The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the New England Patriots on Sunday, 28-23, to fall to 6-3 on the season. The Buccaneers had the ball deep in Patriots territory with two minutes remaining and a chance to score a go-ahead touchdown, but the drive ended on a failed fourth-and-three attempt. The Patriots held off the comeback on the strength of three touchdowns of 55 yards or longer.

Despite the loss, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield had another strong outing, completing 28 of 43 passes for 273 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 106.1. It was Mayfield's second game of the season with three touchdown passes and his 12th such outing since the start of the 2023 season, which is tied for the second most in the NFL in that span.

Most Games with 3+ Touchdown Passes, 2023-25

1. Jared Goff, Lions: 13

2t. Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers: 12

2t. Joe Burrow, Bengals: 12

2t. Lamar Jackson, Ravens: 12

5t. 4 tied w: 10

For the seventh time in nine outings this season, Mayfield was not intercepted. His touchdown/interception ratio of 8.00 (16-2) is tied for the fourth-best in the NFL in 2025.

Best Touchdown/Interception Ratio, NFL, 2025

Since joining the Buccaneers in 2023, Mayfield has thrown 85 touchdown passes, which is the second most by any quarterback in the NFL in that span.

Most Touchdown Passes, NFL, 2023-25

1. Jared Goff, Lions: 87

2. Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers: 85

3. Lamar Jackson, Ravens: 80

4. Josh Allen, Bills: 72

5. Jordan Love, Packers: 70

All three of Mayfield's touchdown passes were caught by rookies, as 2025 first-rounder Emeka Egbuka got the scoring started with a 21-yard grab in the first quarter and seventh-round selection Tez Johnson later added touchdown grabs of 10 and 11 yards. Egbuka and Johnson became the first pair of rookie wideouts on the same team to catch touchdown passes in the same game this season. The last duo to achieve that feat was the Carolina Panthers' Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker on October 27, 2024.

Through 10 weeks and nine games, Egbuka and Johnson have combined to produce 932 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions, the most by any set of rookies in the NFL. Egbuka leads all NFL rookies in both receiving yards and touchdown receptions. Among all players, Egbuka ranks seventh in receiving yards and fourth in touchdown receptions, and his average of 16.9 yards per catch ranks fourth among qualifying players.

Most Receiving Yards, NFL Rookies, 2025

1. Emeka Egbuka, Buccaneers: 677

2. Tetairoa McMillan, Panthers: 618

3. Tyler Warren (TE), Colts: 617

4. Oronde Gadsden II (TE), Chargers: 466

5. Harold Fannin (TE), Browns: 396

Most Touchdown Receptions, NFL Rookies, 2025

1. Emeka Egbuka, Buccaneers: 6

2. Tory Horton, Seahawks: 5

3t. R.J. Harvey, Broncos: 4

3t. Tez Johnson, Buccaneers: 4

5t. Jayden Higgins, Texans: 3

5t. Ashton Jeanty, Raiders: 3

5t. Tyler Warren, Colts: 3

Most Yards Per Reception, NFL, 2025 (qualifying players)

Egbuka's 677 yards through nine games puts him on pace for 1,279 yards by season's end, which would shatter the Buccaneers rookie record of 1,193 set by Michael Clayton in 2004. Egbuka's team-high 115 yards on six receptions against the Patriots marked the third 100-yard game of his young career, which is tied for the fourth most this season by any player. Egbuka already ranks fifth in team history in receiving yards by a rookie, as he surpassed Timothy Wright (571) and Horace Copeland (633) on Sunday.

Egbuka has joined his veteran teammate, Mike Evans (currently on injured reserve) in an exclusive club with his production through the first nine games. Egbuka and Evans (in 2014) are two of the four players in the NFL since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to record at least 40 receptions and have a per-catch average of 16.5 yards or better through their first nine career games, joining Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase (2021) and Minnesota's Justin Jefferson (2020).

Johnson joined Egbuka (vs. Atlanta, Sept. 7) as two of the six rookies who have caught multiple touchdown passes in a game this season. He finished the game with 42 yards on four receptions, extending his streak to five straight games with at least 40 receiving yards. That's tied for the longest such run by a rookie in the NFL this season. On the season, Mayfield has a 129.9 passer rating on throws targeting Johnson.

Tight end Cade Otton led all players on Sunday with nine receptions, gaining 82 yards. That tied his career best for catches in a single game and marked his second best yardage total.

Tampa Bay's rushing attack produced 113 yards against the Patriots' NFL-leading run defense, which had allowed just 75.4 yards per outing coming into Week 10. The Buccaneers' average of 5.4 yards per carry was the most allowed by New England this season. Sean Tucker led the Bucs with 53 yards on nine carries, becoming the first opposing running back to hit the 50-yard mark against the Patriots this season.

Second-year safety Tykee Smith gave the Buccaneers an opportunity to drive for the winning score when he intercepted a Drake Maye pass in the end zone with five minutes left in regulation. It was Smith's first interception of the season and the third of his career. Since the start of his rookie season, Smith is one of only two safeties in the NFL, joining Green Bay's Xavier McKinney, to record 100-plus tackles, 15-plus passes defensed, multiple sacks and multiple interceptions.

Smith also had eight tackles against the Patriots, increasing his season total to 74, which leads the Buccaneers and are the most by any safety in the NFL. Smith is the only player in the NFL with at least 60 tackles and nine or more passes defensed. His nine passes defensed are tied for the ninth most in the NFL this season and are the second most by a safety after the Rams' Quentin Lake, with 10.