The Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened their 2025 season on Sunday with a thrilling 23-20 victory over the Falcons in Atlanta. It marked the fifth straight season that the Buccaneers have won in Week One, extending the longest such streak in franchise history. Only the Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles, who beat the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, have won their last five season-openers.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 17 of 32 passes for 167 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, for a passer rating of 99.3. It marked the 13th time in 38 starts for the Buccaneers, playoffs included, that Mayfield has thrown three-plus touchdown passes in a game. In just two seasons plus one game, Mayfield is already third in team history in three-TD passing games.
Most Games with 3+ Passing Touchdowns, Buccaneers History
1. Tom Brady, 2020-22: 20
2. Jameis Winston, 2015-19: 15
3. Baker Mayfield, 2023-25: 13
4. Brad Johnson, 2001-04: 8
5t. Trent Dilfer, 1994-99: 6
5t. Josh Freeman, 2009-13: 6
In his first season with the Buccaneers in 2023, Mayfield set a career high with 28 touchdown passes; he then obliterated that personal best with 41 more scoring tosses in 2024. Since the start of the 2023 season, Mayfield leads all NFL quarterbacks in touchdown passes.
Most Touchdown Passes, NFL, 2023-25
1. Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers: 72
2. Jared Goff, Lions: 68
3. Lamar Jackson, Ravens: 67
4t. Josh Allen, Bills: 59
4t. Joe Burrow, Bengals: 59
4t. Jordan Love, Packers: 59
Two of Mayfield's three touchdown passes went to rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka, who was making his NFL debut. The first was a 30-yard strike in the second quarter that gave the Buccaneers a 10-7 lead. The second was the game-winner, a 25-yard grab in the back of the end zone with 59 seconds remaining that put the Bucs up for good, 23-20. According to NFL Communications, Egbuka is just the second player since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to catch a game-winning touchdown pass in the final minute of regulation or overtime in his first career game. Previously, the only player to do that was Ernest Wilford of the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 12, 2004.
Egbuka is the first NFL player to catch two touchdown passes in his NFL debut since Jahan Dotson with Washington in 2022. He is just the second Buccaneer to accomplish that feat, joining tight end Alex Smith, who caught two touchdown passes in a 24-13 win at Minnesota on September 11, 2005. The Buccaneers have seen a rookie receiver score in Week One in two straight years, after 2024 third-round pick Jalen McMillan did the same thing against Washington.
View the best photos of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2025 Week 1 matchup vs. the Atlanta Falcons

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The Buccaneers' offense also ran for 101 yards in Sunday's win, led by Mayfield's 39 yards on five scrambles. Since the start of last season, Tampa Bay's rejuvenated rushing attack has topped 100 yards in 15 of 18 games, tied for the fourth-most in the NFL in that span.
Most Games with 100+ Rushing Yards, NFL, 2024-25
1t. Baltimore: 17
1t. Philadelphia: 17
3. Detroit: 16
4t. Tampa Bay: 15
4t. Washington: 15
Second-year running back Bucky Irving was held to 37 yards on 14 carries but also caught four passes for eight yards, including a nine-yard touchdown in the third quarter in which he dived to hit the pylon and give the Bucs' a 17-10 lead. It marked the first receiving touchdown of Irving's young career.
While Egbuka's 67 receiving yards were a team high, veteran wide receiver Mike Evans led the team with five receptions, picking up 51 yards. That was enough to move him past Hall of Famer Art Monk (12,721) for 23rd place on the NFL's all-time list. Evans currently has 12,735 career receiving yards and needs 51 more to pass Irving Fryar (12,785) for 22nd place.
Outside linebacker Haason Reddick made his Buccaneers debut on Sunday and was the team's most impactful pass rusher. He tallied the Bucs' lone sack of quarterback Michael Penix late in the third quarter on a third down from the Bucs' nine-yard line, forcing Atlanta to settle for a field goal. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Reddick led the Buccaneers with seven pressures on Penix, including three of which he caused the pressure in under 2.5 seconds.
The Buccaneers defense also held Atlanta to 69 rushing yards, with lead back Bijan Robinson held to 24 yards on 12 carries. The only Atlanta carry for more than six yards in the game was a 12-yard scramble by Penix in the fourth quarter. The Falcons had the NFL's 10th-ranked rushing attack in 2024, with 130.5 yards per game, and Sunday's game was just the fourth time since the team drafted Robinson in 2023 that it had been held to 2.5 or fewer yards per rush in a game.
Second-year wide receiver Kameron Johnson gave the Bucs a short field for a touchdown drive in the third quarter when he returned a punt 54 yards to the Atlanta 32. It was Johnson's first punt return of the season and just the second of his career, as he had one for 11 yards as a rookie in 2024. Johnson's 54-yarder was the longest punt return by a Bucs player since Bobby Rainey had a 58-yard runback against Jacksonville on October 11, 2015.
Additional Notes:
- The Buccaneers tied up the all-time series with Atlanta, 32-32. The lead in the series has changed hands nine times during the course of its run and the Bucs could make it 10 if they complete the sweep this year in Week 15 at Raymond James Stadium.
- The Buccaneers were the only NFC South team to win in Week One this season, as Carolina lost on the road in Jacksonville, 26-10, and New Orleans fell at home to Arizona, 20-13, on Sunday. Since the start of the 2021 season, Tampa Bay has led or held a share of the lead in the NFC South in 59 of the last 73 weeks. The Bucs are looking to become the first team to win the NFC South five straight times.
- In addition to Egbuka, six other Buccaneers made their NFL debuts on Sunday in Atlanta: wide receiver Tez Johnson, cornerback Jacob Parrish, safety Rashad Wisdom, linebacker John Bullock, tackle Benjamin Chukwuma and defensive lineman Elijah Roberts.