Biggest winners and losers from Buccaneers dominating win over the Giants

Good teams are supposed to beat up the bad ones, and Sunday was a reminder that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fall into the former category. The Bucs cooked the New York Giants to a crisp, failing to fall into the Tommy DeVito trap game some thought it might be on their way to beginning to re-establish themselves as contenders in the NFC.

There's a ton of work that needs to be done, but the Bucs using the Giants as a punching bag out of their bye week is exactly the type of game the team needed to have.

Everything is aligning for the Bucs to get back into the NFC South race, as their next two games are against a Raiders team that will also be starting its backup QB and the Panthers. Meanwhile the Falcons get back-to-back games against the Chargers and Vikings which means we could be living in a world in two weeks where Tampa Bay is back in first place.

If that's going to happen, then some guys who stepped up big in the win on Sunday will need to keep it going, and those who didn't will need to fall in line.

Winners and losers from Buccaneers dominating 30-7 win over Giants

Winner: Justin Skule, OT

Two names largey went unspoken on Sunday and few things sounded sweeter. We didn't hear much about Tristan Wirfs, who was out with a sprained MCL, nor did his replacement Justin Skule get mentioned muched either.

It's impossible to overstate how amazing this is.

Skule played a fantastic game on Sunday, effectively filling in for Wirfs while avoiding the mistakes that plagued him earlier in the year. He was eaten alive by Aiden Hutchinson in Week 2 and didn't fare much better the next week against Denver. He did better when he needed to come in to relieve Wirfs against the 49ers but still got beat by Nick Bosa on more than a few plays.

That didn't happen against the Giants, as Skule lived up to expectations and helped keep Baker Mayfield clean while also stepping up his game in run blocking. It wasn't a perfect day, but the fact that we'd heard so much from Skule in previous appearances and he was a rumor on the broadcast this week is one of the best things that happened on Sunday.

Winner: Buccaneers Defense

After four straight games of getting justifiably buried for holding the team back, Todd Bowles' defense finally had the sort of game we know they're capable of having. It took the Giants until the fourth quarter to score a single point, as the Bucs forced a red zone turnover to stop a scoring drive earlier and held their own in garbage time to avoid any unnecessary blows.

Everything that has been going wrong seemed to flip on Sunday. The pass rush was there all day and guys like Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey got home on more than a few plays to terrorize Tommy DeVito. Kancey specifically lowered the boom stick on the Giants' quarterback early in the game to set the right tone.

Lavonte David forced a fumble and made some great plays, Vea will be living in John Michael Schmitz's nightmares for a long time, and the secondary held its own for most of the game after getting beaten up these alst four games.

There's still a long road ahead, but the way the defense responded out of the bye was huge.

Winner: Baker Mayfield, QB

Anyone putting together a highlight reel of Baker Mayfield's day against the Giants had more than a few moments to choose from.

The flashiest of them all was when he barrelled in for a touchdown before halftime and hit Tommy DeVito's signature celebration. He claimed after the game it was a tribute, but the way he flamboyantly gestured told a different story and it was one in which he dominated the day.

His best play might have been one that didn't involve him carrying the ball.

In the fourth quarter with Tampa Bay already up by 23 points and the game essentially wrapped up, Baker sprinted downfield on a huge Bucky Irving run to throw a block. It's the type of grit we've seen from him before but it's also a reminder that this team has a fire burning in its belly that won't be extinguished by a four-game losing streak.

That's vintage Baker, and it's why the entire locker room has bought in on his brand of toughness. He was fantastic all around on Sunday, but this is the sort of stuff that has a bigger impact than merely being a block.

Loser: Jordan Whitehead, S

Not everything was great on Sunday and Jordan Whitehead is unfortunately on the wrong side of the fun -- again.

Whitehead was cooked by rookie tight end Theo Johnson for a 23 yard catch-and-run, which was the Giants’ biggest offensive play of the day. He also left the game with what looked like a pectoral muscle injury that might end up taking him out of action, which means he'll be hurting the team by not beaing healthy and contributing to the team's lack of depth.

Then again, for how bad he's been so far this season it might not be the worst thing for him to take a step back and get healthy while the team fills in the gap. Whitehead returning to Tampa Bay as part of getting the old Super Bowl defense back together was a fun idea but it's translated poorly on the field.

Sunday was yet another painful reminder of that.

Loser: Cade Otton, TE

Almost everyone got in on the action as the offense hummed along, but Cade Otton was notably absent. He managed to reel in a 30-yard reception, but that was his only catch of the day as he dropped a few others that came his way.

To be fair, a rough afternoon for Otton was the expectation going in. He's been a focal point for the offense with Mike Evans out but the Giants are one of the best teams in the league when it comes to defending tight ends. New York had allowed only 332 receiving yards to tight ends in 10 games which ended up tracking in terms of how well contained Otton was.

It thankfully didn't matter much as the Bucs' offense still put up 30 points and breezed through the afternoon, but it was a bummer to see Otton come crashing down to earth as hard as he did given how important he's been the last few games.

Winner: Bucky Irving, RB

If there's a safer bet on the Bucs' offense to be a winner than Bucky Irving, we haven't met him yet. It seems each week, Bucky finds a way to make some play that leaves our jaws on the floor, and this week, he didn't disappoint.

Against one of the worst rushing defenses in the league, Irving finished the day with 151 total yards and a touchdown. He might have had more if Sean Tucker hadn't been brought in for two of the team's trips to the goal line, but he punched the third one in with ease.

He's been a revelation for Tampa Bay this year and might be the most exciting offensive rookie since Cadillac Williams back in 2005. He's by far the best running back in the stable and will challenge Rachaad White for the RB1 role moving forward, although that's sort of a fluid situation since the Bucs don't seem to have a leadback.

Even when the team was losing Irving made the team fun to watch, and he's been one of the brightest spots on one of the best offenses in the league this season.

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