The Bucs won an absolute slugfest in a back-and-forth affair in Houston on Monday Night Football. The standout performances that led to their improbable win are plentiful. This is the Most Impressive from week two.

QB Baker Mayfield

Mayfield came out of the gates like a man possessed. After he and the offense struggled to get things going early in Atlanta, Mayfield made sure they were hitting on damn near every cylinder on the first drive.

Despite an underthrown deep cross to Emeka Egbuka that was nearly intercepted, he still kept the passing game rolling. He hit on four of his six passes for 55 yards to open the game on offense, including a second reaction 15-yard pass to Sterling Shepard as he scrambled to his right and a 20-yard seed to Ryan Miller on a deep cross for the Bucs’ first touchdown of the game.

On the second drive, Mayfield was even more impressive. Now without his right tackle, he continued to stand and deliver as the Bucs drove 77 yards on 14 plays for another touchdown. The throws were less difficult, but Mayfield kept the offense on time and in rhythm. He went 6-of-7 for 39 yards with another score and put the Bucs ahead 14-10.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

From there, Mayfield battled through a building onslaught of pressure while taking hit after hit after hit. He willed the offense forward. Scrambles. Second reaction Houdini acts. An absolute dime through Emeka Egbuka’s hands. Finding first downs through a sea of Texans jerseys. He scrambled for 33 yards and some key first downs. He lowered his shoulder and flipped over defenders. Despite being in obvious pain, he hopped up each time, jawing with Texans defenders and letting his teammates know that losing was not an option.

It was another in a long line of strong-willed performances that has endeared the Bucs quarterback to his team, his organization, the area, and anyone with even a passing interest in football and a pulse. The gutsy performance on paper just doesn’t tell anywhere close to the story of his Herculean efforts. He had 25 completions on 38 attempts for 215 yards and two touchdowns.

But overcoming insurmountable odds while breaking a Primetime curse against one of the stiffest defenses in the NFL? That story was told with each out-of-structure “where there’s a will, there’s a way” drop back he made on the night. And admit it. Like me, you lost count of how many of those took place.

WR Emeka Egbuka

Egbuka continues to burst onto the scene, as he was the volume man in the Bucs’ passing offense. Offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard was dialing up manufactured touches for the rookie receiver as he had three catches on four targets for 22 yards and a touchdown by the end of Tampa Bay’s second drive. With a makeshift offensive line, Egbuka became a short yardage maven in keeping the Bucs ahead of the sticks.

On the second drive, Egbuka found four tough yards and a first down on a pop pass. Just a few plays later, he took a delayed screen 15 yards for his third touchdown of the season.

OC Josh Grizzard

Grizzard has been working left-handed to start the season. With left tackle Tristan Wirfs injured and the team opting to shuffle multiple players, he hasn’t been able to go as deep into his bag as he would like. That situation was exacerbated early in this game when right tackle Luke Goedeke left the game with a foot injury.

With 80% of his offensive line out of position, Grizzard had to find changeups to his changeups. The young offensive coordinator did not disappoint.

Bucs QBs coach Thad Lewis, OC Josh Grizzard and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

He found pulls, pins and traps to give his running backs lanes as the Bucs were averaging over 5 yards per carry throughout the first half. After not leaning into the screen game much in week one, Grizzard unloaded the clip in Houston, helping the Bucs offense find easy yards on early and late downs alike. Grizzard used pop passes and speed cuts to help Mayfield get the ball out early and not have to find out how well the offensive line could hold up. It was truly a masterclass when taking the context into consideration.

Just a week ago, Sean McVay with a much healthier offense got just 14 points against this Houston defense. Grizzard got the six more with a M*A*S*H unit and a kicking game that let him down. The Bucs offense ended the game with 169 yards on the ground and another 215 through the air while driving into scoring position four times. It wasn’t pretty. But it was gutsy. And impressive.

Bucs Run Game

Bucky Irving found his groove after a lackluster week one. He was cutting on a dime, factoring into the screen game and back to his sweet spot of forcing would-be tacklers to miss. Irving was moving both quickly and effortlessly. Irving helped relieve the pressure Houston’s defensive line placed on the Bucs offense with consistently solid gains. Irving rattled off 71 yards on 17 carries, averaging 4.2 yards per carry and added another 50 yards on six catches.

Rachaad White, not to be outdone, matched Irving yard for yard with 65 yards of his own on 10 carries and the crucial winning touchdown. His 7.0 yards per carry average came on several chunk runs as he ran through would-be tacklers and kept churning forward through contact.

Joining them in impressing on the night is the makeshift offensive line. Graham Barton, Michael Jordan, Ben Bredeson, Cody Mauch and Charlie Heck were able to blow the Texans’ defensive line off the line of scrimmage enough to keep the offense moving forward. It was a heroic effort from a group that had no business competing with the level of talent they were matched up against.

Todd Bowles’ Defensive Gameplan – And The Defense

Bowles just needed a better racecar. His defense held Houston’s running backs to only 57 yards on 15 carries and kept C.J. Stroud to just over 200 yards passing. The pass rush logged three sacks and the defense held on third down over and over. After two scoring drives to start the game, the Texans scored just 9 points the rest of the way, thanks to poor special teams play.

The Texans’ drives went like this:

• 20 yards – punt
• 22 yards – punt
• 19 yards – punt
• -5 yards – punt
• 71 yards – goal line stand, turnover on downs
• 0 yards – field goal

The Bucs did surrender a touchdown on Houston’s final drive of the game, but the Texans started that drive on the Bucs’ 26-yard line. Bowles’ coverage schemes and pressure packages were excellent. Twice on third down, he dialed up perfect blitzes to sack Stroud and end drives. It was an incredible showing from the defensive mastermind who proved that when he has the right pieces, he is near unbeatable.

Bucs defense with HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

The Bucs defense, implementing that gameplan, consistently came up big after they settled in following the first quarter. The secondary made Stroud hold the ball longer than he would have liked more often than not. Jacob Parrish made a heroic pass breakup of a pass to Nico Collins late in the game and Zyon McCollum, Benjamin Morrison and Jamel Dean played him tough on the perimeter all night.

Collins had a highlight-reel catch for a 29-yard touchdown on the Texans’ first drive and then the Bucs defense just clamped down. Outside of that catch he had two grabs for 26 yards on eight targets.

Special shoutouts to the depth pieces on the interior defensive line as well. Elijah Roberts had a half-sack on a key third down. Greg Gaines got multiple pressures and a bull rush sack of his own. The linebackers fit the run well enough to keep it in check and Tykee Smith was filling downhill all game, getting a key run stop from depth and an excellent slot blitz for a sack.

ST Kaevon Merriweather

Among an otherwise disastrous night for special teams, Merriweather was a crucial bright spot. He had three special teams tackles on the night. That in and of itself is a good day at the office for that phase of the game. But two of those tackles were absolutely crucial.

Merriweather stopped Justin Watson after Watson recovered the blocked punt in Bucs territory. That set up the defense to hold strong and force Houston field goal. He was also the player who finally brought down Jaylin Noel on his 53-yard punt return to the Bucs 26-yard line, saving another touchdown.

These plays often get lost to history, but he was a real difference-maker in this wild affair.