Buccaneers fans are going to be big Commanders fans on Sunday night.
Baker Mayfield threw five touchdowns and the Buccaneers cruised to a 48-14 home win over the Panthers that will turn them into scoreboard watchers later in the day. If the Commanders beat the Falcons in Sunday’s nightcap, the Bucs will be able to win the NFC South by beating the Saints in Week 18.
Should the Falcons prevail, the Bucs will need a win and a Panthers rebound against Atlanta in the regular season finale.
It’s the second time in Mayfield’s career that he has thrown five touchdowns, but the first time he’s done it in a Bucs uniform. He’s now up to 39 on the season, which ties him with Lamar Jackson for second place behind Joe Burrow in the league this year.
Mayfield finished with 359 passing yards, which gives him a career high of 4,279 passing yards with a chance to add to both totals next weekend.
The first two touchdown passes went to Mike Evans, who now has 105 of them in his career. Evans caught eight passes for 97 yards overall and now needs 85 yards next week in order to run his streak of 1,000-yard receiving seasons to 11 in a row. That seemed unlikely when Evans missed three games with a hamstring injury earlier this season, but it looks like a decent bet given the groove he and Mayfield were in on Sunday.
Running back Bucky Irving chipped in 190 yards from scrimmage and the Bucs racked up 551 yards of offense overall on Sunday.
They’ll hope the Commanders can have the same kind of success later on Sunday and that the Saints defense offers as little resistance in Week 18 as the Panthers did this Sunday.
