After opening up the 2024 season with a 37-20 home win over the Commanders, the Bucs are headed up to Detroit for a Week 2 matchup against the Lions. Tampa Bay will be looking to overcome some key injuries and exact some revenge against a team it lost to twice last season — including in the NFC Divisional Round.
The Bucs offense led the way last week, with Baker Mayfield having a huge four-touchdown day that saw him throw touchdowns to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen and his group may need another performance like that on Sunday to help offset some of the injuries to Tampa Bay’s defense. Todd Bowles’ side of the ball is already badly banged up for it only being Week 2, and that only adds to what was already set to be a tough road contest against the Lions.
Tampa Bay is looking to overcome the odds and start 2-0 for the fourth straight season. Proving it can beat a top NFC contender like Detroit — one it couldn’t get past last season — would also help as Bowles and Co. look to reach a higher tier of contention in 2024.
But now, like we do every week here on PewterReport.com, we’ll take a look at what else is on the line at Ford Field this Sunday. Of course, we’re talking about some of the records and milestones that some Bucs are moving toward.
Here is where everything stands heading into Week 2:
Baker Mayfield
Mayfield is 820 passing yards away from passing Jeff Garcia (5,152) for 10th-most in Buccaneer history. He also needs one more passing touchdown to pass Brian Griese (32) for 10th in team history.
If Mayfield throws for four touchdowns again on Sunday, he’d join Tom Brady (2021) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (2018) as the only players in franchise history to begin a season by throwing for four scores in back-to-back games.
Along those same lines, another passer rating of 140+ for Mayfield would see him join Ryan Fitzpatrick (2018) as the only Bucs quarterbacks to post a passer rating of 140+ in back-to-back games to start a season.
Mike Evans
After scoring two touchdowns last week, Evans needs just three more points scored to break Martin Gramatica’s all-time franchise record (592).
Evans is 94 receiving yards away from passing Don Maynard (11,834) for 32nd-most in NFL history, while 101 more yards will move him ahead of Antonio Gates (11,841) for 31st. Evans also needs just three receiving touchdowns to tie Don Hutson (99) for 11th-most in league history. And with three total touchdowns, he’d become the 26th player in league history to record 100 total touchdowns. That would also tie him with Frank Gore, Franco Harris and Curtis Martin for 23rd-most in NFL history.
With another receiving touchdown on Sunday, Evans will tie DeSean Jackson (3 in 2018) for the second-most by a Buccaneer receiver through two games of a season. And with two receiving touchdowns, Evans will become the first Buc since Rob Gronkowski (2021) to record multiple touchdown receptions in the first two games of a season. He’d also tie Gronkowski for the most receiving touchdowns by a Buc through the first two games of a season.
Sunday will mark Evans’ 156th career game, leaving him two behind Mike Alstott (158) for ninth-most in Bucs history.
Chris Godwin
Godwin needs eight receptions on Sunday to become the first Tampa Bay player to record 8+ receptions in each of the team’s first two games of a season. And with 80 receiving yards, he can also become the first Buc since Mike Evans (2018) to go for 80+ receiving yards in the first two games of a season.
Jalen McMillan
Another touchdown catch for McMillan in Week 2 would make him the first Bucs rookie since Mike Williams (2010) and just the third overall to record a receiving touchdown in each of the first two games of a season.
Will Gholston
Gholston will play his 171st game with the Bucs on Sunday, though he continues to trail Lavonte David for fifth-most in team history and will have a hard time passing him.
Lavonte David
Sunday will be David’s 183rd game, which will tie him with Bucs Ring of Honor member Paul Gruber (183) for fourth-most in franchise history. It’ll also be his 183rd career start, which will also tie Gruber for the third-most in team history.
With 1.5 more sacks, David will pass Chidi Ahanotu (34.5) for seventh-most in franchise history.
David needs one more defensive touchdown to tie Mike Washington and David Logan (four) for third-most in Buccaneer history.
And finally, David needs 10 passes defensed to move him ahead of Carlton Davis (73) for fourth-most in franchise history.
Jamel Dean
Dean needs 10 more passes defensed to pass Aqib Talib (54) for seventh-most in team history.