With their 30-19 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved to 5-1 on the season, the best record in the NFC and tied with the Indianapolis Colts for the best record in the NFL. The start also matches the best record after six games in franchise history, as this is the sixth time the Buccaneers have achieved a 5-1 mark. In each of the other five seasons – 1979, 1997, 2002, 2005 and 2021 – the team went on to make the playoffs, winning its division in all but the '97 campaign.

Dating back to the 2021 season, when the Buccaneers began their current run of four straight NFC South division titles, the team has held at least a share of the NFC South lead for 64 of the last 78 regular-season weeks. In 2024, the Buccaneers entered their Week 11 bye with a 4-6 record. Since then, the team has gone 11-2 in regular-season play, the best record in the NFL in that span.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield heard "MVP!" chants from the Raymond James Stadium crowd on Sunday during another dominant performance that included 17 completions in 23 attempts for 256 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 139.0 passer rating. A week after completing 87.9% of his passes and averaging 11.5 yards per pass attempt in a win at Seattle, Mayfield completed 73.9% of his passes and averaged 11.1 yards per attempt against the 49ers. That made Mayfield the nine quarterback in NFL history to complete at least 82% of his passes and average at least 11 yards per pass attempt over multiple games in a single season. The other eight to do so were Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, Ryan Tannehill, Alex Smith, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner, Rob Johnson and Ken Anderson.

Mayfield's touchdown passes of 34 yards to wide receiver Kameron Johnson and 45 yards to wide receiver Tez Johnson increased his season total to 12. Since he arrived in Tampa in 2023, Mayfield has thrown 81 regular-season touchdown passes, tied for the most in the NFL in that span.

Most Touchdown Passes, NFL, 2023-25

1t. Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers: 81

1t. Jared Goff, Lions: 81

3. Lamar Jackson, Ravens: 75

4t. Josh Allen, Bills: 66

4t. Jordan Love, Packers: 66

Heading into a pair of games on Monday night to finish Week Six, Mayfield's 12 touchdown passes are tied for the third most in the NFL, and he has countered that with just one interception. Mayfield is currently the only quarterback in the league with at least 12 touchdown passes and one or fewer interceptions. Mayfield ranks in the top five in the NFL in the following categories:

Touchdown passes: t-3rd (12)

Touchdown/interception ratio (min. 5 TDs): 1st (12.0)

Touchdown pct.: t-4th (6.2%)

Passing yards: 4th (1,539)

Interception pct.: t-4th (0.5%)

Average pass length: 3rd (8.64)

Passer rating: 5th (108.5)

Mayfield only scrambled once in Sunday's win over the 49ers, but it was a doozy. With his team clinging to a one-point lead in the third quarter and facing a third-and-14, Mayfield escaped two defenders deep in the backfield and took off to his left, getting around another 49er defender and just extending the ball past the line to gain as he was finally brought down. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Mayfield ran for 27 yards after contact on the play. It was the 11th first down he has produced this season on 22 carries. Among all NFL quarterbacks with at least 10 runs in 2025, Mayfield is tied with the Colts' Daniel Jones in percentage of runs that end in first downs, at 50%. Only the Saints' Spencer Rattler (57.7%) has a higher percentage.

Tez Johnson's 45-yard scoring grab in the third quarter was his first career touchdown. It was also the third scoring pass of 40 or more yards produced by Mayfield this season, the most by any quarterback in the NFL. Kam Johnson's touchdown reception in the second quarter was not only his first NFL score but his first NFL reception. He finished the game with a team-high four catches for 64 yards, filling the void after red-hot rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka was knocked out for the second half with a hamstring injury.

Sunday's game was the second time this season that two different Buccaneers caught their first career touchdown passes in the same game. Egbuka and running back Bucky Irving combined for that feat in a season-opening win over Atlanta. The last time two Buccaneers recorded their first touchdown catches in a game that wasn't in Week One, prior to this Sunday, was in Week Eight of the 2012 season, when Doug Martin and Erik Lorig did so.

Running back Rachaad White started in place of the injured White for the second game in a row and produced a season-high 86 yards from scrimmage. White ran 17 times for 65 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 21 yards. His two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter gave him a team-leading four rushing touchdowns. Overall, he has now scored 25 touchdowns in his four seasons with the Buccaneers, which is tied with Errick Rhett and Mike Williams for the 12th most in franchise history. White now ranks fifth among all running backs in Buc annals in touchdowns scored and receptions (180).

Most Receptions, Running Back, Buccaneers History

1. James Wilder, 1981-89: 430

2. Warrick Dunn, 1997-2001; '08: 306

3. Mike Alstott, 1996-2006: 305

4. Michael Pittman, 2002-07: 284

5. Rachaad White, 2022-05: 180

Tampa Bay's defense produced a season-high six sacks on Sunday, dropping 49ers quarterback Mac Jones on 15.4% of his dropbacks. Since the start of the 2013 season, the Buccaneers have recorded six or more sacks in a game 12 times and are now 11-1 in those contests.

Nose tackle Vita Vea was credited with 0.5 sacks, sharing one with rookie defensive lineman Elijah Roberts in the first quarter. That increased Vea's career sack mark to 33.0, moving him into the top 10 in Buccaneers history. Specifically, Vea tied Brad Culpepper and Jason Pierre-Paul for the ninth most sacks in team annals.

Most Sacks, Buccaneers History

Vea got to Jones despite facing double teams on 69.7% of the quarterback's dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats. Overall, Vea produced five QB pressures on the day, with two of those plus his half-sack coming on plays on which he was double-teamed. In addition, on the 50 defensive snaps that Vea was on the field, the 49ers' rushing attack produced just 36 yards on 14 carries (2.6 avg.).

Cornerback Jamel Dean also recorded one of the Buccaneers' six sacks and, in fact, it was the first sack of his seven-year career. In the fourth quarter, Dean added his team-leading second interception of the season, ending the 49ers' final scoring threat. Dean is one of just seven players in the NFL so far this season who have produced a sack and an interception in the same game. He is the first Buccaneer defender to do so since Antoine Winfield Jr. accomplished the feat against Jacksonville in Week 16 of the 2023 season.

Outside linebacker Yaya Diaby led the way with two sacks, recording the second multi-sack game of his three-year career. Coincidentally, Diaby's other two-sack game also came against the 49ers, in Week 11 of the 2023 season. A third-round pick in 2023, Diaby now has 15.0 career sacks in 40 regular season games played.

Safety Tykee Smith, who leads the Buccaneers in both tackles and passes defensed, had six of the former and one of the latter on Sunday to give him 45 tackles and seven passes defensed in 2025. Smith is the only player in the NFL with at least seven pass break-ups and 40 or more tackles. He is tied for fifth in the league with his passes defensed total.

Most Passes Defensed, NFL, 2025

1. D.J. Turner, Bengals: 11

2. Keisean Nixon, Packers: 9

3t. Tyson Campbell, Jaguars/Browns: 8

3t. Andru Phillips, Giants: 8

5t. Tykee Smith, Buccaneers: 7

5t. Quentin Lake, Rams: 7

5t. Quinyon Mitchell, Eagles: 7

5t. Jourdain Lewis, Jaguars: 7

5t. Patrick Surtain, Broncos: 7

The Bucs' defense also held San Francisco to 67 rushing yards, the fewest they've allowed to any opponent this season and the fewest the 49ers have produced in a game this season. The 49ers averaged just 3.0 yards per carry.