4 players who must step up for Buccaneers beat Eagles on MNF

Chris Godwin, WR

There's no other way to put it, Mike Evans has absolutely feasted so far this season. He ranks fifth among receivers in total yards and that's with everyone else having played one more game than him. Evans wants a new contract and he's so far made an incredible case for himself, but he's going up against a defense that is likely going to swarm him to take him out of the equation.

During the first two weeks the Bucs have gone to Evans to get the offense moving. His touchdown before halftime in Week 1 woke the offense up, and it was his long reception in the first quarter against the Bears last week that kickstarted things following a slugging start.

Philly is going to try and take that away from the Bucs, which means Chris Godwin will need to step up and fill the void.

Godwin hasn't been as flashy as Evans through the first two weeks but he's been there when Baker needed him. He's put together back-to-back games of 50 or more yards, but he's been targeted 14 times in two games. Baker is looking his way, but he's flown under the radar thanks to the massive start to the season Evans has turned in.

We saw a very small sample size of the Baker-Godwin connection in the Bucs final preseason game. In that game, Baker found Godwin for a touchdown that looks so smooth and natural you'd have thought they've been teammates for years. The run game is going to be critical in getting things going -- which is stressful on its own -- but the passing game will have to go through Godwin.

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