The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons 16-0 in a game where quarterback Baker Mayfield did not complete a pass. The game was played through rain for most of the game, and conditions did not call for passing.
Tampa Bay leaned on turnovers and running the football in what turned out to be a historic win. It was tied for the second fewest passing yards in a game in NFL history, and it was the fewest in a game since 1981.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Win in Historic Fashion Against Atlanta Falcons
The fewest number of passing yards in a win came in 1955, when Washington threw for -3 yards and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. There have been two occurrences of zero passing yards in a win, once in 1950 and once in 1974.
The Houston Oilers won a game throwing three passing yards and beating the Cincinnati Bengals in 1981. Most recently, Mac Jones and the New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills in 2021. Jones threw for 14 yards.
The Bucs are now 2-0 since Mayfield returned to the lineup. However, he is just 10-for-14 as a passer for 64 yards.
The Bucs beat the Carolina Panthers on the road despite Mayfield completing seven of his 11 passing attempts for 64 yards and a touchdown. Bucky Irving had 24 rushes for 106 yards, Kenneth Gainwell had 14 rushes for 88 yards, and Sean Tucker had seven rushes for 52 yards.
As a team, the Bucs had 49 rushing attempts for 258 yards.
A lot of the same came for the Buccaneers in Week 8.
Mayfield threw two incomplete passes in the first quarter. Then, he did not throw his third pass until the first drive of the second half. He finished the game with zero passing yards.
Irving left the game with 27 rushes for 170 yards, while Gainwell also added 23 rushes for 132 yards, helping to clean up the game. Tucker did not get into the mix this week.
The team finished the game with 53 rushes for 317 yards.
Buccaneers Lean on Defense and Ground Game to Beat Falcons
The Bucs have started to find an identity on offense behind their run game and offensive line. They are bringing back all of their starters from the year prior, but four of the five starters missed significant time in 2025. Luke Goedeke missed Week 7, but returned for Week 8.
Otherwise, the offensive line has been healthy, and they have been able to develop continuity.
It is a good time to find your identity as well. While the Bucs are 3-5, they are in a wide-open NFC South and control their destiny.
The Panthers are 3-4. They just fired their defensive coordinator, and they lost to Tampa Bay, so they do not have the tiebreaker. Tampa Bay just beat Atlanta to push them to 3-5. So, Tampa is now tied with Atlanta and one loss behind Carolina.
They are back in the mix.
Bucs Make NFL History in Week 8 Win Over Falcons