There’s no other way around it. The Bucs suffered an enormous blow having lost slot receiver Chris Godwin for the rest of the regular season and wide receiver Mike Evans until after the bye week. Not only does that hurt quarterback Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay’s passing game, but it severely limits the team’s chances of making the postseason.

With that said, the Bucs are still capable of making a playoff run. They’re 4-3 on the season, and an upset win over the Falcons splits the season series against their division rivals and puts them alone in first place in the NFC South standings. It’ll be all hands on deck for Sunday’s game, and a chance for some of the other wide receivers to step up.

Baker Mayfield Has Faith In Sterling Shepard, Trey Palmer And Jalen McMillan

Bucs WR Sterling Shepard – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs have gotten flashes of contributions from wide receivers Sterling Shepard, Trey Palmer and Jalen McMillan, though none of them have played more than five games this year. All three have scored a touchdown this year on throws from Baker Mayfield, with Shepard also scoring on a two-point conversion. Shepard, who played at Oklahoma with Mayfield, has the most receiving yards between the three this year at 93.

In all fairness, the game plan for the offense every week is to get the ball to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Plus, Palmer missed time with a concussion and McMillan missed two games because of a hamstring injury. Their usage will be ramped up for the remainder of the season, and thanks to all the preparation that has gone on for months, Baker Mayfield believes they’ll be ready to go.

“I’ll be extremely confident in those guys,” Baker Mayfield said. “Obviously, I had rapport with Trey going back to last year, Sterling for years obviously, and Jalen, all of offseason and training camp. I expect those guys to have success and play really well, and you know, throughout the week, getting on the same page within the game plan as we continue to nail this thing down. We expect everybody to step up in a big way and [we’re] still leaning on our offensive line – [I] thought they played great.”

How Different Will The Offense Look?

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

There’s no question that the Bucs offense is going to look different for the next game. It has to with not having Tampa Bay’s best two receivers. A lot will be on the plate of offensive coordinator Liam Coen. The good news is that no team out there has tape of what this offense will look like with different personnel.

Tampa Bay has a greatly improved run game. They Bucs will not only rely on that, but we could see various formations that get Rachaad White, Bucky Irving (depending on his availability) and Sean Tucker playing at the same time. Even if two are together, which is called the “Pony” package, they’ve found a lot of success with it this season. Because of the running backs, not everything will be on the receivers. They’ll be involved and used in various ways, making the group having a bag of tricks containing looks that haven’t been seen before.

“Obviously in the past few weeks I think they’ve (the wide receivers) played really well and [our running] backs continue to play well so it’s just going to be a full group effort,” Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “It’s going to look different but that’s okay, and you know what, it’ll be a little bit more creative, and we’ll have some fun with it.

“As we’re getting this game plan going, looking at obviously not having Mike [Evans] and Chris [Godwin], teams can’t exactly play to those tendencies when we’re game planning with those guys. It’ll look different but everybody just has to do their part. Everybody has to be dialed in and it’s next man up.”

Baker Mayfield’s Leadership Will Be Important

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

In a difficult moment like this, it’s important for team leaders to step up. There’s no better person to take the reigns of this group and rally everybody together than the quarterback, Baker Mayfield. While he’ll continue to raise the bar, Mayfield made it clear that it won’t just be one guy that’s motivating everyone, as the team has several leaders in the locker room – regardless of if there is a letter “C” on their uniform.

“It’s not just me,” Mayfield said. “We have a ton of leaders around this building. For example, Chris Godwin wasn’t even named a captain. You don’t have to have any of that stuff on your chest to be a leader and we have plenty of guys that have stepped up in a huge way.

“[Being] more verbal for me will go a long way, body language always, but that’s what I try and do every day for these guys – be consistent, be the same leader, bring energy and just have these guys focused.”