It’s the most wonderful time of the year — it has been for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, anyway.
The team hasn’t lost in December yet, extending its winning streak to four after decimating the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-12. We usually do a studs and duds article highlighting both the good and bad players during a Bucs game, but the Bucs were in control of this one pretty much the whole way through and there weren’t really any duds to speak of. As such, we compiled five stars for the game, as there were a number of players who stuck out in Tampa Bay’s indomitable Christmas Eve performance.
Check out who we thought played particularly well in Sunday’s game below:
Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports
QB Baker Mayfield simply won’t stop baking. He completed 74% of his passes fore 283 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, helping the Bucs take a dominant lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars that was insurmountable. Mayfield is up for an extension at the end of the year, and if he keeps playing like this, that will come very easy as the Bucs draw closer to another NFC South title.
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Mike Evans wanted to get paid in the offseason, and now, he’s having one of the best years of his career. Evans is up to 13 touchdowns at the moment, nabbing two in this game and making a great high-point catch for the second score of the night. He remains Baker Mayfield’s favorite target, and he’s on pace to be one of the NFL’s elite wide receivers by the end of the season.
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The Bucs’ rookie pass rusher has improved mightily in the back half of the season, and he put in perhaps his best performance of the year on Sunday. Diaby had 1.5 sacks on Christmas Eve and also had a huge play to bring down Calvin Ridley for a 10-yard loss early in the game, and his effort has allowed him to now lead the team in sacks. If he keeps developing, Diaby could be special in the coming years.
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Get live, 45.
Devin White has been the subject of much controversy since being inactive against the Green Bay Packers, but he made up for all that and more on Sunday. He had an interception and half a sack (and honestly should have had one more, save for an awful roughing the passer call). Props where props are due — he was all over the field and was a major defensive contributor on Christmas Eve.
Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports
We’d call Antoine Winfield Jr. the man of the hour, but he does this every week — we think he’s just like that.
Winfield Jr. recorded an interception, a sack and a fumble recovery on Sunday, once again proving he’s a defensive weapon in any respect. It’s a year where there’s a ton of great safety play, but Winfield Jr. is putting together an All-Pro campaign and he somehow managed to have another one of his best games against the Jaguars on Sunday. When “Takeaway Tweeze” is on, expect the Bucs to win.
