This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Baker Mayfield threw four touchdown passes and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers never trailed in defeating visiting Washington 37-20 on Sunday at Tampa, Fla., spoiling the Commanders debuts for coach Dan Quinn and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
In the season opener for both teams, Mayfield completed 24 of 30 passes for 289 yards, with three different teammates on the receiving end of the touchdown plays. Mike Evans had two touchdown grabs while Chris Godwin had a game-high 83 receiving yards with a touchdown.
Daniels, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner for LSU, was 17-for-24 passing for 184 yards and was sacked twice. He rushed for a game-high 88 yards, including a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs.
Until their final possession, which was capped by Daniels’ second 1-yard TD run, the Commanders had more rushing yards than passing yards.
Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner with Oklahoma, guided the Buccaneers into scoring position on nearly every possession.
The Buccaneers opened a 23-7 lead in the third quarter when Mayfield hooked up with Godwin for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
Daniels produced his first NFL touchdown later in the quarter on a 1-yard run as the Commanders pulled within 23-14. But the Buccaneers got back into the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter on Mayfield’s 32-yard pass to Jalen McMillan.
To cap their scoring, the Buccaneers went 91 yards in 12 plays with Mayfield’s 1-yard flip to Evans with 3:34 left in the game.
The Buccaneers scored on their first three possessions. Chase McLaughlin kicked field goals of 56 and 34 yards.
With Tampa Bay leading 6-0, Washington kicker Cade York missed wide right on a field-goal attempt from 47 yards out on a 10-play possession.
The Buccaneers responded by driving 63 yards in eight plays, capped by Mayfield’s 17-yard TD pass to Evans.
Washington got rolling again for a 74-yard drive with Brian Robinson running in from 7 yards out to cut the gap to 13-7.
McLaughlin’s third field goal of the half — a 29-yarder — made it 16-7. The half ended with Tampa Bay holding a 205-120 edge in total yards.
–Field Level Media
