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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers destroyed the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, 45-17. That means we have plenty of winners to point out, and only a few losers. Good times!
Winners
Jameis Winston
19 of 29 for 246 yards, five touchdowns, no interception, one sack (fumble recovered). That's a really, really good game for anyone let alone a rookie quarterback. Winston is currently the highest-ranked quarterback in Total QBR for this week, and he was making throws like this all game long.
VIDEO: Jameis Winston strikes WR Vincent Jackson for his second touchdown pass of the day. #FSU #Noles #Bucs https://t.co/Dez5r9WaMI
— Nole Gameday (@NoleGameday) November 22, 2015
This was probably the best game of Winston's career so far.
Doug Martin
27 carries for 235 yards. The second-most rushing yards without a touchdown in NFL history. The second-most total rushing yards in team history, behind only his own performance against the Oakland Raiders. The longest run in team history (85 yards) that was also the longest run in the NFL this season.
Mike Evans
Four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown, no drops, no failure to catch any catchable balls.
Pass protection
Jameis Winston was sacked once, and pass protection held up remarkably long on a lot of tough, downfield throws. It still broke down at times, with Evan Smith standing out as a negative, but overall, this was a pretty good game for the Bucs offensive linemen.
Lovie Smith
Any win is a positive for Lovie Smith, and getting to 5-5 makes it very hard to envision a scenario where Lovie Smith doesn't survive the season.
Cameron Brate and Adam Humphries
Three catches for 47 yards and a touchdown and five catches for 50 yards, respectively. Brate was an undrafted rookie last year, and Humphries went undrafted this year. Both players stepped up, with Brate making a really tough touchdown catch and Humphries looking like a reliable slot receiver. Neither player is likely to be dominant going forward, but they showed themselves to be useful pieces of a passing offense.
Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David
Gerald McCoy and Lavonte David have gotten a lot of flak for not putting up splash plays every game, but they sure showed up this year. Lavonte David had two interceptions and six tackles, including a pick-six. Gerald McCoy had three tackles and 1.5 sacks, bringing his total to six on the year.
Charles Sims
Not as productive as Doug Martin, but 10 carries for 43 yards and three catches for 26 yards and a touchdown is pretty good. The touchdown was an amazing catch on a tough and risky throw, but one other thing stood out by Sims, and has been standing out for weeks: he's gotten really good at delivering on chip blocks to help out his offensive tackles, and that's really shored up the Bucs' pass protection.
Losers
Fourth-down decisions
In the first quarter, the Bucs got to fourth-and-seven on the Eagles' 36-yard line.
This is how bad the decision to punt was pic.twitter.com/gN48ycW31Q
— Sander Philipse (@Bucs_Nation) November 22, 2015
Lovie Smith corrected that by going for it late in the second quarter on fourth-and-one, but the first decision was still terrible, and the kind of decision that can you lose you close games.
Penalties
They didn't really hurt the team this time, but the Bucs still had nine penalties for 82 yards.
Gosder Cherilus
Cherilus seemed to struggle for most of the game, and got flagged thrice in the game (one declined). The Bucs are sticking with him instead of putting Demar Dotson back in the lineup, but they may want to re-think that decision at some point.