Bucs Record Watch 2026: Week 1 at Bengals

This is the ninth season that Bucs Record Watch has existed in some form or fashion, yet it feels a lot different as Tampa Bay opens up its 2026 season Sunday afternoon against the Bengals in Cincinnati.

For the first eight years of this weekly feature (the first four of which were at a different website and the last four of which have been here at Pewter Report), it was Lavonte David and Mike Evans who were the focal points week in and week out. With every passing game, David was reaching a new milestone that only a select few linebackers in the history of the NFL had reached or Evans was bagging another Buccaneer record and climbing up the all-time ranks among wide receivers in league history.

This offseason, though, David retired after a legendary 14-year career with the Bucs. And just a couple of weeks before that, Evans decided to leave Tampa Bay in free agency and sign with San Francisco, bringing an end to his historic 12-year career in red, white and pewter. Of course, losing David and Evans in one offseason was a tough blow to the Buccaneer fan base and there are more significant ways in which they’ll be missed in Tampa throughout football season, but moving forward with weekly installments of Bucs Record Watch throughout 2026 without the two Buccaneer icons will take some getting used to.

Anyway, lucky for this weekly feature and even luckier for the Bucs organization, there have been plenty of success stories over the years who have made sure that tracking records and milestones each and every week wasn’t only about David and Evans. Tampa Bay has plenty of players on both sides of the ball who have some history to make in 2026, and there could even be some history made come Sunday when the team squares off with the Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

Tampa Bay will be looking to get out to a 1-0 start for the sixth consecutive season ahead of its return to Raymond James Stadium in Week 2 for the 2026 home opener. Meanwhile, Cincinnati will be looking to avoid a losing start at home, especially with a trip to Houston looming in Week 2.

Now, let’s see where things stand for some of the Buccaneers who are chasing history in Week 1 and throughout the rest of the 2026 season.

Bucs Record Watch: Week 1 at Bengals

Baker Mayfield

Mayfield’s new three-year, $165 million contract extension gives him plenty more time to cement himself atop every quarterback category in the franchise’s record book. He’s already close to some major milestones. Two passing touchdowns against the Bengals would tie him with Tom Brady (31) for the second-most games in team history with multiple passing touchdowns.

Those two touchdown passes would also break a tie with Lamar Jackson (five) for the most games against the Bengals with multiple passing touchdowns among all active quarterbacks.

With three touchdown passes, Mayfield will hit 200 regular season touchdown passes in his career. He would become just the 16th quarterback in NFL history to reach that mark in 125 games or fewer.

Mayfield enters the 2026 season 14 passing touchdowns away from passing Tom Brady (108) for the second-most in Bucs history.

A 250-yard passing game on Sunday would move Mayfield ahead of Josh Freeman (23) for the third-most 250-yard passing games in team history. Meanwhile, a 300-yard game would tie him with Vinny Testaverde (12) for the third-most 300-yard passing games of any Buccaneer quarterback.

Mayfield is 312 passing yards away from passing Doug Williams (12,648) for the sixth-most in franchise history.

If Mayfield has a passer rating of 90.0 or higher on Sunday, he’ll tie Jameis Winston (34) for the most such games in team history.

With four more completions, Mayfield will pass Trent Dilfer (1,117) for the fifth-most in Buccaneer history, while 13 more will move him ahead of Vinny Testaverde (1,126) for the fourth-most. With 31 more, he’ll pass Josh Freeman (1,144) for the third-most.

And finally, Mayfield is one win away from tying Jameis Winston (28) for the fourth-most wins by a starting quarterback in Bucs history.

Chris Godwin Jr.

Godwin needs four more touchdowns to pass James Wilder (46) for the third-most touchdowns from scrimmage in franchise history.

Godwin can soon pass Wilder (276) for the 10th-most points scored in team history, too. He’s only nine points away.

Sunday marks Godwin’s 121st game as a Buc, tying him with Lee Roy Selmon, Jimmie Giles and Chidi Ahanotu for the 21st-most in franchise history.

Cade Otton

Otton is one receiving touchdown away from breaking a tie with Calvin Magee and Alex Smith (11) for the seventh-most by a tight end in team history and pulling into a tie for the sixth-most.

Otton is also three receptions away from having the fourth-most by a tight end in Bucs history.

Vita Vea

Fresh off a new contract extension of his own, Vea enters 2026 needing only 4.5 sacks to pass David Logan (39.0) for the seventh-most in team history.

Sunday will be Vea’s 113th game with Tampa Bay, tying him with Mark Cotney and James Wilder for the 28th-most in franchise history.

Anthony Nelson

Believe it or not, Nelson will be playing his 108th game as a Buc this Sunday, tying him with Andrew Economos for the 36th-most in team history.

Antoine Winfield Jr.

Winfield enters the 2026 season needing 10.5 sacks to pass Ronde Barber (28.0) for the most by a defensive back in Bucs history and the second-most by any defensive back in NFL history.

With one more forced fumble, Winfield will tie David Logan and Broderick Thomas (13) for the ninth-most in franchise history.

Another fumble recovery will move Winfield ahead of Lee Roy Selmon (10) for the fourth-most ever by a Buccaneer defender and tie him with Cecil Johnson and John Cannon (11) for the third-most.

Winfield needs one interception to reach 10 in his career. That would make him the 16th defensive back in NFL history (at least since sacks became an official stat in 1982) to record 500+ tackles, 15+ sacks and 10+ interceptions. He would join Bill Bates, Dave Duerson, Rodney Harrison, Derwin James Jr. and Adrian Wilson as the only defensive backs to do so in their first seven seasons.

Winfield is also four passes defensed away from passing Brent Grimes (41) for the 10th-most in franchise history.

Chase McLaughlin

McLaughlin is only four field goals away from passing Donald Igwebuike (94) for the fifth-most in Buccaneer history.

McLaughlin also only needs 25 more points to pass Igwebuike (416) for the seventh-most in team history.

Todd Bowles

Bowles needs one more win to pass his predecessor, Bruce Arians (36), for the fourth-most wins as Tampa Bay’s head coach (regular season + playoffs).

A win Sunday against the Bengals would also move Bowles to 5-0 in Week 1 games as the Bucs’ head coach. He would become one of just four head coaches since 2000 to win their first five Week 1 games with a single team, joining Nick Sirianni (2021-2025), Sean McVay (2017-2021) and John Harbaugh (2008-2012). As it stands, he’s one of seven coaches to win his first four Week 1 games with a single team along with those three coaches, Doug Pederson (2016-2019), Jim Harbaugh (2011-2014) and Mike Tomlin (2007-2010).

Jason Licht

The Bucs’ next win will be Licht’s 100th as the team’s general manager (including playoffs). He would become the first general manager in franchise history to reach the 100-win mark.