For the first time since January, the Bucs will take the field on Sunday for a football game that actually counts. The team will be in Minnesota to take on the Vikings, who finished 13-4 a year ago. While these two teams finished five games apart in terms of regular season records, they both met the same fate in the end, and that was a first-round playoff exit.

Tampa Bay underwent quite a few changes this offseason and will be a much younger team in 2023. There are plenty of questions this Bucs team will have to answer throughout the year, and they’ll start facing those questions come Sunday afternoon. Looking to three-peat as NFC South champions and extend their NFC-leading active playoff appearance streak to four years, getting off to a strong start in Week 1 would be a huge boost.

Following this season opener on the road, the Bucs come back home to host the Bears and Eagles, then they’ll wrap up the first quarter of the schedule on the road against the Saints. How good Philadelphia is and the difficulties the team has had with New Orleans makes these first two games especially important if Todd Bowles’ squad is going to start 2023 on the right note.

All of that aside, we’re back to take a look at some records and milestones — both for the franchise and on a larger scale, with the NFL — that are on the line this week and throughout the year for the Bucs. While there is fewer to keep track of with the departure of Tom Brady, plenty of Tampa Bay’s players still have some individual achievements to chase. Speaking of Brady, we’ll wrap up where he finished in the organization’s record books as well.

Now, let’s get into where things stand heading into the 2023 season.

Tom Brady

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

After spending three years with the team and then heading into retirement, Brady finished his Bucs career with the second-most completions in franchise history (1,376), as well as the second-most touchdown passes (108). He also finished third in passing yards (14,643) and quarterback wins (32).

Sooner or later, Brady should take his place in the Bucs Ring of Honor inside Raymond James Stadium. He was only in town for three years, but his place in the team’s record books and the fact that he led them to a second Lombardi Trophy and three playoff appearances is surely enough for his name to join the other Buccaneer greats at some point.

Mike Evans

Evans’ first few receiving touchdowns of the 2023 season will help him make some serious moves on the NFL’s all-time leaderboard. With one more, he’ll tie Anquan Boldin and Reggie Wayne (82) for 28th-most in league history, while two more will tie him with Antonio Brown, Calvin Johnson and Brandon Marshall (83) for 25th-most. Three more receiving scores will pull him even with Mark Clayton, Tommy McDonald, Irving Fryar and Andre Rison (84) for 21st-most in NFL history.

Evans only needs one more start to tie Mike Alstott (137) for sixth-most in team history. This will be his 138th game played (he missed one start in 2015, which is the reason for the discrepancy), leaving him two games away from tying Warren Sapp (140) for 11th-most in team history.

And finally, Evans is three points away from passing Michael Husted (502) for second-most in Bucs history.

Chris Godwin

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

Godwin is one receiving touchdown away from tying Cameron Brate (33) for third-most in team history, while two more receiving scores will tie him with Jimmie Giles (34) for second-most. One more touchdown of any kind will tie him with Giles (34) for fourth-most touchdowns in franchise history.

With five receptions in Sunday’s game, Godwin will tie Keyshawn Johnson (15) for the franchise’s longest streak of five-plus reception games. Plus, it would extend his NFL-best active streak.

Godwin needs 25 scrimmage yards to pass Michael Pittman (5,723) for sixth-most in franchise history. He’d also pass Doug Martin (5,724) for fifth-most.

Will Gholston

There was a time this offseason when it looked like Gholston, a longtime Buc, may have played his last snap in red, white and pewter. But Tampa Bay ultimately re-signed him late in the summer, and he’ll now be a key depth piece for the defensive line. Sunday will mark Gholston’s 154th game with the Bucs, which will leave him four away from tying Mike Alstott (158) for eighth-most in franchise history.

Lavonte David

Bucs LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

David tested the free agency market back in the spring before re-signing with Tampa Bay on a one-year deal. The legendary Buccaneer will now have a chance to climb the team’s all-time games played/started leaderboard. Sunday will be his 167th game, leaving him 16 away from tying Paul Gruber (183) for fourth-most in team history. It will also be his 167th start, which will have him 16 behind Gruber (183) for third-most.

With 4.5 more sacks, David will surpass Jason Pierre-Paul and Brad Culpepper (33) for eighth-most in franchise history.

Five more passes defensed will pull David even with Donnie Abraham and Carlton Davis (64) for fourth-most in Bucs history.

Devin White

White has recovered an opponent’s fumble in three consecutive games. With another one against the Vikings on Sunday, he’ll break a tie with 15 others for the NFL’s longest streak since at least 2000.

Carlton Davis

With one pass defensed against Minnesota, Davis will move ahead of Donnie Abraham (64) for fourth-most of any Buc ever.

Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Jamel Dean

Dean is one pass defensed away from tying John Lynch (42) for eighth-most in franchise history.

Team

The Bucs have won back-to-back Week 1 games, meaning a victory on Sunday would help them tie their longest-ever streak (3) to start the season. Tampa Bay previously won three straight season openers from 1979-1981.