Top Five Passing Performances in Tampa Bay Buccaneers History

1. Baker Mayfield, at Green Bay, Dec. 17, 2023

There have been three instances of a Tampa Bay passer recording a perfect 158.3 passer rating in a game in which he has thrown at least 10 passes, and all three are represented in this top five. Mayfield gets the top spot because of the added level of difficulty: the 2023 Packers were a prime NFC contender and Lambeau Field in December can be quite a challenge (this game was 36-degree wind chill and wins of 10 miles per hour at kickoff). In fact, Mayfield was the first and remains the only visiting passer ever to record a perfect passer rating at Lambeau Field.

Mayfield was nearly flawless, completing 22 of 28 passes for 381 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He had a completion percentage of 78.6% and picked up 13.6 yards per attempt despite getting sacked five times. In the process, he became just the third player in league history to have a 158.3 passer rating in a road game in which he threw for at least 375 yards and four touchdowns. The other two were Nick Foles in 2013 and Ken O’Brien in 1986. A rare performance indeed!

2. Brad Johnson, vs. Minnesota, Nov. 3, 2002

This performance jumps ahead of the other two “perfect games” on the list because of the five touchdowns and zero interceptions. Johnson only missed that 158.3 mark because his yards per attempt weren’t quite high enough to get the top score (he would have needed 75 more yards to get there), but this was still a hyper-efficient outing. This was the first time in franchise history that a quarterback had thrown five touchdown passes and no interceptions in a single game.

It also doesn’t hurt that this came right in the middle of the season in which the Bucs would eventually chase down a first-round bye and a path to their first Super Bowl championship. It also happened against the team that drafted Johnson in the ninth round in 1992 and gave him 23 starts over five seasons. He completed 24 of his 31 passes and had three touchdowns and a comfortable lead by halftime.

3. Tom Brady, at Detroit, Dec. 26, 2020

Despite the perfect passer rating, this one doesn’t stand at the very top of the list due to contextual reasons. The 2020 Lions were not a good team and they lost six of their last seven while dealing with a long list of injuries and COVID-related absences. The Lions were even without some of their coaches in…