7 winners (and 3 losers) from Bucs blowout Wild Card win over Eagles

For the third time in four years, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are headed to the NFC Divisional Round.

The Bucs blew out the Eagles on Monday, smothering Philly's offense and allowing fewer than 10 points on their way to a 32-9 victory. Tampa Bay was the only home underdog on Wild Card weekend, yet ended up winning by the second largest margin of victory. Only the Houston Texans beat the Browns by more points than the Bucs raced past the Eagles by.

Now Tampa Bay is headed to Detroit for a rematch against the Lions. Much like the Eagles, things didn't go so well the first time around for the Bucs but more than a few guys stepped up to send a message to the rest of the NFC that this team is not the laughing stock they were advertised as before the season started.

7 winners (and 3 losers) from Bucs 32-9 Wild Card win over Eagles

Losers: Anyone who doubted the Bucs this season

There will be a ton of praise heaped on the Bucs after the way they destroyed the Eagles on Monday, but don't forget that most experts doing so are the same ones who aggressively wrote the team off less than six months ago.

Peter King called the Bucs the second-worst team in the NFL back in May, and pundits like Colin Cowherd and others jumped all over Baker Mayfield at any chance they could get. The Bucs were predicted to tank for Caleb Williams, laughed at by division rivals, and were given no shot to compete after Tom Brady retired.

The team responded by finishing with a better record than it had last season, won the NFC South for a third straight year -- the first time they did that in franchise history -- and are now bound for the Divisional Round.

Not too shabby for a team whose season was over before it even started.

Making things even more incredible is the fact that the Bucs had $80 million in dead cap space this offseason and almost no money to spend in free agency. Despite this, Jason Licht built a roster that beat the defending NFC champs and has a legit shot of reaching the championship game this year.

Tough look for the doubters.

Winner: Calijah Kancey

One of the defining qualities of this season for hte BUccaneers has been how much rookie contributors have stepped up. It's a feather in th ecap of Jason Licht for nailing this year's draft class, but all of the credit on Monday goes to Calijah Kancey.

So many people thought the Bucs were going to trade up for a quarterback or draft an offensive lineman, but they took Kancey with the No. 19 overall pick. He played sparringly the first few games of the season due to an injury, but once he found his footing he hit a stride that looks like he's another slam dunk draft pick by Licht.

Kancey was all over the place as a disruptor on the defensive line, playing a key role in two massive plays. He had a solo highlight on a wildly impressive sack of Jalen Hurts early in the game that helped the Bucs defense stifle Philly's offense and keep the Eagles on their heels.

Kancey drew comparrisons to Aaron Donald when he was drafted, and even as great as he's been those expectations are lofty. The rookie out of Pitt has lived up to the billing of a first round pick, though, whether it be wrecking the offensive line on his own or doing so to set up another teammate.

Kancey helped disrupt the Eagles front to set up Anthony Nelson for a safety later in the game, bu the continued to feast on his own right up to the very end.

Winner: Trey Palmer

While Kancey stepped up in big ways to lead the rookie class on Monday, he wasn't the only guy who left his mark. All season it seems we've been waiting for Trey Palmer to break out, and while he showed flashes of doing nothing was bigger than what he did against the Eagles in the Wild Card.

Palmer ignited the Bucs offense with a 56-yard catch-and-run that gave him his first postseason touchdown and extended Tampa Bay's lead to 16 points. It came on the heels of the defense getting a key safety that made it a two-score game and was the dagger that essentially put the win away for the Bucs.

He had some big catches this year, including the last offensive touchdown of the regular season for the Bucs. Unfortunately, that came in Week 17 and the Bucs failed to find the endzone again until Monday night, but Palmer's touchdown was more than just a big play. All season long we've seen the Bucs find ways to shoot themselves in the foot, and even with all of the momentum on Tampa Bay's side it still felt like an 18-9 lead wasn't enough.

Palmer blew the game wide open and the Bucs never looked back. We've been waiting for the rookie to leave his mark and he picked the perfect time to do so.

Loser: Zyon McCollum

It was a rough night for Zyon McCollum, but luckily for him it didn't end up being a disastrous one.

McCollum made some decent plays and didn't blow any big coverages to let the Eagles offense find a rhythm. Instead, he made two boneheaded mistakes that almost opened the door for Philly to get back into things. The first came after a Dallas Goedert touchdown when McCollum lined up offsides on the extra point. The penalty afforded the Eagles a chance to try a two-point conversion to close the gap and steal some momentum back.

His second mistake came in the fourth quarter, and it was the same exact error he made earlier in the game. Tampa Bay stopped the Eagles on third down and forced a field goal, but McCollum again lined up offsides and the penalty yards allowed the Eagles a chance to convert on fourth down.

Luckily for McCollum, he was bailed out both times. The Eagles tried their vaunted Tush Push play on the two-point conversion but got stuffed, and Jalen Hurts failed to connect with DeVonta Smith and didn't convert on fourth down. It was the type of mistake that we've seen the Bucs make so many times this season and allow a team to get back into a game but thankfully things finally broke Tampa Bay's way.

Winner: Anthony Nelson

Anthony Nelson has come to embody the Buccaneers spirit over the course of his career, and he saved his biggest night for Monday against the Eagles.

With the offense faltering in the second half, the Bucs defense stepped up and took matters into their own hands to try and move the needle. The result was a safety on Jalen Hurts that gave Tampa Bay two crucial points and extended the lead to two scores. A lot happened on the safety but nothing was bigger than Anthony Nelson getting home on a blitz and forcing Hurts to throw the ball away and commit intentional grounding.

Because the foul occurred in the endzone it was ruled a safety and it swung momentum back to the Bucs that they wouldn't give up the rest of the night.

Nelson was at the center of the play, and it represents how deeply talented the defense has been all season. There have been standout stars like Antoine Winfield Jr and Lavonte David, but Nelson has been a steady hand over the years as a solid contributor who isn't ever flashy but adds exactly what is needed.

Winner: Jake Camarda

In most cases, saying that the punter is one of the best players on the team would be an insult. When it comes to Jake Camarda, he's an exception to the rule and proved once again why he's not only one of the best players on the Bucs roster but perhaps the best punter in the entire league.

His leg has always been reliable but he put it on display in a big way against the Eagles. When the Bucs offense struggled to extend drives, Camarda pinned Philly deep in its own territory every single time, not allowing the Eagles to start a drive beyond their own 15-yard line for most of the game.

That victory in the field position battle was substantial, and it contributed to the great night the Bucs defense had against Jalen Hurts. It could be argued that Camarda should be credited with points scored, as his punt pinning the Eagles deep in their own territory at the end of the third quarter directly led to a safety that extended Tampa Bay's lead to two scores.

Camarda has been invaluable to the Bucs success since arriving from Georgia, and he has been one of the consistent bright spots for all the right reasons. Monday night was one of his finest performances.

Winner: David Moore

Tampa Bay's offense has been a source of much frustration this season, but two things Dave Canales did paid off right away in the Wild Card win.

Canales has been criticized this season for not relying on -- or trusting -- the passing game enough and trying too hard to get the run game going. That wasn't the case against the Eagles, as he gave Baker Mayfield the green light to air it out right away and it resulted in the first big play the offense has had in over four quarters.

Tampa Bay limped into the playoffs having not scored a touchdown since Week 17, but Canales drew up a play that ended the streak in the first quarter. The player who made the big play was David Moore, who Canales brought to Tampa Bay after having worked with the veteran for years up in Seattle. Moore had bounced between the practice squad and the 53-man roster all season but he made an impact at the exact right time.

Winner: Bucs Run Game

For all the good Dave Canales did on Monday, nothing might top what he was able to do with the Buccaneers run game.

His undying desire to establish a run game has been a source of frustration all season for Bucs fans, mostly because it wasn't working. Despite making key changes this offseason, the run game was somehow worse than it was last year -- which was at the bottom of the league.

We thought it couldn't get any worse, yet somehow it did. That all changed in the Wild Card game as Tampa Bay averaged 4.1 yards per carry, which is night and day from where things were during the season. Rachaad White was running all over the Eagles defense and the Bucs offensive line was setting blocks we thought it wasn't capable of based on all we saw during the year.

Tampa Bay averaged under 85 yards per game at home this year and just 3.3 yards per carry -- both ranked last in the league. Against Philly in the Wild Card, the Bucs rushed for 119 yards and found chunk yardage runs to get the offense flowing the way Dave Canales always imagined.

Maybe it's not the way things will be every week, but the run game that had been the bane of Bucs fan's existence all season finally figured it out when it mattered most.

Loser: Baker Mayfield holding the ball

Overall it was a pretty great night for Baker Mayfield. He not only beat the Eagles but beat allegations that he's not a good quarterback or can't show up in big moments. Mayfield finished the night with 337 yards and three touchdowns and didn't turn the ball over once.

It was the type of statement game that Jason Licht brought him to Tampa Bay to deliver, and he did. Things were far from perfect, though, and some early struggles are something to keep an eye on as the Bucs prepare for a Divisional Round matchup with Detroit.

After getting off to a pretty fast start, the Bucs offense stalled out and part of that was due to Baker's decision to hold the ball way too long. He took at least two sacks that he shouldn't have, opting to not throw the ball away and instead hang onto it and lose important yardage. Twice Baker held the ball and was sacked on plays that took the Bucs out of field goal range, which was especially frustrating given how close the game was at that point.

One one sack he seemed to have Payne Durham open for a first down but pumped in hesitation before scrambling under pressure that was allowed to build. Those mistakes were all on Baker, and it's not the first time this year he's held the ball way too long. Detroit's defense is aggressive and will bring tons of pressure, which means the longer Baker hesitates and holds onto the ball, the more likely he is to give up yards the Bucs might not be able to afford to lose.

Winner: Todd Bowles

Everyone had a great night in Tampa Bay, but it's hard to top what the win on Monday meant to Todd Bowles.

On one hand, it was validation of his leadership. The Bucs were a joke last year, a team that looked completely uninterested in playing good football and a lot of that fell on Bowles and his coaching staff. Mistakes were made throughout the year that should have been coached out but still popped up in ways that sunk the season.

This year some of those same things crept up again, but Bowles was able to navigate the team out of a 1-6 slump and back into a position to win the NFC South. His stamp on the team was clear in the win over Philly, as the little things that went wrong before didn't hurt the Bucs, and his defense absolutely stifled the Eagles offense.

The win also saved his job. There were still questions about whether or not he'd be back next year, despite how he helped turn the ship around, but he needed to prove that the changes were permanent and not temporary. The latter is what caused things to go off the rails last season, but the way the Bucs won on Monday seemingly proved that the buy-in on Bowles is 100 percent authentic and his coaching is the driving force behind the turnaround. Had the Bucs lost, or lost big, questions about his future would have persisted.

There is absolutely no question that Bowles will be back next season, and in the process has purged demons from his past. Nothing in the NFL is certain, but there seems to no longer be a cloud of doubt hanging over Bowles' head.

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