With their 28-10 road win over the Broncos last Sunday, the Buccaneers got out to a 2-1 start for the third time in the last four seasons. That win combined with the Saints’ loss to the Packers meant sole possession of first place in the NFC South for Tampa Bay after three weeks. Now, it’s all about keeping that spot, and Bruce Arians’ team will have a good chance to do so this Sunday when it hosts a banged-up Los Angeles Chargers team at Raymond James Stadium.
The Buccaneer defense will look to stay hot and the offense will look to continue progressing when Justin Herbert and Co. come into town. There’s plenty at stake, with Tampa Bay looking to start 3-1 for the first time in 2011 before heading to Chicago for a Thursday Night Football matchup. But individually, there are plenty of guys on the Bucs’ roster who are chasing history. So, let’s see where things stand heading into Week 4.
Buccaneers History
**All statistics and records come from Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted.**
Career Rushing Yards
Heading into Sunday, Ronald Jones II has 910 career rushing yards, ranking him 22nd in team history. He needs two yards to pass James Owens (911) for 21st, three yards to pass Louis Carter (913) for 20th and 13 yards to pass Josh Freeman (922) for 19th. With 47, he passes Bobby Rainey (956) for 18th, while 49 puts him in 17th, ahead of Charles Sims (958).
Career Rushing Touchdowns
With eight career rushing touchdowns, Jones is tied with James Owens for 16th-most in Bucs history. Two more scores would tie him with Jameis Winston and Michael Pittman (10) for 14th.
Career Receiving Yards
Cameron Brate’s 2,156 receiving yards have him 23rd in franchise history. With 61 more, he passes Jacquez Green (2,217) for 22nd.
Career Receiving Touchdowns
Brate is stuck on 27 career receiving touchdowns, which ties him with Mark Carrier for fifth-most in Bucs history. One more will tie him with Joey Galloway (28) for fourth-most.
O.J. Howard has 13 career receiving touchdowns, tying him with Courtney Hawkins and Mike Alstott for 17th. With one more, he ties Keenan McCardell and Morris Owens (14) for 15th.
Career Receptions
With 195 career catches, Brate is 20th in team history. He needs 12 more to take 18th from Courtney Hawkins and Lawrence Dawsey (206).
Career Touchdowns (Total)
With two touchdowns last Sunday, Mike Evans has 53 total touchdowns in his career. He needs 19 more to take the team record from Mike Alstott (71).
Career Tackles (Bucs Communications)
Lavonte David passed Hardy Nickerson for third-most tackles in team history last week. With 1,031, he is a good 398 behind Ronde Barber (1,428) for second.
Career Solo Tackles*
David has 740 career solo tackles, ranking him third in franchise history. He needs 305 more to pass Ronde Barber (1,044) for second.
*Before 1994, solo tackles were unofficial and inconsistently recorded. Since, they have been consistently recorded but are still unofficial.
Career Sacks*
Jason Pierre-Paul has 24 sacks as a Buc, leaving him two away from tying Greg Spires (26) for 10th and 2.5 away from tying Broderick Thomas (26.5) for ninth.
David has 22.5 sacks in his career. With 3.5 more, he ties Spires for 10th, while four more will tie him with Thomas for ninth.
After picking up two sacks last week, Shaquil Barrett now has 21.5 as a Buc. He needs 4.5 more to tie Spires for 10th and five more to tie Thomas for ninth.
*Sacks did not become an official stat until 1982.
Sacks Through 27 Games With Tampa Bay (Bucs Communications)
Lee Roy Selmon and Simeon Rice share the Bucs’ record for sacks through 27 games with the team (24). Pierre-Paul had 22 in his first 27, while Barrett has 21.5 in his first 19. He needs three more in the next eight games to own the franchise record.
Consecutive Games With a Sack (Bucs Communications)
Dating back to last season, Pierre-Paul has a sack in five consecutive games. That ties him for the second-longest streak in team history. If he picks up a sack on Sunday against the Chargers, he will tie the longest streak in franchise history (six). He has already hit six games once in his career, and he shares that record with Simeon Rice.
Career Passes Defended*
David is up to 47 passes defended in his career, leaving him eight away from passing Aqib Talib (54) for fifth-most in team history.
*Passes defended did not become an official stat until 1999.
Career Interceptions
With his interception of Jeff Driskel last week, David now has 12 in his career. That tied him with Jeris White, Mark Robinson and Dwight Smith for 12th in Bucs history, and he is now five away from tying Harry Hamilton (17) for ninth.
Career Forced Fumbles
David has 22 career forced fumbles, which means he needs just three more to take the franchise record from Derrick Brooks (24).
Career Starts (Bucs Communications)
Sunday will be David’s 125th career start, moving him closer to Warren Sapp (130), who has the seventh-most starts in franchise history.
Career Games Played
Sunday will also be David’s 125th career game played, which will tie him with Steve Wilson for 13th-most in team history.
NFL History
**Courtesy of Buccaneers Communications**
All-Time Passing Touchdowns (Regular Season)
Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns last week, but so did Drew Brees. So, Brady (547) remains six behind Brees (553) for most in regular season history. Brady already has the record for most passing touchdowns between both the regular season and the playoffs.
300-Yard Passing Games (Regular Season)
With 92 career 300-yard passing games in the regular season, Brady ranks third all-time. One more will tie him with Peyton Manning (93) for second.
Regular Season Wins
Brady earned his 221st regular season last week in Denver. If the Bucs win on Sunday, he will get his 222nd, which will be a new NFL record for regular season wins by a player.
Touchdown Connections (Regular Season)
Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have connected for 78 regular season touchdowns over he years. One more will tie them with Dan Marino and Mark Clayton (79) for fourth-most in regular season NFL history.
Regular Season Receiving Yards by a Tight End
With his 48-yard day against the Broncos, Gronkowski passed Jimmy Graham for fifth-most regular season receiving yards by a tight end in NFL history. He now has 7,920.
Receiving Yards by a Tight End (Including Postseason)
Including the postseason, Gronkowski has 9,083 receiving yards. He needs 17 more to pass Greg Olsen (9,099) for fourth-most in league history.
Receiving Touchdowns (Including Postseason)
Gronkowski has 91 career touchdown catches (including the playoffs), which ties him with Reggie Wayne for 14th all-time. One more will give him sole possession of 14th.
Receptions by a Tight End (Including Postseason)
With his six catches against Denver, Gronkowski brought his regular season total to 610. That ties him with Vernon Davis for seventh-most in NFL history.