7 winners (and 2 losers) from Buccaneers impressive win over Chargers

It seems everything is going right for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a four-game losing streak nearly derailed their season, the Bucs are back on top of the NFC South and now control the No. 3 seed in the NFC.

This comes not long after things were about as gloomy as they could be. Fans were calling for Todd Bowles to be fired, Chris Godwin was lost for the season, Mike Evans missed three games, and the vibes were as negative as they've been in a while.

What we all forgot was how the Bucs haven't shown us that they easily give up in a fight, which is what the last four games have been all about. It's hardly been a breezy season but Tampa Bay has clawed its way back in ways we still aren't used to seeing from a team that so easily rolled over for so many years.

Sunday's thumping of the Chargers was one of the most impressive wins we've seen this season. Todd Bowles out-coached Jim Harbaugh, the Bucs depleted defense beat up a quality Justin Herbet-led offense, and the Bucs proved they firmly belong in the playoff conversation as the end of the season nears.

Winners and losers from the Buccaneers 40-17 route over Chargers

Winner: Mike Evans, WR

We might be witnessing the most impressive season of Mike Evans' career right now. Despite missing three games earlier this year with a hamstring injury, Evans is right on track to continue his streak of 1,000-yard seasons and proved once again on Sunday why he's the best offensive player in Buccaneers' franchise history.

Evans came into Week 15 needing 410 yards the rest of the season to reach 1,000 yards. He went off on the No. 1 scording defense in the NFL for 159 yards and two touchdowns, which was all sorts of amazing to watch.

Now Evans needs just 251 more yards over the next three games to keep his streak alive. That's an average of around 83 yards per game, which is still a lot of work but seems well within what we can expect out of Evans on even his most mediocre day.

Winner: Jalen McMillan, WR

Mike Evans was by far the most impressive player in Sunday's win, but he wasn't the only wide receiver who stood out. Rookie Jalen McMillan is starting to find his groove in the offense and put together another impressive week.

He finished Sunday's game with 75 yards and a touchdown, which came on the opening drive of the game. For the second straight week we saw Liam Coen filter the offense through McMillan to start the game before flipping the switch on Evans, which has proven to be a powerful combo.

It took a bit for the rookie to get his footing, but now that he's settling in, he's looking exactly like the player Tampa Bay needed in its offense.

Loser: Everything about the 2nd Quarter

Plenty of things have gone wrong for the Bucs this year, but for some reason one of the most consistent flaws is whatever the heck happens in the second quarter of games.

Once again on Sunday, the team floundered after a great start and cratered hard in the second quarter. Baker Mayfield looked off, the team was making dumb mistakes, and the vibes got bleak in a hurry.

We saw them do this last week against a bad Raiders team and it all goes back to how the Bucs blew a 17-point lead in New Orleans back in Week 6. Just like on Sunday against the Chargers, Tampa Bay ultimately adjusted and flipped the script by blowing their opponent out in the second half, but it's a frustratingly dangerous game the Bucs are playing.

If the Bucs want to make a serious run in the playoffs they have to shore up whatever is causing them to go off the rails in the second quarter of games. The Chargers are a quality team and even better ones won't let the Bucs off the hook so easily.

Winner: Baker Mayfield, QB

Despite another interception and some bad decisions, Baker Mayfield had another phenomenal day. He finished the day with 288 yards and four touchdowns, plus a handful of gritty runs.

It wasn't a perfect day by any means, but the fact that Baker bounced back the way he did after some early mistakes is a reminder that the Bucs will never bow out of a fight. It's a diluted version of what Bucs fans dealt with in Jameis Winston where the payoff is worth the assumed risk; Baker is going to make some mistakes but he's proven he'll make good on it later.

Making his day even more impressive is that it came against the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL. He carved the Chargers secondary up, specifically in the second half, and completely dominated one of the best defenses the Bucs have seen all season. With the playoffs on the horizon, this was exactly the sort of confidence-building game he needed to have.

Winner: Lavonte David, LB

Tampa Bay's ageless wonder continued to defy all sorts of logic another vintage performance. Although, to call anything Lavonte David does 'vintage' is a disservice -- he's still as good as he looks and he remains in top form even though other linebacker his age begin to show signs of regression by now.

David led the team in tackles with 12 total and eight on his own, and recorded 1.5 sacks on Justin Hebert. He got to the Chargers' quarterback early in the game, a sack that let Herbert know it was going to be a long afternoon of pressure.

The Bucs got 10 quarterback hits on Herbet, with David accounting for three of them. He was all over the field on Sunday and was truly the captain that the defense needed at a time when the ranks were so desperately thin. Tampa Bay has been eaten alive by the injury bug, but you wouldn't have been able to tell that the team was down its starting inside linebackers, two safeties, and Antoine Winfield Jr. the way David played.

Winner: Bucky Irving, RB

Another week and another wildly impressive performance for Bucky Irving. The rookie has been a revelation out of the backfield, and might be in the Rookie of the Year lead in any other year that didn't include Jayden Daniels.

Every week it seems he's good for some insane play, and he didn't disappoint against the Chargers.

For the second time in three weeks, he finished with over 100 yards of rushing and is closing in on 1,000 yards for the season. Bucky is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, which is almist unfathomable considering what the run game has looked like over the last few seasons.

What's even more exciting is how all-purpose his success has been. He's averaging 7.8 yards per catch, which includes Sunday's total, where he finished with -4 yards receiving. Everything about the Bucs offense has been excellent this season, but it's hard to argue anything being more impressive -- or downright fun -- than what Bucky has been able to do.

Loser: Graham Barton, OL

While Bucky Irving and Jalen McMillan had great days, the same couldn't be said for another fellow rookie. Graham Barton has put together a very respectable first season, but he's prone to making some pretty bad mistakes at the wrong time.

That was the case a few times on Sunday when he was flagged for penalties that brought back otherwise impressive plays. He was called for holding in the third quarter which brought back a 17-yard scramble by Baker Mayfield, and ruined a nice catch by Jalen McMillan earlier in the game while also holding.

He's been a huge boost to the offensive line and clearly has a bright future in Tampa Bay, but Barton can't afford to keep making these rookie mistakes -- especially in the playoffs.

Winner: Jamel Dean, CB

It's been easy to get on Jamel Dean for usually being on the wrong side of some big play, but he stepped up in all the right ways on Sunday. The peak of his afternoon came in the third quarter when his interception slammed the door shut on the idea of Los Angeles trying to get something going in order to mount a comeback.

It's been a rough season for Dean, who has battled poor play and injuries, but Sunday was a prime example of what we all expect out of him. He can be a top cornerback when he's playing up to expectations and his big game came at exactly the right time for the Bucs' defense.

Winner: Todd Bowles, HC

Ever since the Buccaneers fell into a 1-6 slump last season there have been calls from fans for Todd Bowles to be fired. The dial got turned up on that noise when the Bucs lost four straight games earlier this season as the defense struggled and the offense soared.

It was easy math for frustrated fans to do: subtract Bowles and replace him with Liam Coen, who might end up getting poached this offseason for a head coaching job elsewhere.

Bowles deserves a lot of the criticism that has been directed his way, but Sunday was a reminder of how well-coached this team is under the surface. He's been playing without some of his key players on defense all season yet has turned things around on that side of the ball in ways we didn't see coming based on how things are going.

The Chargers are a good team and one of the most quality opponents the Bucs have played all season. To hold Herbert and the offense to just 17 points -- and zero in all of the second half -- with a defense that's missing Antoine Winfield Jr., two starting linebackers, and two other safeties, is an insane endorsement of the job Bowles has done.

He's been rightfully criticized for a lot of the things that have gone wrong, but he absolutely deserves his flowers for the job he did on Sunday. Not only did his patchwork defense shut down the Chargers, but he was able to effectively adjust things at halftime to help produce the sort of second half we saw out of the team.

Then again, finding ways to adjust and have incredible second halves seems to be what Bowles specializes in.

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