Other than the mishaps and drama, a splendid opening win They fell behind in the first quarter. Fell behind again in the fourth quarter. Allowed the Falcons to go 60 yards in the final minute to get in position for a potential 44 yard, game-tying field goal with six seconds remaining. Got called for a bunch of critical penalties, did not force a turnover, missed a field goal and an extra-point conversion, and their ground game was somehow dependent on their slow-moving quarterback. Also, the Bucs were kinda brilliant. On an afternoon of big plays, wild momentum swings and reversed calls, the Bucs came away with a thrilling 23-20 victory in the season opener against the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday. Baker Mayfield threw three touchdowns, including a 25-yard dart to rookie Emeka Egbuka with 59 seconds remaining for the winning score. The Tampa Bay defense allowed Tampa Bay Tech product Michael Penix Jr. to throw for 298 yards, but shut down the Atlanta running game and made just enough plays to give the offense time for the fourth-quarter comeback. Of course, it could have been a different story if Atlanta placekicker Younghoe Koo did not miss a 44-yard field goal in the final moments, but that feels like nitpicking. For now, we'll stick with the idea it was a brilliant opener for Tampa Bay. Play of the day Egbuka, Mike Evans and Sterling Shepard all lined up on the right side of the field with 1:04 remaining and the Falcons leading 20-17. Shepard did a short curl route and Evans cut across the middle, drawing the attention of three Atlanta defenders. That left Egbuka, who lined up on the outside, one-on-one with cornerback Mike Hughes as Mayfield hit him in stride on a post route in the end zone. Game ball He played college football at Division II Barton College. He went undrafted. He barely touched the ball as a rookie in 2024. If you didn't know who Kameron Johnson was, join the club. But the smallish receiver showed up big on Sunday when he returned a punt 54 yards to set up Tampa Bay's go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. Keep an eye on SirVocea Dennis finished with 10 tackles and made some big plays in the final minutes, but he also had some serious lapses. He didn't just miss the tackle when Bijan Robinson went 50 yards for a touchdown on the game's first drive, he completely whiffed and failed to slow down the receiver. He got stiff-armed by Kyle Pitts on the first play of Atlanta's next scoring drive and then went after the quarterback and left Robinson wide open for a 23-yard reception on Atlanta's third-quarter field goal. It looked a little like last season when the Bucs struggled at that linebacker spot after Dennis went down with a shoulder injury. NFC South update One weekend into the season, and the Bucs are already the last undefeated team in the division. Dave Canales and the Panthers didn't put up much of a fight in the battle between former Bucs offensive coordinators, losing 26-10 in Liam Coen's debut as Jacksonville's head coach. The Saints lost to the Cardinals, but played fairly well for a team that's supposed to be among the worst in the NFL this season. Up next Once upon a time, the Bucs were prime-time wallflowers. Years could go by without Tampa Bay showing up on one of the NFL's premier broadcasts. Starting Sept. 15 at Houston, the Bucs have four games in prime time in 2025. They also had four prime-time games in the 2024 regular season, and a fifth in the playoffs. Exciting stuff, right? Except for this: The Bucs were 0-5 in prime time last year. Now, some of that is because you're typically playing good teams in these showcase games. Except the Bucs also lost to the 8-9 Falcons and 7-10 Cowboys under the stars last season. John Romano, Tampa Bay Times, published 8 September 2025