The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Seattle Seahawks 14-5, with the most dominant defensive performance out of a Bucs team we’ve seen in years. The offense did its job, and no one seemed to have a bad game. Which means we’re only doing winners this week — no losers, no reaching for them.
CB Alterraun Verner
Verner was the story of the game. The veteran cornerback lost his father shortly before the game, but decided to suit up and play anyway. The result was his best performance as a Buccaneer, with an interception and two passes defensed.
Verner played outstanding football, and was a major reason for the stifling of Russell Wilson’s arm, who could not move the Seahawks down the field until the very final drive of the game — and even then he threw an interception instead of a touchdown.
S Bradley McDougald
That final interception came courtesy of Bradley McDougald, who’s on an impressive streak of games. McDougald had five tackles, including a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, two passes defensed and that game-ending interception. McDougald came into this season having to prove that he can be a reliable starter in the future, and he may just have done so the last few weeks.
DT Gerald McCoy
The entire defensive line played lights out, including rookie defensive end Noah Spence (1.5 sacks) and veteran Robert Ayers (1 sack), but the star of the line was Gerald McCoy — as usual. The veteran defensive tackle had 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hits, a tackle for loss and just a generally dominant performance, constantly pressuring Russell Wilson and disrupting the Seattle offensive line.
WR Mike Evans
It’s getting a bit boring to put him on the list every week, but he’s just performing so well, week in, week out. Eight catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns, making Richard Sherman look silly, and bailing out Jameis Winston a few times. Just an outstanding all-around game.
LB Lavonte David
Since Kwon Alexander has arrived, Lavonte David’s tackle totals have gone down, but he’s still making impact plays. This week: a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a quarterback hit and seven total tackles. Pro Football Focus gave him the best grade of any player this week: 93.9.