Tampa Bay Buccaneers shut out Atlanta 16-0 without completing a pass, first NFL win with zero completions since 1974
The defense knew what was coming and still gave up 324 rushing yards
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kenny Gainwell
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons 16-0 on Sunday without completing a pass, in an NFC South matchup played in heavy rain. Baker Mayfield threw three times, connected with nobody, and every Tampa Bay receiver finished the game with zero receiving yards. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it was the first NFL win without a completed pass in 52 years.
The last team to manage it was the Buffalo Bills, who beat the Jets 16-12 on 29 September 1974; since 1950, only two other games had featured a side with no completions at all — the Cleveland Browns against Philadelphia in 1950, and Washington against the New York Giants in 1960. The Bills needed 16-12 to do it; the Buccaneers allowed nothing at all. Tampa Bay ran for 324 yards, close to six a carry: Bucky Irving carried 27 times for 170 and the game's only touchdown, Kenny Gainwell added 25 carries for 140, and Mayfield himself took four carries for 14 — the starting quarterback as his team's third rusher. The remaining points were three Chase McLaughlin field goals, and no Tampa Bay point all afternoon involved the ball being caught.
Atlanta's defenders knew what was coming on nearly every snap; a team that has completed no passes has nothing else on the call sheet. Knowing made no difference. The rain turned the pass into a liability, and only one of the two teams treated it that way. The Falcons kept throwing regardless: Michael Penix Jr. completed eight of 24 passes for 125 yards, threw four interceptions and fumbled once. Elsewhere in Week 8, the league lost its last undefeated record when Detroit beat Minnesota.
The game's only completed passes came from the losing quarterback. Mayfield, who won it, finished with 14 yards on the ground and none through the air.