The Tampa Bay Buccaneers left Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 23-20 victory over the Falcons in their 2025 season opener on Sunday. During the contest, Tampa Bay unveiled a shift on the offensive line that the club had kept under wraps until the matchup. With All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs still recovering from a knee injury and ensuing surgery in June, the Buccaneers made changes to the front five. Second-year player Graham Barton kicked out to left tackle from center and Ben Bredeson slid from his post at left guard to center. Michael Jordan, a late-summer addition who was elevated from the practice squad for the division showdown, filled in at left guard. The unit settled down as the game wore on and the Bucs rushed for 101 yards and Mayfield took a single sack. The makeshift line not only had limited time to build continuity, but the group had to prepare for a new-look Falcons' defense with Jeff Ulbrich as the defensive coordinator.
"It really is a challenge because you think about the preparation and what you are looking at for film with a new defensive coordinator in Atlanta so you are looking at his tape from when he was coaching for the Jets, so you are going back and looking at Atlanta's tape because Raheem Morris is a defensive minded head coach," said Baker Mayfield on the Bucs’ Player Tables’ Show. "You are trying to figure out what they are going to do schematically and if Raheem is going to call it or if Jeff is going to call it. So, there are a lot of different looks and variations that you are trying to prepare for, but then to be able to on the fly with guys for the first time in live action be able to do it and do it really well, it is a testament to the guys."
Tampa Bay finished the game with 260 total yards of offense and rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka spearheaded the offensive output for the Bucs. He finished with a team-leading 67 receiving yards on four receptions and two touchdowns in his debut. Mayfield's third touchdown of the clash, a 25-yarder to Egbuka, helped spur the team's win in enemy territory. On that play, the Bucs lined up with a condensed bunch formation on the right. Mike Evans lined up in the slot and Egbuka was lined up wide. The Falcons over-emphasized for Evans on the play with Jessie Bates III driving downhill from his spot manning the post after Mayfield pump-faked the ball. Once Bates took the bait and drove, Egbuka was left in an advantageous one-on-one with Mike Hughes. Mayfield dropped a precise throw in the back of the end zone to Egbuka, who gave the Bucs a lead late in the fourth quarter. The Bucs' coaching staff raved about Egbuka throughout the offseason and on Sunday, he showed off his route-running prowess, ability to find coverage voids, ball-tracking and large catch radius.
"He is so good," said Mayfield of Egbuka. "He really is, just all the natural things that you try and get receivers to do, it just comes easy to him. You combine that with how intelligent he is, his football IQ is – it is a dangerous combo that he has working for him. The lights will never be too bright for him. His real last football game was in Mercedes-Benz Stadium as a National Champion, so from that to playing Week One in the NFL scoring two touchdowns, I do not think you can draw up a better debut for him."
Mayfield concluded the day completing 17 of 32 attempts for 167 yards and three touchdowns. In addition, he showed off his mobility skills, running the ball five times for 39 yards. Mayfield scrambled to convert several critical third downs to keep drives alive for the Bucs. Coming off a 2024 campaign in which he established new career highs in completions (407), completion percentage (71.4%), passing yards (4,500), net yards per pass attempt (7.9), passing touchdowns (41) and passer rating (106.8), Mayfield will look to continue to ascend in 2025 with an emphasis on constant improvement.
"I will never have it all figured out and I think that is a big thing, continuing to be open to learning and I can be wrong as well but also learn from those mistakes and find ways to teach and improve on it," noted Mayfield.
