The Buccaneers won the NFC South in 2023 and beat the Eagles in their playoff opener before losing 31-23 in Detroit to end their season.
Last Sunday’s win over the Saints gave the Bucs another division title and they’ll be matched up with another NFC East team in the Commanders in their playoff opener. They won’t be facing the Lions again if they win, but the question of whether that will be the only difference from last year looms over the team as they head into Sunday.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield shared the part of the offense that makes him think the team can go on a longer run this time around.
“The biggest difference is the run game,” Mayfield said, via the team’s website. “When we’ve needed to run the ball to win games, we’ve been able to do that. That’s a physical mentality and everybody being on the same page with that and understanding that when you get to a certain mode late in the game when you’re having to run the clock out, we’re able to do that. 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.”
The Bucs were last in the league in rushing yards in 2023 while averaging a league-worst 3.4 yards per carry. They added running back Bucky Irving in the draft and they’re now third in the league in yards per carry. They outrushed their last eight opponents and went 6-2 in those games, so getting things going on the ground against Washington would be a good sign for their chances of getting deeper into the postseason.
