With the Bucs coming out of their Week 11 bye at 4-6 and on the outside of the playoff picture, they had no time to waste. If they were going to put together another late-season turnaround and extend their playoff appearance streak, it had to start on Sunday afternoon against the Giants at MetLife Stadium.

Tampa Bay did exactly what it needed to do from the start, taking a 7-0 lead on its opening drive and putting pressure on a 2-8 New York team going through a quarterback change. Just about everything clicked from that point on, with the Bucs taking a 23-0 lead into halftime before winning 30-7.

With the win, Todd Bowles’ team snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 5-6 on the season. The Falcons are on a bye this week, meaning the Bucs picked up a half-game in the NFC South race.

Here’s a recap of all the action from Sunday’s dominant win at MetLife Stadium:

Bucs 30, Giants 7

Bucs RB Sean Tucker and OT Justin Skule – Photo by: USA Today

Baker Mayfield and the Bucs offense got the ball to open the game, and they put a phenomenal drive together right from the jump. Passes to former Giant Sterling Shepard, rookie Jalen McMillan and the returning Mike Evans got things going, then Rachaad White converted a 3rd & 2 with a 7-yard run.

After Sean Tucker later converted a 4th & 2, Mayfield found Bucky Irving for a 14-yard gain to the New York 1-yard line. One play later – with Vita Vea lined up at fullback – Tucker found the end zone to put the Bucs up 7-0. The opening-drive touchdown was Tampa Bay’s fifth of the season, and it went 70 yards in 14 plays and took 8:23 off the clock.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. broke off a 16-yard run to start off the Giants’ first drive, but it went nowhere after that thanks to a third-down sack by Calijah Kancey. With his fifth sack of the year, the second-year defensive lineman set a new career high in just his sixth game.

Tampa Bay had to punt the ball away on its next possession, but the defense kept Tommy DeVito and Co. in check again on their next possession. Giants head coach Brian Daboll elected to go for it on 4th & 1 from his own 37, but Lavonte David got there to stop Wan’Dale Robinson on the end-around to turn the ball over on downs.

With a short field, it didn’t take much for the Bucs offense to convert that turnover on downs into points. But after a Tucker fumble near the goal line was recovered by Mayfield on third down, they had to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin. Nonetheless, the visitors went up 10-0.

Anthony Nelson kept Tampa Bay’s defensive dominance going early on New York’s next drive, getting to DeVito for a sack that essentially killed the drive from the start.

Bucs DT Vita Vea and Giants QB Tommy DeVito – Photo by: USA Today

The Buccaneer offense went right back to work after getting the ball back, too, with Mayfield connecting with his tight ends for two big plays. First, it was an impressive 26-yard catch by Payne Durham before Cade Otton hauled in a 30-yard catch of his own. That set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Bucky Irving, which put the Bucs up 17-0 with 6:23 to go in the first half.

The Giants managed to poke a hole in the Bucs defense for one big play on their next drive, with DeVito hitting Theo Johnson for a 23-yard gain. But after Vita Vea bullied his way right through John Michael Schmitz Jr. for a sack of DeVito, New York had to punt the ball away again.

Tampa Bay started its next drive with Irving taking a short pass and reversing the field for a 32-yard gain, then Mayfield later found Trey Palmer for an 18-yard gain to get deeper into Giants territory. An illegal contact penalty then extended the drive on third down, and the Bucs took advantage. With 12 seconds left in the half, Mayfield scrambled for a 10-yard touchdown and added insult to injury with a Tommy DeVito-inspired celebration. McLaughlin missed the extra point wide left, but the Bucs took a 23-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the first half, Tampa Bay outgained New York 290-45 and ran 39 plays to the home team’s 18. That led to a time of possession advantage of 19:57-10:03 for the visitors.

Out of the break, DeVito connected with Malik Nabers for gains of 21, 8 and 13 yards to get the ball into Buccaneer territory. A 12-yard pass to Robinson then got the Giants in the red zone, and their first third-down conversion of the day set up 1st & Goal. But the Bucs defense stepped up to keep them off the board, with Lavonte David forcing a Tracy fumble that was recovered by Calijah Kancey. Just like that, New York’s best drive of the day came to an end with no points to show for it.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs offense picked up where it left off from there, putting together a 12-play, 95-yard touchdown drive that took 7:10 off the clock. Two early third-down conversions got Tampa Bay out of its own end zone, then a big 30-yard catch by Rakim Jarrett, a 15-yard catch by Evans and a defensive pass interference penalty set the ball up at the goal line. From there, Rachaad White cashed in and extended the lead to 30-0 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Giants finally broke up the shutout. DeVito led the New York offense on a 13-play, 68-yard drive in 7:17, with Devin Singletary scoring a 1-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 30-7 with 11:28 left.

A Sean Tucker blunder on the ensuing kickoff had the Bucs start their next drive from the 2-yard line, but Bucky Irving broke off a 56-yard run to give them some space. But a botched handoff led to a fumble, which New York recovered near midfield.

The Giants couldn’t turn the turnover into points, though, giving the ball back over on downs. The two teams traded possessions the rest of the way before time ran out and the Bucs sealed a 30-7 victory.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today

Baker Mayfield was efficient in this game, completing 24 of his 30 passes for 294 yards and a rushing touchdown. Mike Evans caught five passes for 68 yards in his return from injury, and the Buccaneer run game dominated the day. Bucky Irving was the star, rushing 12 times for 87 yards and a touchdown while catching six passes for a career-high 64 yards. Rachaad White added 37 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, while Sean Tucker got the scoring started with a touchdown run of his own.

The Giants came into Sunday averaging just around 15 points per game, and even a quarterback change and a struggling Bucs defense didn’t revitalize them. Tampa Bay held them under their season average, giving up just seven points and 245 yards.

Calijah Kancey, Anthony Nelson, Vita Vea and Antoine Winfield Jr. all recorded sacks while Lavonte David registered a pass defensed and a forced fumble.

The Bucs (5-6) will now look to win back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 1 and 2 when they head to Charlotte next week for a 4:05 p.m. matchup with the Panthers (3-8).