Buccaneers @ Seahawks
Final Score: Buccaneers 38, Seahawks 35
Writer: Geoff Ulrich (@thefantasygrind on X/Twitter)
This was the game of the year, or at least tied for the game of the year with GB-DAL. In terms of QB play, this was the best we have seen outside of the Week 1 Allen-Jackson duel. I don’t say that lightly either. Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold absolutely went at each other like a couple of old boxing rivals. While the Buccaneers came in gashed on defense (and it showed), they also had more talent on offense, which allowed them to stay in it and ultimately get a play in their favor at the end on a tipped Darnold pass to kick the winning FG.
There were a lot of big fantasy days from the stars in this game, but also a few new names to take note of, and we’ll break it all down below.
Three Up
- Emeka Egbuka — You can start inscribing his name on OROY. Just unbelievably good in this game.
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba — His usual amazing self. Held Seattle in it till the bitter end.
- AJ Barner — Second on the team in receptions and targets, and 2 TDs.
Three Down
- Elijah Arroyo — One catch in a shootout, looks like a 2026 story.
- Chris Godwin — Only four targets, looks rusty, which is to be expected.
- Sean Tucker — Got vastly outproduced by Rachaad White in the Bucky-less backfield.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Quarterback
Baker Mayfield: 29/33, 389 yards, 2TD | 5 carry, 15 yards
Just a superb game by Baker Mayfield this week. The Seattle defense has a really tough D-Line and some good playmakers in the secondary, and he had them off balance all game. Posting an 11.5 yards per attempt average with an 87% completion rate is insane on its own, but doing it against a defense like Seattle is next level.
It’s hard to break down Mayfield’s best throws or plays because every play felt like a mini highlight reel. On the 50+ yard bomb to Egbuka, he showed great movement in the pocket and downfield awareness (plus put up a fantastic deep ball). His best passes may have been to Tez Johnson over the middle, who caught a couple of rockets from Mayfield, who kept rewarding the rookie with targets as he was getting open constantly. The best QB performance of the season, in my opinion, bar none.
Running Back
Rachaad White: 14 carries, 41 yards, 2 TDs | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 30 yards
Rachaad White didn’t dazzle with efficiency stats, but had a very good game. Seattle is likely a top 3 rush defense, and White was still able to break off a few chunk plays and give Mayfield some breathing room, so he wasn’t facing 3rd and long every series. His run at the end of the game showed some great vision as he was able to cut it outside and beat his defender before going down to seal the game-winning FG attempt. White also converted all four of his targets from Mayfield and was able to get some easy yardage on those, thanks to his good open-field vision. If you had any worries about who the backup RB to Bucky Irving was, you don’t need to have those anymore. White’s good enough to start for most teams in the NFL and is an elite receiving back who can always get you 3-5 catches in a starting role. If Irving ever misses another game, start him without thinking twice. He’s a high-end RB2 if Irving misses next week.
Sean Tucker: 3 carries, 3 yards | 3 target, 3 receptions, -3 yards
Sean Tucker didn’t do anything poorly; he just didn’t have much luck on any of his touches as the tough Seattle defense seemed to key in on him whenever he was on the field. They almost seemed to be more afraid of him than White. He’s good enough to be a starter but is playing behind two superior RBs.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Chris Godwin: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 26 Yards
The Buccaneers really kept Chris Godwin‘s routes simple in this game, almost like they wanted to dial back his workload a bit. It made sense given that his first game didn’t go very well. Most of his passes were short over the middle targets or near the line of scrimmage. He doesn’t look terrible, just a little rusty, but he is coming off his second major leg injury, so he’s likely lost some of his burst permanently. For my money, Tez Johnson looked better, but Godwin’s size does give him a huge advantage from the slot, and I expect the Bucs will give him every chance to get back to full health. Not someone I’d be looking to start until I saw better usage and performances from him.
Emeka Egbuka: 7 Targets, 7 Receptions, 163 Yards, TD
The Buccaneers may have their own version of JSN loading in Emeka Egbuka. He’s not quite at JSN’s level of route running yet, but he’s close and, more importantly, he’s attached to a more aggressive QB who throws one of the best deep balls in the league. Egbuka got free downfield on several occasions in this game, but the most important play was the 57-yard completion where he beat his defender cleanly and then was able to adjust his body in front of the goal line and come down with the big grab, which set up another TD. Phenomenal talent, and if anyone was afraid of Chris Godwin taking away too many targets from Egbuka, you can forget that for now. Maybe Godwin gets more work later in the year once he’s fully up to speed, but this is Egbuka’s passing game, and he’ll dominate the downfield work until Evans gets back.
Cade Otton: 4 Targets, 4 Receptions, 27 Yards
Cade Otton finally showed up with a decent game. The Seahawks don’t defend the TE position well, and Godwin was coming off a poor game, so I wasn’t shocked to see Otton get more work this week, and he came down with a few big catches in the middle of the field. He’s a solid receiver who had injury issues in training camp and started slow, but looked much more explosive in this game and shared secondary targets with Godwin and Tez Johnson. When Evans comes back, Otton gets downgraded again, but for now, he’s likely playable week-to-week given how injured and porous the TB defense is right now.
Tez Johnson: 4 Targets, 4 Receptions, 59 Yards
Tez Johnson was the biggest surprise of the game for me. Multiple times, he had the ball in space and looked like he was on fast forward. Has great quick-twitch moves and got himself open quickly multiple times over the middle for big gains. Baker throwing to him multiple times in big spots in a huge game is a great sign that this breakout is somewhat for real. If he continues to earn a larger target share, he’ll cut more into Godwin’s work than Egbuka’s, as Tez is very much suited for slot-work. Expect Johnson to remain a part of this offense even when Mike Evans gets back. He’s a unique talent and gives them another explosive weapon to use on screens.
Seattle Seahawks
Quarterback
Sam Darnold: 28/34, 341 Yards, 4 TD, INT
Darnold was magnificent in this game from the start. The Buccaneers were short-handed in the secondary, and he immediately took them apart through the air, hitting names like Cooper Kupp and AJ Barner as they doubled Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Once coverage on him loosened up, he just started hitting JSN over and over, including once in the end zone before halftime on an 11-yard play where the defense couldn’t be as aggressive, given the smaller field.
Darnold did benefit from some broken coverage in this game, and it’s something to take note of because the coverage was really bad. Barner’s first TD was a blown coverage where he had time to sit and let the play develop, and eventually hit him in the back of the end zone. On Barner’s second TD, he was also wide open and then just broke through a poor tackle attempt. I’m not saying Darnold got lucky; he didn’t, but he was working against some of the poorest coverage I’ve watched all season.
Darnold’s best play was the last TD to Tory Horton, where he stood in the pocket, nearly got sacked, and then found Horton wide open (another blown coverage on 4th and 2). It was a great game, and going forward, Darnold should be a weekly consideration against poor defenses, although the bigger story is that any decent QB facing the Bucs is likely going to have a big day.
Running Back
Kenneth Walker III: 10 Carries, 86 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 1 Yard
The Seattle RBs did get overshadowed in this game as Darnold did most of the scoring. Kenneth Walker III did make some great plays, however, and had two big runs vs a tough Bucs front that is generally hard to run on. He looks very fast right now and was able to get the corner on both plays and turn what looked like shorter gains into big ones.
He continues to get taken out for Zach Charbonnet inside the 10-yard line, which is a problem; however, he is a legit homerun threat and will likely have a couple more 100+ yard days with a touchdown before the end of the season. But don’t expect him to get many of those short-yardage TDs.
Zach Charbonnet: 9 Carries, 36 Yards, TD | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 12 Yards
Once again, the Seahawks turned to Charbonnet for short runs and inside-the-tackle stuff. He’s not being given a chance out in the open field much, but did finally convert one reception in this game and had a nice 12-yard gain.
His value once again came inside the red zone, where he came in for Walker inside the 10-yard line and had a great tough 5-yard run for his lone TD of the day. Charbonnet is a good back, but week-to-week for fantasy, he’s a TD-dependent play unless Walker is out. He played good here vs a tough Bucs front, but won’t get those open space, mid-field opportunities if Walker is healthy.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 9 Targets, 8 Receptions, 132 Yards, TD
This is just becoming a weekly thing for JSN in the write-ups. He doesn’t even look stressed, or like he’s working hard on half of his catches, yet somehow when all is said and done, you look up and he has 8 catches and 100+ yards every week. The TD in this game was nice as well, as it came after a couple of drives where the Buccaneers were clearly trying to get physical with JSN, and it was forcing Darnold to look elsewhere. But once they got near the goal line, the Bucs had to let up a bit, and JSN just beat his man clean on a little slant and got open easily.
This was a bad coverage unit he faced, but they were clearly trying to do whatever they could to stop JSN; they just had no answer. Unless he’s facing a top-five corner, you have almost no concerns with him the rest of the year. One of the most valuable WRs in PPR leagues at the moment.
Cooper Kupp: 9 Targets, 5 Receptions, 69 Yards
Seattle would be an even better offense if they had the Kupp from a couple of years ago, because the current version doesn’t offer them much after the catch at all. I’m not saying Kupp didn’t play well; he’s just lost his burst and has trouble separating and getting away from defenders after the catch.
On one play in the 4th quarter, Kupp looked like he was about to go for an extra 10-15 yards, but the defender was able to dive and stop him after he had turned upfield. The old Kupp probably turns that play into a 25-yard catch. Still, Darnold is so accurate that in these sorts of games, Kupp will show up with a decent PPR day, which is what he did here. Not the worst FLEX option for PPR leagues, but his upside is limited.
Tory Horton: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 39 Yards, TD
Horton was pretty close to a two-TD game, but a defender broke up a pass in the end zone at the last second. He didn’t have any big plays, but he was getting good separation on many of his targets and had a key TD reception late, where he was able to get lost in the coverage and essentially walk into the end zone untouched.
I’d rather have him over Kupp at this point just for the simple reason that he seems to be progressing every week and has a better chance of becoming the clear-cut number two at some point.
Elijah Arroyo: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 10 Yards
Lost some ground here. The fact that the Seahawks wanted Barner on the field so much in a big game is a little telling. He looks good, but I don’t see him clipping Barner right now, who is the better all-around TE and turning into a receiving threat.
AJ Barner: 7 Targets, 7 Receptions, 57 Yards, 2 TDs
Barner didn’t necessarily do anything great in this game, but he’s got a good connection with Darnold, and the Seahawks trust him more and value his run blocking. On a couple of plays with Darnold working through his progressions, Barner was able to break free and get to an open spot, which allowed Darnold to find him for easy catches and two TDs.
Part of why Barner is excelling is because of how well Darnold is playing and how quickly he goes through his progressions and releases the ball. He’ll continue to be a weekly thing for fantasy simply due to the lack of receiving depth, and should likely be owned in most leagues right now. A nice streaming option vs weaker pass defenses.