Baker Mayfield has thrived under pressure, leading the Buccaneers to another 2-0 start

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Playing in a prime-time game in his home state with a national audience watching, Baker Mayfield again thrived under pressure.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 2-0 for the fifth straight season thanks to Mayfield’s final-minute heroics two weeks in a row.

Mayfield scrambled 15 yards on fourth-and-10 to extend the drive and then connected on five straight passes for 51 yards, setting up Rachaad White’s 2-yard touchdown run with 6 seconds remaining that gave the Buccaneers a 20-19 victory in Houston on Monday night.

It was a costly win for Tampa Bay, however. Defensive tackle Calijah Kancey suffered a torn pectoral muscle that will require season-ending surgery, a person with knowledge of the injury told The Associated Press.

Without Kancey, the defense gave up the go-ahead score late in the game.

But it came down to another standout performance by Mayfield, who revived his career in Tampa Bay after replacing Tom Brady in 2023.

The Buccaneers went from the Greatest Of All Time to perhaps the most underrated quarterback in the NFL.

Mayfield leads the league with 74 touchdown passes since arriving in Tampa Bay. He has helped the Buccaneers win two of their four consecutive NFC South titles, and he is aiming to take them on a deeper playoff run.

“In these two-minute close games, we were not on the right side of things for the past couple years,” Mayfield said. “It’s good to see that we haven’t even played close to our best ball in all three phases, and we’re still finding ways to win on the road and that’s really important. To not lose sight of that, we’re finding ways to win, but also we do need to get things fixed. Some of these games, we could make it easier on ourselves and try and put teams away earlier, but this is a good team that we played, so we expected a hard-fought battle, and it’s nice to be on the right side of it.”

The Bucs opened the season with a 23-20 victory in Atlanta when Mayfield connected with rookie Emeka Egbuka on a 25-yard TD pass with 1:04 remaining and secured the win on a missed field goal.

Mayfield came out firing against Houston’s tough defense, tossing a pair of TD passes on the first two drives. But the Buccaneers couldn’t get much going again until the end.

Bucky Irving and the run game stepped up, and the Bucs finished with 169 yards on the ground.

The run defense again was stellar, limiting the Texans to 57 yards rushing, excluding 27 by C.J. Stroud on scrambles.

The pass rush improved, sacking Stroud three times and pressuring him into several hurried incompletions.

But the game came down to Mayfield and he delivered.

“We talk about culture and culture helps you win ballgames, especially on the road,” coach Todd Bowles said. “Resiliency and the times we practice it over and over again. We have some good battles in practice, and they know what to do about what coverage and what to see. Everybody’s bought in.”

The two-minute offense was clutch with Mayfield leading another game-winning drive.

Punt coverage struggled. Punter Riley Dixon took his time on a punt that was blocked. That set up a short field that led to a field goal for Houston. Then the unit allowed a 53-yard return that set up an even shorter field that led to the go-ahead touchdown with 2:16 remaining.

Rachaad White had 65 yards rushing on 10 carries, including the game-winning score. With Bucky Irving emerging as the lead ball carrier, White’s role in the offense decreased last season and he wasn’t happy about it. After getting only three touches last week, White was a big part of the offense and made the most of his opportunity.

Chase McLaughlin missed a 38-yard field goal a week after he missed a 44-yarder and an extra point.

RT Luke Goedeke left in the first quarter with a foot injury. .... All-Pro LT Tristan Wirfs (knee), WR Chris Godwin (ankle) and WR Jalen McMillan (neck) didn’t play.

77.8% — The Bucs stopped the Texans on 7 of 9 third downs and held on the lone fourth-down attempt.

The Buccaneers host the New York Jets (0-2) in the home opener of the franchise’s 50th season.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl