On a rain-soaked Sunday in Tampa, the Buccaneers faced a sky and a ball that refused to cooperate, and rather than fight the weather they let it decide the offense. They beat Atlanta 16-0 without completing a single pass, a quiet reminder that a team's plan is often written by its conditions as much as by its coaches. Their 324 rushing yards, a club record, turned a storm into a strategy, and the game joins a very short list of contests where the forward pass was never really in play.
Buccaneers Beat Falcons 16-0 Without a Completed Pass, Rushing for a Club-Record 324 Yards in the Rain
Three yards and a lot of slush
Mark
Zero completions and a shutout win. How does that even happen?
Mimi
The weather did most of the deciding. Todd Bowles said the downpour and wind meant the ball wasn't going anywhere, so Tampa Bay ran for a club-record 324 yards.
Mark
Mayfield only threw three times. Was that planned?
Mimi
Bowles said he didn't have to tell anyone. In his words, the conditions told them. Mayfield joked that if he wasn't throwing, he had to get active somehow, and he was even asked about lead blocking.
Luke
Worth being careful there. Bowles's explanation is the coach's account. The reporting doesn't show us the actual game plan or whether the play-calling changed at halftime.
Mark
And the history? The 1974 Bills?
Mimi
Per the Associated Press, they're the only other team since the Super Bowl era began to complete no passes. Joe Ferguson threw two, and O.J. Simpson ran for 117 yards.
Luke
That comparison rests on AP's research, and it's limited to the Super Bowl era. It's a fair claim, but it's one source's count.
Mark
What about the other side of it?
Mimi
Michael Penix Jr. for Atlanta completed eight of 24 with four interceptions. Passing was risky for both teams, and only one chose not to.
Luke
Right, though the piece suggests Tampa might have done even more by throwing in the second half. That's opinion, not something the numbers show. And what this means for the NFC South race isn't spelled out beyond renewed life.
Le Pouls
- Heavy rain turned Raymond James Stadium into a muddy, unforgiving field and the football into something no one wanted to throw.
- Baker Mayfield finished 0-for-3 through the air, a rare and awkward footnote in an otherwise decisive win.
- Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell carried the offense, with Irving alone reaching 170 yards on the ground.
- Atlanta's passing attempts collapsed under the same conditions, with Michael Penix Jr. throwing four interceptions and the Falcons scoring nothing.
- The win pulls Tampa Bay back into the NFC South race, and the run-heavy script may spark debate about passing in bad weather.
On a rain-soaked Sunday in Tampa, the Buccaneers faced a sky and a ball that refused to cooperate, and rather than fight the weather they let it decide the offense. They beat Atlanta 16-0 without completing a single pass, a quiet reminder that a team's plan is often written by its conditions as much as by its coaches. Their 324 rushing yards, a club record, turned a storm into a strategy, and the game joins a very short list of contests where the forward pass was never really in play.
The rain at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday was heavy enough, according to coach Todd Bowles, that the ball simply wasn't going anywhere. So the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stopped trying to throw it, and beat the Atlanta Falcons 16-0 without completing a single pass.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield went three for none through the air. Only one other team has managed that since the Super Bowl era began, the 1974 Buffalo Bills, whose O.J. Simpson carried the load that day. Tampa Bay found its own version of that answer on the ground, gaining 324 yards, a new club record, on a soaked and muddy field. Bucky Irving ran for 170 yards and Kenneth Gainwell added 140 more, both averaging well above three yards a carry.
Bowles said he never had to tell anyone to stop throwing. "The conditions told him that," he said. Mayfield, facing reporters afterward, was blunt about the adjustment: if the ball wasn't going to fly, he had to get active some other way. Irving shrugged off the weather entirely, noting that rain and mud are part of the job.
Atlanta tried to throw and suffered for it. Michael Penix Jr. completed eight of 24 passes, threw four interceptions, and the Falcons never scored.
The win keeps Tampa Bay alive in the NFC South. Whether such a one-sided, run-only game changes how teams think about passing in bad weather remains to be seen, but on this rainy afternoon the plan was simple, and it worked.
The rain at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday was heavy enough, by coach Todd Bowles's account, that the ball wasn't going anywhere. So the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stopped trying to throw it. They beat the Atlanta Falcons 16-0 without completing a single pass.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield attempted three passes and completed none. According to the Associated Press, only one other team has done that in a game since the Super Bowl era began: the Buffalo Bills, on Sept. 29, 1974. That Bills team was O.J. Simpson's, and quarterback Joe Ferguson attempted only two passes without a completion. Simpson ran for 117 yards in that game.
What Tampa Bay did instead was run, and run far. The Bucs gained 324 yards on the ground, a new club record, in a game played in a downpour and on a muddy field. Bucky Irving carried for 170 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per attempt. Kenneth Gainwell added 140 rushing yards at 5.6 yards per attempt. Those averages mean this was not a grind of short gains; the backs were picking up well over three yards a carry.
Bowles was asked afterward whether he had told his offensive coordinator or Mayfield that the team wouldn't be throwing much. He said he hadn't needed to. "The conditions told him that," Bowles said, describing a downpour with the wind blowing, and a ball that visibly wasn't carrying.
Mayfield opened his postgame news conference by telling reporters, "All right, let's get this over with because you don't want to talk to me." Later, when he was asked about lead blocking on one play, he explained it plainly: "If you're not going to throw the ball, I got to get active somehow."
Irving was unimpressed by the weather as an excuse or an event. He said he couldn't remember the last time he checked the forecast for a football game. "Rain, snow, muddy, you're going to have to play in it anyway," he said.
Atlanta did try to throw, and it went badly. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. completed eight of 24 attempts and threw four interceptions. The Falcons never scored. Tampa Bay, by contrast, avoided that kind of risk by keeping the ball on the ground.
The win gives the Buccaneers renewed life in the NFC South. Whether a game this lopsided in method prompts any wider rethinking of passing in bad weather is an open question, but for one rainy Sunday in Tampa, the plan was simple and it worked.
Citations marquantes
The conditions told him that.— Todd Bowles, Buccaneers coach
Rain, snow, muddy, you're going to have to play in it anyway.— Bucky Irving, Buccaneers running back
Envie de l'histoire complète ?
Lire l'original sur Fox News ↗
Sports