5 winners (and 3 big losers) from Buccaneers thrilling 20-19 win over Texans

For the first time since 2022 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are celebrating a primetime win. It took everything the team had to grind out the victory, but the curse has officially been broken.

Beating Houston also means the Bucs are off to their third straight 2-0 start. It's a win that puts them in sole possession of first place in the NFC South but was also the gritty sort of grind-it-out victory that shows the kind of fight the team has.

Ever since Baker Mayfield arrived there's been a grittiness to the Bucs that has helped them pull through in situations we've seen them flounder before -- even with Tom Brady. Monday night in Houston was another example of that, and while there's plenty to work on there's more to celebrate after what happened.

Winners and losers from Buccaneers 20-19 MNF win over Texans

Winner: Baker Mayfield

Everyone expecting Baker Mayfield to regress after his incredible career renaissance in Tampa Bay is still waiting -- and will be for a long time. He was bizarrely called out as being a problem for the Bucs earlier in the week despite throwing three touchdowns in a Week 1 win.

He backed that performance up in Week 2, especially on the final drive of the game. He had a pair of Angry Runs that helped will the Bucs back into things but his fourth down scramble that kept the game alive was one of the best he's ever had.

All of it culminated in a signature comeback win that featured all of the greatest hits about what makes Baker Mayfield special, and why Bucs fans love him so much. It was a masterclass in being cool under pressure and is the strongest evidence yet that he won't be taking the step back his detractors seem to keep exepcting him to.

Not for nothing, but his triumph came on a night where he was beaten to a pulp by Houston's defense. Tampa Bay marched down the field on a game-winning drive without its two starting tackles and despite relentless pressure, Baker came through.

Loser: Buccaneers Primetime Curse

IT'S OVER!!

For the first time since Week 16 of the 2022 season the Buccaneers won a regular season primetime game. They had been 0-6 in the Baker Mayfield era, not counting playoff games, but finally turned in a performance under the bright lights of primetime that gives us all confidence this team is different.

It also gives Bucs fans a reason to let out a giant sigh of relief. There's still work that needs to be done, and the win was about as ugly as it gets, but it still counts and Tampa Bay slayed a dragon of a demon tonight that should provide exactly the confidence boost they need.

Winner: Emeka Egbuka

We're two games into the season and it seems that all Emeka Egbuka does is score touchdowns. He reeled in two of them in the Week 1 win over the Falcons and helped get the offense rolling in the first quarter much in the same way.

That makes back-to-back games where Egbuka scored touchdowns to tip the scales in Tampa Bay's favor, and he continues to look the part of the rising star the Bucs need him to be.

Loser: SirVocea Dennis

It was a rough start to the season for SirVocea Dennis last week in Atlanta, and things didn't get any better against the Texans on Monday night.

Dennis was abysmal in coverage, getting cooked on essentially every big play he could have stopped, and at one point was embarrassed on a blitz pickup against Woody Marks. It was a horrible showing and one that has fnas fuming much in the same way they usually do about Jamel Dean.

That's not great company to be in, but

Winner: Josh Grizzard's play-calling

Losing Luke Goedeke in the first quarter should have been a fatal blow to the offense, especially one with a first-year play caller. That didn't happen, though, as Josh Grizzard weathered the storm better than most would have expected after losing such a key piece of the offensive line.

Before he needed to adjust, Grizzard was doing something one of his predecessors failed to do the last time the Bucs were in Houston. It took forever for Dave Canales to get Mike Evans involved and doing so might have been the difference in a game that turned into a shootout. That didn't happen on Monday when Grizzard went to his best receiver early and often, and the effort was notable.

It's been two games with Grizzard and while things haven't been perfect there seems to be the bones of something that will turn into a machine of an offense once all the key pieces return healthy.

Winner: Buccaneers run defense

One of the bright spots on the night was the run defense, which held until it couldn't carry the weight being put on its shoulders. Up until Nick Chubb's fourth quarter touchdown run, the Bucs had held Houston to just 18 yards on the ground.

It was ugly trying to run the ball until Chubb busted off his touchdown run but for the most part the run defense showed out. Of course, it's hard to celebrate when one of the biggest plays happened on their watch but we can chalk that up to how awful everything else was that put the sort of pressure on guys like Vita Vea than was necessary.

Loser: Special Teams

Last week Chase McLaughlin missed a critical field goal that would have likely saved us all some stress late in a game the Bucs ended up winning. He did it again on Monday night and with his latest miss is seems Tampa Bay has a kicking problem.

It wasn't just McLaughlin who struggled. All night the Texans got pressure on punts and came close to blocking a kick until they actually did. The Bucs got lucky and Houston was held to just a field goal but that won't keep happening. Good teams will find a way to exploit bad special teams and make the Bucs pay, and these sorts of problems are what sink teams in the playoffs.

Worse yet, the punt coverage allowed a massive return with just 3 minutes left in the game to set Houston up to win the game.

Nothing is working right now, and Tampa Bay needs to figure something out before it's too late.

Winner: Sterling Shepard

While a lot of attention was spent on Mike Evans trying to march his way toward 1,000-yards and Emeka Egbuka's second great game, Sterling Shepard quietly had a pretty decent game.

He finished the night with four catches and 34 yards, but was always there when the Bucs needed a catch to help extend a drive. Last year he came up off the practice squad and was a decent contributor, but he seems to have worked his way into a nice little safety valve role for Baker and looks like a player Josh Grizzard is willing to scheme around on offense.

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