irving would become one of four Bucs to record one in their first playoff game, joining Ricky Bell (2), Mike Alstott and Chris Simms.

Irving needs 148 scrimmage yards to pass Mike Evans (147 on Jan. 21, 2024 at Detroit) for the most single-game scrimmage yards in Bucs playoff history.

Shaq Barrett

Barrett is 1.5 sacks away from tying Warren Sapp (5.5) for second-most in the franchise’s playoff history (at least since sacks became an official stat in 1982). With two sacks, Barrett would pass Sapp for the second-most.

With 3.0 sacks, Barrett would tie Simeon Rice (7.0) for the most in Tampa Bay’s playoff history.

Bucs Defensive Backs

Antoine Winfield Jr. needs one forced fumble to tie Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp (3) for the most in Bucs playoff history (since StatsPass data became available in 1994).

Mike Edwards needs one interception to tie Donnie Abraham, Dexter Jackson, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Dwight Smith (3) for the most in the franchise’s postseason history.

Jamel Dean is two tackles away and Antoine Winfield Jr. is three tackles away from passing John Lynch (46) for fifth-most in Bucs playoff history and the most by a Tampa Bay defensive back in the postseason.