Buccaneers' Todd Bowles on zero-completion win over Falcons: There's a 'first time for everything'

Conventional wisdom said Baker Mayfield would need to throw for more than the 64 yards he managed in last week's victory if the Buccaneers hoped to begin a winning streak on Sunday.

Conventional wisdom was wrong.

Tampa Bay instead outlasted the Falcons, 16-0, in a rain-soaked affair at Raymond James Stadium despite Mayfield attempting only three passes and converting on none of them, as the Bucs became the second team (1974 Bills) in the Super Bowl era to win a game without a single completion.

"I have not," head coach Todd Bowles said when asked if he's ever won without a completion, per the team's transcript, "but there is a first time for everything.”

As noted, it's the second such occurrence since the league merger, but it's certainly a first for Bowles, who would've been only 10 years old when the '74 Bills accomplished the unthinkable feat.

A torrential downpour set the stage for such an odd accomplishment. 

The Falcons were especially affected by the storm, attempting to throw their way through it to disastrous results. Michael Penix Jr. tossed three interceptions in the first 18 minutes of the game, frequently missing his pass catchers as he delivered a slippery football with little to no authority over its destination.

Tampa Bay, conversely, took to the ground, again and again attacking an Atlanta defense that entered the weekend fourth against the run. 

"I didn’t say we were not going to throw the ball -- the conditions told him that," Bowles said when asked about game-plan discussions with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. "You could see it. It’s a downpour and the wind [was] blowing, you can kind of see the ball wasn’t going anywhere.”

Mayfield attempted his first pass with 7:53 remaining in the first quarter, nearly a 28-yard touchdown that Ted Hurst dropped. After throwing another pass with 4:10 left in the opening frame, he wouldn't record another one until his third snap of the third quarter. 

That was it. There was a dropback in the second quarter during which Mayfield had the ball slip out his grasp while trying to throw -- a good representation of the sloppiness that contributed to five fumbles and three INTs between the teams -- but it was otherwise all runs.

The Buccaneers simply didn't need to take any of the risks involved with airing it out further. Their defense was that stifling, and their running game was that dominant.

Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell gashed the Falcons for a combined 310 rushing yards on 52 attempts. On Tampa Bay's lone TD drive, the two combined to go 90 yards on six carries, with both breaking off big runs -- Irving for 46 and Gainwell for 28. Including Mayfield's 14 rushing yards, the Buccaneers set a new franchise single-game record with 324.

“It’s winning -- that’s the way I think about it," Mayfield said. "We won. [It’s] getting our guys lined up, making sure we are running the right run plays. Obviously, ball security [is crucial] in these conditions -- we had some early ones. We decided to go to the shotgun and pistol sets -- it’s just easier to receive the snaps instead of it coming back through your hands under center. So, going from there and just trying to manage the game. [It’s] time management and just trying to bleed the clock as much as possible. Just get everybody on the same page and go from there. That’s my job in these conditions and, listen, I will do whatever it takes to win. That’s all that matters to me.”

Offensive lineman Luke Goedeke, who helped pave the way for Tampa Bay's historic rushing performance, said of Mayfield only attempting three passes: “Yeah, I mean it’s great. It’s just a testament [to] the offense, the O-line, the tight ends, the wide receivers, running backs -- it’s just everyone doing their job. And Bake, he hands off a mean ball, so really hats off to him, as well.”

The Buccaneers have now won two straight, both against divisional opponents, to inch back to 3-5. They're right in the thick of it in the NFC South, knotted in the win column with the Falcons (3-5) and Panthers, who sit atop the standings at 3-4.

They've still got a long ways to go, and surely Mayfield will be called on to pass a lot more than he did on Sunday moving forward, but the potential turnaround has begun on the strength of a punishing run game.

“We did a lot to dig ourselves out of it," Bowles said of being back in contention for the division. "We’re still in it being 3-5, not being .500 or anything else, I told them to keep their shovels close because we have a lot more digging to do, but it gets us back in it.”