Emeka Egbuka catches the game-winning touchdown pass Sunday in Atlanta.
Welcome to Victory Monday, Bucs fans! Ah, football is here. Glorious football! How you feeling about that win yesterday? Bet you don’t even notice your hangover.
Man, what drama, what a roller coaster, what a nervous wreck Joe was, what a win! There was drama before the kickoff ever happened. Thankfully, it didn’t involve spit. The wild offensive line shakeup shocked everyone.
The Bucs took a big step toward controlling the NFC South. Yeah, the Bucs have 16 more games to play. But they are already up one win over the only competition they should have for the division crown.
And with all the injuries and craziness (offensive line juggling) going on, when Tristan Wirfs gets back, when Chris Godwin gets back — and hopefully Jalen McMillan back by Thanksgiving, — this team may be a force come December.
Belly up to the bar and let’s look back at a wild Opening Day.
This Is Why You Draft A Receiver At No. 19
Joe cannot even try to start this day-after column without leading with rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka. Joe liked the guy coming out of Ohio State. The Buckeyes are always on TV and he just reminded Joe of a Chris Godwin clone.
“This Joe” never dreamt the Bucs would draft a receiver at No. 19, and certainly never thought it would be Egbuka. But yes, Egbuka was on Joe’s radar since last college football season (Joe first typed about him at the combine in February).
Then Joe saw Egbuka up close in underwear football season and training camp. Every day, Egbuka made two or three plays. Every damn day.
Joe was thinking often, “Please don’t let this be a mirage. Please let it not be Joe’s eyes playing tricks.”
It got to the point Joe was almost scared to type about the guy. Didn’t want to jinx him or wake up from a dream.
Yesterday, all Bucs fans finally got a chance to see what Joe saw and what the Bucs have been raving about. This guy is flat out a stud.
On his first touchdown catch, a 30-yarder from Baker Mayfield, tell Joe that didn’t look just like Chris Godwin running that route. Joe still maintains this guy Egbuka is a Godwin clone.
Then in crunch time when a play had to be made, who was there to make it? Well, yeah, Baker Mayfield. But someone had the catch that pass with Atlanta corner Mike Hughes in good position to make a play. Egbuka made sure Hughes never had the opportunity.
And to think the clowns at WalterFootball.com had the nerve to call out Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and call him Matt Millen for drafting Egbuka. Idiots.
If someone couldn’t figure out why the Bucs drafted Egbuka, that’s on them. Joe hopes for the naysayers out there (a few Bucs fans think this way), yesterday, you were enlightened.
Baker Mayfield Found A Way To Win
It wasn’t a pretty game. Not by any means. The Bucs had flashbacks to the sorry Byron Leftwich era when there was no run game.
But Mayfield found a way. That’s what good quarterbacks do. Find ways to win. He led the Bucs in rushing — not a good thing for your quarterback to do unless his name is Saint Lamar Jackson or Michael Vick.
Mayfield, thankfully, used his legs to get out of sticky situations and extend drives and, thankfully, keep the ball out of Michael Penix’s hands.
Mayfield played just well enough that the Bucs were still in the game when he threw to Egbuka to give the Bucs a 23-20 lead. It stood up, barely. By maybe a cat’s whisker.
But that’s what franchise quarterbacks do. When the rest of the team is sputtering, they find a way.
The Crazy Offensive Line Shuffle
A few times in training camp, the Bucs had Graham Barton work at left tackle. It was more of a preparation in case Charlie Heck went down.
Barton, of course, was a left tackle at Duke for three years.
All through underwear football season, minicamp and training camp, the Bucs were full-go on Heck at left tackle until All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs was able to return from his knee surgery rehab. On Aug. 21, Bowles said Heck was the starting left tackle.
Then all of a sudden, a half-hour before kickoff, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht told the world on the Buccaneers Radio Network that Barton would start at left tackle, Ben Bredeson would move from left guard to center and not-that Michael Jordan would be plugged in at left guard.
Joe was shocked on many levels. First was the timing. The Bucs worked as if Heck would start at left tackle for four months and then suddendly get a wild hair up their poop chute to flip around three different positions?
Joe brings this up because fans and media constantly hear and are told/scolded how continuity is critical for communication and success on the offensive line — and then less than two weeks before the first game you throw that out the window? Was Heck that horrible. And if he was, why wasn’t this addressed sooner?
Bowles said film study show how much better Barton was at run blocking than (apparently) Heck was. And since the Bucs wanted to run the ball, they decided to throw caution to the wind.
Interestingly, Heck played very coy with Joe about this when Joe interviewed him Wednesday. Heck explained to Joe how he was studying and preparing for his first Bucs start at left tackle.
Joe did notice that Heck seemed sort of tight-lipped. Now Joe knows why.
This could have really blown up in the Bucs’ faces. They really lucked out in some ways. Early in Sunday’s game it didn’t seem like such a slick move. But as the game progressed, the line got better.
All Joe has to say is thank goodness for the win. And please hurry up and get better, Tristan!
The Return Of The Real Antoine Winfield
It’s so easy to forget this play because of what happened before and after. But the Bucs’ defense had a game-saving play with 11 seconds remaining. And take a wild stab at who made that play. Yup, Antoine Winfield.
Michael Penix tried to get a pass to KhaDarel Hodge who was at the eight-yard line. Just as he was tucking the ball in, out of nowhere Winfield raced in and totally splashed Hodge in the chest. The hit was so massive, Winfield knocked the ball loose.
If not for Winfield just lowering the boom on Hodge, he scores a touchdown there to potentially put the Dixie Chicks up by four.
Hard to believe the Bucs would be able to score a touchdown in less than 11 seconds.
Had Winfield not splashed Hodge, he walks into the end zone.
So as great as Emeka Egbuka’s touchdowns were and as fun as Baker Mayfield’s running was, none of that would have mattered if Winfield didn’t coldcock Hodge.
Joe’s glad to see the All-Pro version of Winfield return to the field.
Michael Penix, the Bucs and the Lost Decade
So Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma, the FOX duo who called the Bucs-Dixie Chicks game yesterday, seemed to have a lot of fun discussing how Dixie Chicks quarterback Michael Penix was never a Bucs fan growing up in Dade City.
Penix told the duo in their production meetings that he was too young to remember the 2002 Super Bowl champs but he did remember how terrible the Bucs were in the 2010s.
And Penix was right: that was the height of the Lost Decade. It damn near killed Joe. And Joe was working games, not a common $12-beer-guzzling dude in a Lavonte David jersey sitting in the stands roasting like a hog on a spit.
Joe thought Penix might be careful who he tells that to. Albert and Vilma were broadcasting that to the greater Georgia and Florida community, not to mention nationwide for those with Sunday Ticket.
Why should Penix be careful? Well, by calling out how awful the Bucs were back then (he’s not lying), he needs to remember that his current head coach is the very man who launched the Bucs franchise into the Lost Decade to begin with, Raheem Morris.
Basically, Penix was telling Albert and Vilma he didn’t like the Bucs because his coach sucks.
KEEPING THIS ENERGY ALL SEASON 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CJnK61ktww
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 7, 2025