The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t just beat the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8 - they won 16-0 without completing a pass, one of the strangest victories the NFL has seen in a long time.
That kind of box score would normally set off alarms about Baker Mayfield and the passing game. But ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler framed it as something bigger for Tampa Bay’s offense: a turning point for offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and the way the Buccaneers want to play.
“Yeah, zoom in. This game was a watershed moment for OC Zac Robinson, who was under some heat.
The Bucs struggled with their identity for the first five or six weeks of the season. I'm told a few weeks ago, Todd Bowles and Zach Robinson huddled up and said, how do we fix this?
And how do we lean into the running game?” Fowler said.
Fowler said the answer has been clear over the last two weeks, when the Buccaneers have leaned hard into the ground game and gotten results.
After the Bucs’ uneven offensive start, HC Todd Bowles and OC Zac Robinson huddled up to plot a new course. The result: A run-first blitz over the last two weeks. pic.twitter.com/TtWxRGoWRW
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) November 2, 2026
“The last two weeks, they have been lights out running the ball. They feel like that's their identity with a really good athletic offensive line.
Bucky Irving, Kenny Gainwell, ride the hot hand there. And that's what they're doing.
I think if they didn't adjust and change, there'd be some smoke on Robinson right now, but they have smoothed it out. And now this is a team that I thought two weeks ago was going to be a seller at the trade deadline.
If they had fallen to 1-6, now they're right in the thick of it in a week NFC South.”
Mayfield finished with zero passing yards, but Tampa Bay still controlled the game on the ground. Irving and Gainwell helped power a 324-yard rushing performance in the win.
It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t conventional. But in the NFC South, the Buccaneers will take it.
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Veas recent extension makes any move feel unlikely, and the Buccaneers are not planning to deal him right now. But his recent dip in performance has added a layer of intrigue to a decision that could move quickly if the next stretch of games changes the teams outlook, leaving Tampa Bay to balance present contention against the kind of long-term roster call that can reshape a defense. [Read more 🡒]