Lightweight portion of the Bucs' schedule begins with an easy win vs. Giants

And so it begins.

The next two months have the chance to be ridiculously entertaining in Tampa Bay.

While they came off the bye week on a four-game losing streak, the Buccaneers have the easiest schedule in the NFL in the final seven weeks of the season. And the playoff push got off to an impressive start Sunday when the Bucs manhandled the New York Giants 30-7 at MetLife Stadium.

Tampa Bay played close to error-free football while outgaining New York by more than 200 yards. Bucky Irving gained more than 150 yards from scrimmage while the defense came up with four sacks. It also was the sixth time the Bucs scored 30 points or more under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

Game ball

On a day when the defense played its most complete game of the season, it seems fitting to hand a game ball to the old man in the huddle. Lavonte David had five tackles, one pass defensed and the 31st forced fumble of his career. Since forced fumbles became an official stat in 1993, David is one of only six players to have accumulated at least 10 interceptions and 30 forced fumbles in their careers. Three of the others (Charles Woodson, Julius Peppers and Brian Dawkins) are in the Hall of Fame.

Play of the day

Where do we start? Baker Mayfield’s diving 10-yard touchdown run? Vita Vea as a fullback? Yaya Diaby’s fourth-down stop? Let’s go with Bucky Irving’s 56-yard run in the fourth quarter. It didn’t lead to a score, but it was still entertaining as heck. On second down from the Tampa Bay 5, Irving sprinted to the left edge and broke a tackle by Darius Muasau at the line of scrimmage, got a block from Jalen McMillan and motored up the middle of the field. Nearly 40 yards downfield, Mayfield blocked cornerback Cor’Dale Flott to spring Irving for another 18 yards.

Keep an eye on

It’s possible that the Giants are so bad that it’s premature to read anything into this game. But the return of Mike Evans from a hamstring injury seemed to open up the downfield passing attack for Mayfield. Evans caught five passes for 68 yards but, more importantly, he threw 18 passes to his wideouts and 12 to the running backs and tight ends. That’s a much different ratio than recent weeks when Mayfield was more focused on a short, ball-control passing attack.

NFC South update

Believe it or not, the Bucs can be back on top of the division by next week. Technically, they’d still be behind the Falcons because of the tiebreaker but it would still be a wild comeback for a team that just won its first game since Oct. 13. The Falcons have graciously lost two in a row and have tough games against the Chargers and Vikings coming up after a bye week.

Up next

Did you find it entertaining to watch the Bucs beat up on a last-place team? Good, because they have another one coming up next week. Tampa Bay travels to Carolina to take on the 3-8 Panthers. Carolina has played better in recent weeks, but the Bucs are 9-2 against their division rivals going back to 2018.

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