After the Bucs dropped a heart-breaker against the Giants last Sunday, allowing rookie Daniel Jones to orchestrate an 18-point comeback in the second half, Tampa Bay entered Week 4 needing a big bounceback performance against the Rams. And it was a bounceback performance they got in the form of a 55-40 win over Los Angeles to move to 2-2 on the season.
Here are the Bucs’ Most Impressive performances from Sunday’s game.
QB Jameis Winston
After the sky seemed to be falling after his dismal performance against the 49ers in Week 1, Winston has seemed to only get better with each passing week. The fifth-year quarterback had a great, three-touchdown performance against the Giants last week and followed it up with a nearly flawless performance in Week 4. It was needed for Tampa Bay to topple the heavily-favored Rams.
Buried deep in their own territory, Winston did throw an interception to Marcus Peters that was returned for a touchdown around the midpoint of the fourth quarter, but came back out and led a drive inside the Rams’ five-yard line where Matt Gay could hit a short field goal to give Tampa Bay an eight-point lead late.
Winston finished the game with 28 completions on 41 attempts for 385 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception.
WR Chris Godwin
After being Winston’s go-to target in the Bucs’ first two games of the season, it was Mike Evans’ turn against the Giants last week as the star receiver put together one of the most dominant performances of his career. Against the Rams, Godwin didn’t just return to form, he exploded with two touchdowns and 172 receiving yards on 12 receptions.
Godwin was the key target in nearly every situation, on first down, third down and in the red zone, once again proving that he’s a legitimate threat and far more than your typical No. 2 receiver. Godwin’s 12 receptions fell just one shy of tying Earnest Graham and James Wilder for the franchise record for catches in a single game.
OLB Shaq Barrett
After racking up seven combined sacks in the Bucs’ second and third games of the season, he’s made himself a regular on the national stage as well as our Most Impressive list.
Barrett notched just one sack on the day but it was a huge strip-sack to seal the game. With the Rams driving, down by five with under two minutes remaining, Barrett got into the backfield and forced a fumble from Rams quarterback Jared Goff that Ndamukong Suh recovered and returned for a touchdown. Proving he can really do it all, the edge rusher added two pass deflections and sniffed out a screen pass, coming down with an interception in the third quarter.
RB Ronald Jones
Jones was leaned on heavily in the Bucs’ game on Sunday, coming up with a big performance that could have been much, much bigger had two huge runs not been called back due to holding penalties. Jones is running strong and decisive, looking like a completely different back than the one that was labeled as a bust in his rookie season.
All-in-all, Jones finished the day with 70 rushing yards on 19 carries and added a five-yard touchdown just before halftime to give the Bucs a two-score lead heading into the locker room.
DT Ndamukong Suh
Call it a revenge game if you want, returning to Los Angeles for the first time since going to the Super Bowl last year following his lone season with the Rams, as Suh ended up making the play of the game late in the fourth quarter for Tampa Bay.
Despite just two tackles on the day, Suh was instrumental in holding Los Angeles running back Todd Gurley to just 16 yards on five carries, adding two quarterback hits and recovering a fumble that was forced by Barrett and returning it for a touchdown to seal with Bucs’ win.
K Matt Gay
After missing the game-winning kick as time expired against the Giants in Week 3, Gay came right back with a big performance on Sunday.
Gay was perfect on the day, converting on seven extra point attempts and both of his field goals that included a 58-yard attempt in the third quarter.
WR Mike Evans
Evans had a relatively quiet day for most of the game, taking just three receptions for 22 yards into the fourth quarter, even missing some time due to a hand injury he sustained on a deep pass attempt to the end zone from Winston.
Then, like a flash, Evans ran straight past Peters on a go route for a 67-yard touchdown reception, giving Tampa Bay a 45-27 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Evans finished the day with four receptions on seven targets for 89 yards and a touchdown.