Bucs dealing with weight of expectations as playoffs begin

All eyes will be on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield on Monday. Image via AP.

Last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were a surprise playoff team. The team won the NFC South with a 9-8 record and won a Wild Card playoff game 32-9 over the Philadelphia Eagles. In essence, they were playing with house money.

This season, there were expectations for the Buccaneers to take the next step. During the regular season, Tampa Bay delivered, defending the division title and improving the team’s record by one game.

Now, the playoffs bring added pressure, expectations and opportunities.

After losing six of the first 10 games of the season, the Bucs won six of their last seven to earn the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs. The Bucs host the Washington Commanders on Sunday night (8 p.m. ET, NBC).

The game is a rematch of the season opener won by the Buccaneers 37-20. Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield tossed four touchdown passes, two to wide receiver Mike Evans, as the Bucs opened the season with a win.

The Buccaneers have boasted one of the league’s best offenses this season. Mayfield set a career high with 4,500 passing yards. The running game has also been strong, ranking third in the NFL in rushing yards per game.

Washington has struggled to stop the run, ranking 30th out of 32 teams this season. That could be a key factor in determining the winner on Sunday.

“When we’ve needed to run the ball to win games, we’ve been able to do that,” Mayfield said. “To me, that’s the biggest difference. Skill player-wise in the pass game, yeah, we’re connecting quite a bit, but the biggest difference is the run game.”

Washington has evolved as a team since the season-opening meeting. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels enjoyed an outstanding first season. Daniels, the second pick of the draft, completed 69% of his passes while tossing 25 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He also ran for six touchdowns. He will have a chance Sunday to show how much he has grown as a quarterback since the opener.

“It’s a full-circle moment,” Commanders’ coach Dan Quinn said. “You don’t usually get to play somebody at the start of a season, then the start of a second season. They absolutely got the best of us on that day, and so it’s a good measuring stick to see how much we’ve improved. They’re an excellent team and clearly on that day showed it.”

If the Buccaneers win Sunday night, they will advance to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Depending on other results, they could face a rematch with the Eagles in Philadelphia or host the Minnesota Vikings or Los Angeles Rams. The Vikings and Rams were scheduled to play Monday night in Los Angeles, but the game was moved to Glendale, Arizona, due to the wildfires in Southern California.