The Bucs head into their 2026 home opener on Sunday afternoon with a lot more on the line than just getting back in the win column. After last week’s 33-27 loss to the Bengals ended their five-year run of season-opening wins, Tampa Bay returns to Raymond James Stadium to face the Browns in a game the Bucs can’t really afford to drop at 0-1.
Cleveland is 0-1 as well, and Tampa Bay’s bigger picture is already getting crowded. The Bucs haven’t lost a Week 2 game since 2016, and they haven’t opened a season 0-2 since 2014. Keeping those streaks alive matters even more with the Vikings, Packers and a Thursday night trip to Dallas still ahead.
There’s also plenty of record-chasing baked into this matchup, starting with Baker Mayfield. Against his former team, Mayfield can add another layer to a strong early-season ledger.
Two passing touchdowns would tie Tom Brady for the second-most games with multiple touchdown passes in franchise history. Three touchdown passes would push Mayfield to 200 for his career, making him the 16th quarterback in NFL history to reach that number in 125 games or fewer.
A win would also pull Mayfield even with Jameis Winston for the fourth-most wins by a starting quarterback in Bucs history. He’s 196 passing yards away from passing Doug Williams for sixth on the franchise list, and 250 yards would move him past Josh Freeman for the third-most 250-yard passing games in team history.
If he gets to 300 yards, he’d tie Vinny Testaverde for the third-most 300-yard outings by a Buccaneers quarterback. Eight completions would move him past Freeman for third in team history, and a passer rating of 90.0 or better would tie Winston for the most such games by a Bucs quarterback.
Chris Godwin Jr. has his own milestones within reach. He’s four touchdowns shy of passing James Wilder for third-most touchdowns from scrimmage in franchise history, and nine points away from moving ahead of Wilder for 10th on the team’s all-time scoring list. Sunday will also be Godwin’s 122nd game with Tampa Bay, tying him with John Cannon for 20th in franchise history.
At tight end, Cade Otton is one receiving touchdown away from moving past Calvin Magee and Alex Smith for seventh-most by a Bucs tight end, while also tying for sixth in the process. Nine more catches would give him the third-most receptions by a tight end in Buccaneer history.
The defensive side has its own chase board, too. Vita Vea is 4.5 sacks away from passing David Logan for seventh-most in team history, and Sunday will be his 114th game with the Bucs, tying him with Scot Brantley for 27th all-time. Anthony Nelson will hit 109 games with the team, tying George Yarno for 35th in franchise history.
Josiah Trotter’s start has already been historic, and Week 2 could add another line to it. A sack would make him only the second Buccaneer, alongside Santana Dotson in 1992, to record a sack in each of his first two career games.
An interception would make him the first player in team history to pick off passes in back-to-back games to open a career. If he somehow logs both a sack and an interception again, he’d become the first player in NFL history to do that in two straight games to begin a career, since sacks became an official stat in 1982.
Trotter also has a shot at stacking more tackles onto a debut that already made history: with 12 tackles, he’d move past Derrick Brooks for the fifth-most by a Buccaneer through two games of a season, with 14 he’d pass Barrett Ruud for fourth, with 15 he’d jump Kwon Alexander for third, and with 17 he’d pass Brooks and Devin White for the most through two games in franchise history.
Zyon McCollum is three passes defensed away from moving past Simeon Rice for 12th in team history. That would also tie him with Antoine Winfield Jr., who enters the week with 38 career passes defensed.
Winfield has a long list of marks within reach as well. He’s 10.5 sacks away from passing Ronde Barber for the most by a defensive back in Bucs history and the second-most by any defensive back in NFL history.
One more forced fumble would tie him with David Logan and Broderick Thomas for ninth in team history. Another fumble recovery would move him past Lee Roy Selmon for fourth all-time among Tampa Bay defenders and into a tie with Cecil Johnson and John Cannon for third.
He needs one interception to get to 10 for his career, a number that would put him in a select group of defensive backs with 500-plus tackles, 15-plus sacks and 10-plus interceptions. It would also make him one of just a few defensive backs to hit those marks in their first seven seasons.
Winfield is also four passes defensed away from passing Brent Grimes for 10th in franchise history.
On special teams, Chase McLaughlin is two field goals from passing Donald Igwebuike for fifth in Bucs history, and 16 points from passing him for seventh on the franchise scoring list.
Todd Bowles and Jason Licht have milestones waiting, too. Bowles is one win away from passing Bruce Arians for fourth-most wins all-time among Bucs head coaches, counting the regular season and playoffs. If Tampa Bay beats Cleveland, it would be Licht’s 100th victory as the team’s general manager, including the playoffs, making him the first GM in franchise history to reach that mark.
In Other News...
Warren Sapp Lands In An Awkward Off-Field Tampa Scene
Warren Sapps latest appearance in Tampa had nothing to do with football, but it still turned into the kind of scene that gets attention around town. The Hall of Fame defensive tackle was at City Hall during a City Council meeting focused on a flood-prevention project, and what should have been a routine civic stop instead became a disruption that drew in council chairman Alan Clendenin and Tampa Police.
Council members requested that Sapp be trespassed for the day, while Sapp said he was only there to pick up paperwork and questioned whether anyone had the authority to remove him from a public building. For a city that knows Sapp well from his Buccaneers days, it was an awkward off-field episode that put his name back into the local conversation for reasons nobody at City Hall likely wanted. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Rookie WR Suddenly Has A Week 2 Opportunity Fans Will Notice
Ted Hurst III made a solid first impression in Week 1, catching all three of his targets for 36 yards in his debut for Tampa Bay. The rookie wide receiver also earned a nod from general manager Jason Licht, who pointed to Hursts steady work in practice and suggested he will have a role as the season moves along.
Now Hurst is in line for another chance to show it when the Buccaneers face the Cleveland Browns in Week 2. For a young receiver trying to carve out snaps early, that kind of opportunity matters, especially when the team has already seen enough in practice and in the opener to keep him in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
Chris Godwin Just Became Even More Important To Buccaneers Offense
Chris Godwin has been in Tampa Bay long enough to be more than just a reliable target, and his role keeps expanding as the Buccaneers lean on his experience. In his 10th season with the team, he was flawless on all four passes thrown his way in Week 1 against Cincinnati, turning those catches into 40 receiving yards while reinforcing why he remains one of the steadier pieces in the offense.
Todd Bowles had already pointed to Godwins mental sharpness, toughness and leadership during training camp, and that value only grows with the Buccaneers current setup. With Mike Evans gone, Godwin has stepped further into a leadership role and is looking to help guide the younger players around him, making him even more important to an offense that needs dependable voices as much as dependable production. [Read more 🡒]