Tom who? Bucs look good
Early takeaways, Mayfield earn win
Buccaneers 20 Vikings 17
MINNEAPOLIS — The grit Baker Mayfield showed Tampa Bay down the stretch of his debut sure outweighed the rough start.
He had ample support from a more-than-capable defense, too.
Mayfield recovered to throw two touchdown passes without a turnover, and the Buccaneers beat Minnesota, 20-17, in the season opener after three first-half turnovers by the Vikings on Sunday.
“It wasn’t our prettiest effort by any means, but we finished the right way,” Mayfield said.
Chase McLaughlin — another key offseason addition for Tampa Bay — matched his career long with a 57-yard field goal for the lead with 5:10 left, and the Buccaneers forced a three-and-out on each of Minnesota’s last two possessions.
“Baker’s gutsy. He’s tough,” coach Todd Bowles said. “The guys stayed behind him.”
Mayfield, the first overall pick in the 2018 draft who landed with his fourth team in three years to take over for the retired Tom Brady, completed 21 of 34 passes after a 3-for11 start. He hit Mike Evans right before halftime for a 10-all tie.
“I knew they were going to get it going,” Bucs linebacker Shaquil Barrett said. “Once you get it going and start clicking and get some points on the board, the game is going to change.”
Mayfield hustled around right end to convert a third and 2 around the three-minute mark at the Minnesota 39. Chris Godwin made a stretched-out fingertip catch to convert third and 10 right after the twominute warning to clinch it.
“It just comes with playing quarterback for a long time,” said Mayfield, who hopped from the Browns to the Panthers to the Rams before landing with the Bucs. “The most important play is the next one.”
Kirk Cousins went 33 for 44 for 344 yards and touchdowns to Jordan Addison and Alexander Mattison, and Justin Jefferson had nine catches for 150 yards. But after going an NFL-record 11-0 in one-score games during the 2022 regular season, the Vikings ran out of that lategame mojo.
“There was quite a few self-inflicted mistakes,” coach Kevin O’Connell said.
Rookie Jay Ward was penalized for lining up in the neutral zone on a field goal try by McLaughlin that gave the Buccaneers a fresh set of downs. With them, they finished a drive that took almost nine minutes out of the third quarter with a touchdown pass to rookie Trey Palmer that made it 17-10.
The Buccaneers, with seven starters left from the 2020 Super Bowl champions and four firstround draft picks on defense, surprised Cousins with a couple of safety blitzes by Antoine Winfield Jr. early. They consistently clogged the middle with Vita Vea and friends to keep Mattison quiet on the ground.
Winfield, whose father played nine seasons in Minnesota’s secondary, recovered the fumble from his strip sack of Cousins at the Vikings 30 to set up an early field goal for the Buccaneers despite a drive that netted zero yards. Rookie Christian Izien intercepted Cousins near the goal line late in the first half.
Cousins was fuming on the sideline after he was picked off, a ball throw a bit behind K.J. Osborn that Izien ripped out of the receiver’s hands. The first fumble in the first quarter at the Bucs’ 25 was caused by right guard Ed Ingram, whose arm knocked the ball out as he blocked to his left.
“We moved the football, but we turned the ball over,” Cousins said. “The game will always be about points.”