NFL: Cleveland Browns at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sep 20, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) walks off the field as they lost to the Cleveland Browns at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 16-0, in Week 8. If you like weird box scores, this is the game for you. Michael Penix Jr. was singularly bad completing 8-of-24 passes for 125 yards, zero touchdowns and four interceptions, including three in the first quarter. But that’s not the weird part.
The Buccaneers won the game while starting quarterback Baker Mayfield played the entire game and completed 0-of-3 passes for no yards. It was just the fourth time that a team had zero or fewer passing yards and won since the forward pass was legalized. It hadn’t happened in more than 50 years.
MORE:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are just the 4th team since the addition of the forward pass (1933) to win a game while recording 0 or fewer passing yards. – Bills vs. Jets (9/29/1974) – Redskins vs. Steelers (11/27/1955) – Browns vs. Eagles (12/3/1950) https://t.co/VgBREYm8v1
— QBgami (@QBgami) November 1, 2026
Teams who have thrown for zero yards and won
NFL: USA TODAY Sports-Archive
Unknown Date; Cleveland, OH, USA; FILE PHOTO: Cleveland Browns quarterback (14) OTTO GRAHAM runs for yardage against the Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tony Tomsic-USA TODAY NETWORK Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
Some fun facts about the previous teams to do it.
The 1950 Cleveland Browns were in their first year in the NFL. They went 10-2 and won the championship. They had three games where they passed for 300-plus yards and three games where they threw for fewer than 50 yards. Their quarterback was future Hall of Famer Otto Graham who did not attempt a single pass in that win over the Eagles.
The 1955 Washington football team beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-14, with quarterback Eddie LeBaron completing just one pass for negative-three yards. That was more than enough thanks to a balanced rushing attack that gained over 300 yards against the Steelers.
The last time this happened, OJ Simpson, coming off the first 2,000 yard rushing season in NFL history, was the Bills leading rusher with 1,125 yards. That team actually won two games where they passed for fewer than 10 yards in a game. Quarterback Joe Ferguson went 0-for-2 in that win against the Jets with Joe Namath throwing for 33 yards on 18 attempts for the losing team.. Then in Week 11 Ferguson completed 1-of-7 passes for nine yards in a win over the Browns.