The Bucs cooked the Jaguars in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as its score would indicate.
The Buccaneers picked a good time to start looking like a playoff team, crushing the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-12. Tampa Bay controlled the entire game, maintaining their lead from the opening drive and at no point appearing in danger of faltering. With this victory, the Bucs are one win away from securing the NFC South and a home playoff game.
While the Bucs were not as dominant offensively as they were last week against the Packers, the team put together a more complete game. The defense forced four turnovers and held the Jaguars to 12 points, slamming the door shut on all of the Jaguars’ drives until late into the third quarter.
The Bucs took an early 3-0 lead, moving down to the Jaguars 6-yard line before settling for the field goal. The defense pitched in on the following drive with a Devin White interception. Baker Mayfield then put the team on his back, avoiding two sacks to keep the drive alive and throwing a touchdown pass to Mike Evans.
Jacksonville’s offense continued to struggle, missing a field goal on the following drive that the Bucs turned into a field goal of their own. Lawrence’s nightmare half continued with another interception, this time to Antoine Winfield Jr. Tampa Bay exploited the miscue yet again, driving 65 yards for another Mike Evans touchdown.
The first half was an unmitigated disaster for Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville’s offense. Lawrence turned the ball over twice and took two sacks while the team missed a field goal on their only real scoring attempt. While Tampa Bay’s third-down defense was as porous as it has been most of the season, strong efforts from Winfield, Lavonte David and Yaya Diaby buoyed the defense into shutting the Jaguars out in the first half.
The second half did not start any better for the Jaguars as a Diaby strip-sack gave the Bucs the ball in Jacksonville territory. The Bucs scored again on a 2-yard Rachaad White run:
The Jaguars offense entered desperation mode on the following drive, attempting and failing to convert on 4th-and-13. Jacksonville would not get on the board until late in the third quarter with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to Calvin Ridley.
After forcing the first Bucs punt of the day early in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars pulled Lawrence, replacing him with C.J. Beathard. The switch did little to change the results as Zyon McCollum forced an Evan Engram fumble that was recovered by Winfield.
After the Bucs failed to score off the turnover, the Jaguars drove down to the Bucs’ 10-yard line, but a Yaya Diaby sack led to another failed fourth-down conversion attempt. The Jaguars were able to put together one more touchdown drive, but by then the game was well out of hand. The Bucs ran out the clock on the following drive.
Mayfield was once again highly efficient, completing 26-of-35 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns. He also distributed the ball across the entire receiving corps, with four players recording at least four catches and 30 receiving yards. The run game was not as successful, gaining just 70 yards for 1.9 yards per attempt.
On defense, the Bucs subsisted on big plays, recording four sacks, five tackles for loss and four turnovers. A returning White made his presence known after a week where his game status was a matter of controversy, notching four tackles, half a sack, an interception, two pass breakups and two quarterback hits.
Beating the Jaguars puts the Bucs on the precipice of a third consecutive division title and fourth consecutive playoff berth. Tampa Bay has already beaten their next two opponents, the Saints and the Panthers, this year. With the Bucs playing their best football of the season, it appears likely they are headed for the postseason.
[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1364]
