Buccaneers' first-rounder shines in close victory vs. Falcons
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began the season 1-0 after a thriller and sloppy one in Atlanta against the Falcons, 23-20.
It wasn’t pretty all across the board with a lot of fixes to make moving forward but the Bucs begin the 2025 season in the win column.
The Falcons came out strong against the Bucs in the first quarter
The Falcons wasted zero time scoring, doing so in just three plays — a Michael Penix Jr. dump-off to Bijan Robinson went for 50 yards on Atlanta's third play from scrimmage to start 7-0 and punch Tampa Bay in the mouth. The Bucs couldn't respond, going three-and-out after Baker Mayfield threw two incompletions.
The Falcons punted on their next drive, but Tampa Bay was pinned inside the 10 and couldn't get the ball moving, so they punted back, and Atlanta did the same the drive after. At the end of the first quarter, the Buccaneers were driving and hit midfield.
Emeka Egbuka strikes for the Buccaneers in the second quarter
The Bucs led an extended drive to start the second quarter, but it ended in a field goal when the Bucs stalled. A 48-yarder from Chase McLaughlin made it 7-3 Falcons, and the Bucs got a huge break the next drive when the defense prevented the Falcons from converting on a 4th & 1.
The offense started at midfield, and it finally got it done when Baker Mayfield threw an excellent pass to Emeka Egbuka to go up 10-7 with 6:53 remaining.
The Falcons took the remainder of the second half up with their ensuing drive, but the Bucs didn't break and forced them to kick a field goal. That tied the game 10-10 all, and after a disasterous Bucs drive that quickly saw them go three-and-out, the Falcons took the ball back with 18 seconds left. They ran two plays before the half ended.
Bucs take the lead in the third quarter
Tampa Bay marched into Atlanta territory to start the second half, but they stalled out at Atlanta's 34. Chase McLaughlin missed a rare kick, so they came away with no points and the game remained 10-10.
The Falcons committed numerous penalties that killed their next drive, so they punted it back to the Bucs. Kameron Johnson took that return all the way down to Atlanta's 30, and that led to a Baker Mayfield touchdown pass to Bucky Irving in the flat.
That brought it up to 17-10 Bucs, and the Falcons went on a massive drive that took up the entire rest of the third. It ended in a field goal, so the Falcons narrowed the gap to 17-13 before the Bucs got the ball back to start the fourth.
Buccaneers' rookie does it again in the fourth quarter... but it isn't enough
The Bucs held an extended drive to start the fourth quarter, but once they got to midfield, they stalled and had to punt. Atlanta responded with an extremely long drive that ate up a majority of the quarter, getting the ball at 11:09 and then scoring a rushing touchdown by way of Michael Penix Jr. with just 2:17 left in the game.
The Bucs got the ball back with minimal time left, and they got the TD they needed on a connection between Mayfield and Egbuka again — unfortunately, a bad snap caused McLaughlin to miss the extra point, so the Falcons just needed three points to send the game to OT.
That didn't happen, though — Younghoe Koo missed his kick, and the Buccaneers narrowly escaped 23-20 with the win.
What We Learned from Raiders' Road Win Over the Patriots
The Las Vegas Raiders walked away from Sunday's matchup against the New England Patriots with a win. Las Vegas' road performance gives hope that this season will be a positive one.
Raiders Get Off on the Right Foot
Las Vegas looked like a different team from the start of the game, as Geno Smith and the offense quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Their first drive put the Patriots on notice that Chip Kelly and the Raiders offense was ready for whatever type of game the Patriots wanted to play on Sunday.
Smith and the Raiders had their ups and downs during their win over the Patriots but it was largely more ups than downs. Overall, it is hard not to like what Kelly, and the offense did Sunday against the Patriots.
The Raiders Finally Have a Competent Starting QB
Eric Edholm of NFL.com analyzed the Raiders' performance against the Patriots. Edholm noted Smith's performance, as the veteran threw for 362 yards, while averaging nearly 11 yards per completion. Smith's arrival in Las Vegas looks to be an addition that could impact the AFC West."
"Geno Smith’s Raiders debut couldn’t have gone a lot better. He led the team down to a fast touchdown and overcame a first-half interception to wipe out the Patriots on the road. The Patriots sacked him four times, and the protection has to be better, but Smith fought through that and an injury to. Bowers was the offensive star before leaving the game with a left knee injury, but and both made good contributions," Edholm said.
"Last year’s Raiders only won two away from home, so Pete Carroll had to be happy with how his first season in Las Vegas started.was held in check but was good in short yardage, pinballing for a TD run and converting a key third-and-short late. They’ll hope for more balance offensively the next time out, and they’ve got to sort out the pass protection, but the Raiders did what they had to do offensively."
The Raiders still have plenty of things to work on, as does every team in the league after Week 1. However, there were more positives than negatives in their win over the Patriots. Las Vegas' coaching staff did a solid job of adjusting to the adjustments the Patriots made.
Las Vegas' win was impressive. The fact that they battled back from adversity to secure the win made things even better. The Raiders must enjoy the win for a moment, then turn their attention to a vital AFC West divisional game in Week 2.
