Buccaneers Week 15 Top Performers at Los Angeles Chargers

A shockingly pleasant surprise!

A statement road win has the Buccaneers riding the lightning entering the season’s home stretch.

It started as a back-and-forth affair that once again fell victim to a perilous second quarter, but the Bucs righted the ship in emphatic fashion with 27 unanswered points in the second half to crush the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday, 40-17.

Every element of the offense hummed outside of back-to-back turnovers, which do need to stop, but perhaps even more important was the defense holding down an elite talent at quarterback for what felt like the first time in months.

Since the bye week, the Bucs are allowing just 15 points per game (context of opponents matters but this is still important), which just so happens to be about what the Chargers were allowing for the entire season prior to Sunday — the league’s best scoring defense.

In primetime next week on the road against the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa can’t lose focus as the division crown once again is in its sights. Let’s do some shout-outs and keep looking forward.

Offensive Top Performer: WR Mike Evans

There could be no other.

Evans posted a vintage performance to ignite his team’s offense and keep his chances of an 11th straight 1,000-yard season fade into the night. With 9 receptions for 159 yards and two scores, Evans completely dominated a Chargers secondary that has rarely seen such a challenge this year.

Injuries may have robbed him of several games this year, but it’s clear he’s far from slowing down at age 31.

Baker Mayfield threw another ugly pick, but otherwise he threw a pristine game. Completing 22 of 27 passes for 288 yards and 4 touchdowns, Mayfield has thrown for 30+ touchdowns in a season for the first time in his career. When he’s locked in, there’s been few better this season.

Bucky Irving fought through nagging hip and back injuries to post yet another 100-yard rushing tally, as he toted the rock 15 times for 117 yards (including a long of 54). Irving is now less than 200 yards away from becoming Tampa’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Doug Martin in 2015. Not bad for a Day 3 rookie.

The ground attack as a whole continued to dominate, becoming just the second unit this year to run for 200+ yards against a stout Los Angeles front — Baltimore was the other.

Defensive Top Performer: LB Lavonte David

The ageless wonder just keeps taking care of business from whistle to whistle.

David led the team with 12 total tackles and 1.5 sacks, pushing his season total to 5.5 at age 34 (35 in January). His stat totals, no matter how you look at them, continue to amaze. Some examples:

On a defense that has struggled to keep its head above water for a vast majority of the season, whether due to injuries or scheme deficiencies, David has stood alone as the biggest constant who galvanizes everyone out there. Just a special, special football player.

Sunday actually yields more than one shout-out worth a damn.

Jamel Dean broke Justin Herbert’s 11-start streak without an interception, picking off the young phenom on a desperation heave to really set the Bucs up favorably in the third quarter. It may Dean’s last handful of games for Tampa, given his combination of durability concerns and contract impact, so it’s nice to see him get a highlight moment in what largely has been a very good career in red and pewter.

We’ve got to give some flowers to Logan Hall as well, who emerged from the shadows to collect 1.5 sacks and push his career-high season total up to 4.5. He hasn’t exactly been what the Bucs were hoping for as their top pick from 2022, but any contribution is better than nothing at all.

Special Teams Top Performer: K Chase McLaughlin

Four made field goals, four made extra points. Money McLaughlin keeps making his money.

Rookie Jack Browning didn’t need to punt, he had some great kickoffs that forced some short returns.

Sean Tucker made a very nice return on the only one of the day for the team, taking one out for 37 yards.

Strong day at the office for the special teams unit.