Baker Mayfield didn’t complete a pass but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons 16-0 on Sunday behind Bucky Irving and Kenny Gainwell's rushing on a wet, sloppy field.
The Bucs (3-5) set a team record for yards rushing in a game with 324, and became the first team to have zero completions since Buffalo on Sept. 29, 1974.
The Bucs have won three of four since an 0-4 start and are just a half-game behind Carolina (3-4) in the NFC South.
Irving ran for 170 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries, Gainwell ran for 140 on 25 carries and Chase McLaughlin kicked three field goals to stay perfect this season at 19 for 19.
Playing in a driving rain for most of the afternoon, Mayfield was 0-for-3 in his second game back after missing three weeks with a fractured thumb.
Dade City's Michael Penix Jr., went 8 for 24 for 125 yards with four interceptions for Atlanta (3-5).
It was Penix's first game in Tampa since graduating from Tampa Bay Tech High in 2018.
The Bucs' defense held Altanta's Bijan Robinson to 76 yards rushing on 19 carries.
Facing his former head coach with Cleveland, Mayfield didn’t have to do much with his arm. He scrambled for 13 yards while Irving and Gainwell piled up big numbers. Mayfield and Kevin Stefanski are the only QB-coach combination to win a playoff game for the Browns in the 2000s but they didn’t have a close relationship. Mayfield was upset that Stefanski didn’t reach out to him after the Browns traded him to Carolina in 2022.
Tampa Bay’s previous rushing high was 283 yards — including 235 from the late Doug Martin — in a 45-17 win at Philadelphia on Nov. 22, 2015.
Irving’s 4-yard TD run in the third quarter gave the Buccaneers a 16-0 lead and the offense kept pounding the ball on the ground.
Nick Folk missed a 53-yard field goal wide left on Atlanta’s opening series and McLaughlin made one from 46 yards out on the next series.
The Bucs missed an opportunity after Alex Anzalone picked off Penix at Atlanta’s 41 and returned it 8 yards, and an unsportsmanlike penalty on Drake London put the ball at the 18. But Irving fumbled out of the end zone for a touchback after taking a lateral from Mayfield. Jessie Bates III forced the fumble.
Anzalone picked off Penix again on Atlanta’s next possession to set up Tampa Bay at the Falcons 19. But the Bucs couldn’t go anywhere and settled for McLaughlin’s 34-yarder that made it 6-0.
After Jacob Parrish picked off Penix on a fourth-down pass at Tampa Bay’s 17, the Bucs drove 65 yards and McLaughlin connected from 42 yards to extend the lead to 9-0.
Last week, Tampa Bay beat the Carolina Panthers 43-13 with Mayfield completing just 7 of 11 passes for 64 yards.
In that 1974 game, the Bills beat the Jets 16-12 on a windy day with sideways rain, and that had been the only other time a team didn’t complete a pass in the Super Bowl era. Buffalo's Joe Ferguson was 0-or-2 for Buffalo, O.J. Simpson ran for 117 yards. New York’s Joe Namath completed just 2 of 18 passes for 33 yards.
Next weekend, Tampa Bay visits the Chicago Bears on "Sunday Night Football" at 8:20 p.m. The Bears (5-2) play the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.
