Monday, 4 a.m.
They staggered. At times, they stumbled. There were times when they looked stale.
Alas, the Tampa Bay Bucs somehow won.
And isn't that the point?
The Bucs held on to beat the Atlanta Falcons in their opener Sunday, 23-20. Tampa Bay survived a missed touchdown pass, a blown extra point, a wayward field goal and an anemic pass rush. Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yard field goal at the buzzer when overtime seemed inevitable.
So how did your Bucs’ checklist read?
Baker Mayfield. Mayfield threw for only 167 yards and missed a wide-open Cade Otton. On the other hand, he threw for three touchdowns and led the game-winning drive. It was the 11th fourth-quarter comeback of Mayfield's career, his 13th game-winning drive. That erases a lot of wobble.
Emeka Egbuke. No one should ever complain about the Bucs drafting Egbuka No. 1 again. He caught four passes, including touchdowns of 30 and 25 yards.
Chase McLaughlin. McLaughlin had a rare bad day, missing a field goal and an extra point. Winning won't last long if that doesn't improve.
Hassan Jones. Jones had a sack, but he didn't have a lot of effect on the game. A few more pressures would have been nice.
Bucky Irving. He had only 37 yards from scrimmage. He did catch a touchdown pass.
SirVocea Dennis. Mixed bag. He missed some tackles, but he was tied for second on the Bucs with 10.
Zyon McCollum. He also had 10 tackles. It would help if he could catch an interception.
Mike Evans. He had 51 yards on three catches. At that rate, he'd finish 133 yards short of 1,000.
The Bucs struggled on offense, partially because of a revamped offensive line. The sudden reshuffling seemed to affect the rhythm of the offense.
Falcons' quarterback Michael Penix threw for 298 yards and gave his team a 20-17 lead late with a four-yard touchdown scramble with 2:17 to play.
In his final drive, Mayfield hit four of five passes for 48 yards. He led his team downfield in 78 seconds, finding Egbuka for his third touchdown pass of the day. Suddenly, no one was worried about his off-target passes.
Mayfield had only 167 yards for the day, but was very good in the late going.
The Falcons managed just 69 yards rushing. Running back Bijan Robinson did had 100 yards receiving.
The Bucs travel to Houston to play the Texans on Monday night at 7 p.m.