Baker Mayfield has bold response after Buccaneers win vs. Falcons
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are smiling ear to ear after a comeback 23-20 victory against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to kick off the 2025 season.
The Bucs looked like they were about to take a loss, but Baker Mayfield threw a 25-yard touchdown to rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka late in the fourth quarter to take a lead. Mayfield spoke after the game about the team's offensive struggles and ability to overcome adversity.
"It felt like an eternity that they were down there trying to score," Mayfield said postgame.
"But we were looking at the clock situation and we knew we were going to be above the two-minute warning with one timeout left, so we look at that like two timeouts. At least get a good play off on first down, get to the two-minute then gather yourself and go. We were looking to go down and score. It wasn't about getting a field goal to tie it and go to overtime. We were looking to score."
Mayfield shines for Bucs in win
While the Bucs struggled to move the football all afternoon, they stuck to the game plan, which ultimately got them on the winning side.
"Especially to start the season, it was a little bit bizarre both ways, between the extra points missed and the long red zone periods that occurred. It was just one of the bizarre wins," Mayfield said.
"We played a crazy one like that here last year and came out on the losing end. We came out on the winning end of this one."
With the win, the Bucs are starting the season off strong. They will look to continue their momentum in Week 2 on Monday Night Football against the Houston Texans. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 15.
Packers’ Colby Wooden Fires Back at Critics After Dominant Run Defense Performance
Micah Parsons, a contrarian opinion had taken hold, too–the Packers defense would get chewed up in the running game.Three days before the Packers were to play the Detroit Lions in their 2025 opener, defensive lineman Colby Wooden got a phone call. It was his father. While much attention had been foisted on the Packers in recent days after the stunning trade for pass-rusher
The Packers had to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, and the feeling was, that would be costly in the team’s efforts to handle the run. Detroit, after all, rushed for 2,488 yards last season, sixth in the NFL. Without Clark, surely the Packers would be in trouble.
Wooden, who is helping replace Clark in the middle, took the call from his dad, who said, “Do me a favor, shut ‘em up.”
And he, along with the entire Packers defensive front, did just that, holding the Lions to 46 yards on 22 carries, their lowest rushing output since Week 6 in 2023. Wooden, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks held the line admirably in the middle all day for the Packers.
Colby Wooden: ‘I Took That Personal’
Wooden, for one, was insulted by the questions about the team’s inability to hold against the run.
“I for sure took that personal …” Wooden said. “So I just, did my job, went out there, stopped the run. I took it personal. Honestly, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they gonna run the ball.’ So I made it my mission—we, excuse me—we made it our mission to shut them down.”
That’s not easy to do against the combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles.
“We know what they want to do,” Wooden said. “Last year, they wanted to run. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, or whatever. They want to run them 30 times. So we know they want to run that ball. We’ve got to do our job to stop the run so they can get back and let (Parsons) go get them.”
Packers Filling Roles With Micah Parsons on Board
Wooden said the effect of having Parsons on the field was obvious, and it works both ways. When offenses focus on corralling Parsons, the other Packers must step up.
“Everybody’s got a job to do, everybody got a role,” Wooden said. “Everybody’s got to buy into their role. We know what attention and what he comes with. And we know we got to stop that run, go help him out, if he is getting is getting chipped, doubled or whatever, now it’s somebody else’s turn to win their one-on-one.”
Packers Have Commanders Next
And despite the obviously encouraging results, Wooden is not getting ahead of himself. The Commanders will be next on the docket, with fearsome young quarterback Jayden Daniels on hand.
“It’s just one week,” Wooden said. “It’s Week 1. It’s great to start off with a win, dominate. But we’ve got to keep it going. We got a good team coming here on Thursday, we know we got to be ready to stop that run and contain that quarterback. So we just gotta keep going, keep getting better, keep jelling.”
