TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off to another strong start, though coach Todd Bowles understandably is playing down the significance of being 2-0 for a fourth straight season.
Despite going on to win the NFC South each of the past three years, the Bucs had to overcame midseason struggles and inconsistency — especially under Bowles in 2022 and 2023 — to finish on top of a division where they're expected to be challenged again by the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.
“It's a new season, still have a lot of games left,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said after Sunday's 20-16 road win over the Detroit Lions, who defeated Tampa Bay twice last season, including in the divisional round of the playoffs.
“It was a big win," Bowles echoed. "But it's 2-0. ... We won the first two games last year and you see what happened after that.”
Two years ago — with Tom Brady in the final season of his career, and Bowles beginning his stint as coach — the Bucs rallied to win the division with a losing record (8-9). They dropped six of seven following a 3-1 start in 2023, then went 5-1 down the stretch to repeat as division champs and make the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Sunday's confidence-bolstering win at Detroit, which came within one victory of reaching the Super Bowl last season, served notice that the Mayfield-led Bucs have a chance to better this year.
“There's a lot of stuff that we can fix,” Mayfield said after Tampa Bay was outgained 463 yards to 216 and converted just two of 10 third downs against the Lions, who turned ball over twice and only scored one touchdown on seven trips inside the red zone.
“But for us, building chemistry and building this resiliency and the culture that we want, this is a huge win,” Mayfield added, “so we have to continue to build on that.”
The offense wasn't nearly as efficient against Detroit as it was the previous week in a 17-point victory over Washington, but receiver Chris Godwin continues to thrive as he gets acclimated to the system installed by first-year offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
Godwin had seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown — all in the first half — against the Lions. Through two games, the eighth-year pro has 15 receptions for 200 yards. With two TDs receiving, he's already matched his total from last season.
The offensive line had problems protecting Mayfield, allowing five sacks while playing without starting RT Luke Goedeke (concussion). The number would have been higher if not for the quarterback's mobility and knack for escaping pressure.
CB Zyon McCollum, who cleared the concussion protocol in time to be cleared to play against Lions, intercepted Jared Goff on the first offensive play of the game. S Christian Izien, who came off the bench in Week 1 to play cornerback after the Bucs lost three players to injury at the position, started Sunday and had an interception while filling in for injured All-Pro S Antoine Winfield Jr. (foot).
After showing signs of life with 112 yards rushing the previous week against Washington, the running game looked a lot like the listless ground attack that ranked last in the NFL each of the past two seasons. Detroit limited the Bucs to 70 yards on 23 attempts. Mayfield led the way with 34 yards on five carries, including an 11-yard TD run that put Tampa Bay ahead for good.
There was encouraging news Monday on DT Vita Vea (knee), who left Sunday's game in the second half and did not return.
“He's got an MCL sprain, grade 2,” Bowles said. “Right now, he's day to day but not ruled out” for Sunday's game against visiting Denver.
1 — The number of red-zone touchdowns allowed by the Bucs' defense despite the Lions making seven trips inside the Tampa Bay 20. Opponents have had six or more red-zone possessions in a game against Tampa Bay 15 times since 2000. Sunday was the only time in that stretch the defense yielded one or fewer TDs.
The Bucs host the Broncos and rookie quarterback Bo Nix on Sunday. They also faced a rookie QB in Week 1, defeating No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Daniels and Washington. Since Bowles arrived in Tampa Bay as defensive coordinator in 2019, the Bucs are 11-5 against rookie QBs.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield scrambles for a 11-yard touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles speaks to the media after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Twisted equipment and snapped tree limbs still litter Chris Hopkins’ Georgia farm more than two months after Hurricane Helene made its deadly march across the South.
An irrigation sprinkler system about 300 feet (92 meters) long lay overturned in a field, its steel pipes bent and welded joints broken. The mangled remains of a grain bin sat crumpled by a road. On a Friday in early December, Hopkins dragged burly limbs from the path of the tractor-like machine that picks his cotton crop six rows at a time.
“I have wrestled with lots of emotions the past two months,” said Hopkins, who also grows corn and peanuts in rural Toombs County, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Savannah. “Do we just get through this one and quit? Do we build back? It is emotionally draining.”
Hopkins is among farmers across the South who are still reeling from Helene’s devastation. The storm made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26 as a major Category 4 storm and then raced north across Georgia and neighboring states.
Experts estimate the cost to farmers, timber growers and other agribusinesses from Florida to Virginia will reach more than $10 billion. The toll includes ravaged crops, uprooted timber, wrecked farm equipment and mangled chicken houses, as well as indirect costs such as lost productivity at cotton gins and poultry processing plants.
For cotton growers like Hopkins, Helene hit just as the fall harvest was starting. Many put most cleanup on hold to try to salvage what remained of their crops.
Georgia farmers suffered storm losses of at least $5.5 billion, according to an analysis by the University of Georgia. In North Carolina, a state agency calculated farmers suffered $3.1 billion in crop losses and recovery costs after Helene brought record rainfall and flooding. Separate economic analyses of farm damage tallied losses of up to $630 million in Virginia, $452 million in South Carolina and $162 million in Florida.
Hopkins figures he lost half the cotton on his 1,400 acres (560 hectares).
“We were at the most vulnerable stage we could be,” he said. “The lint was open and fluffy and hanging there, waiting to be defoliated or picked. About 50% of the harvestable lint ended up on the ground.”
Even with insurance, Hopkins said, he won't recoup an estimated $430,000 in losses from his cotton crop alone. That doesn't include the cost of debris removal, repairing or replacing damaged machinery and the loss of two small pecan orchards uprooted by the storm.
The storm ripped through blooming cotton fields, pecan orchards laden with nuts and fields where fall vegetables like cucumbers and squash awaited picking. Hundreds of large poultry houses used to raise thousands of chickens at a time got destroyed.
Farmers far from Helene's center weren't spared, as tropical-storm force winds reached outward up to 310 miles (499 kilometers).
“It was staggering,” said Timothy Coolong, a University of Georgia horticulture professor. “This may be just too much for some folks."
Helene was one of the deadliest U.S. hurricanes in nearly two decades, killing more than 200 people. It left more than 100,000 homes damaged or destroyed across the South.
Georgia's government in November diverted $100 million that had been set aside for construction projects or paying off existing debt to fund emergency loans to farmers and cleanup in Helene's aftermath. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has made additional storm relief a priority for the upcoming legislative session.
But Georgia's constitution prohibits using state funds to give direct disaster aid to individuals and private businesses.
In Congress, a spending bill passed early Saturday to avoid a government shutdown included $21 billion in disaster aid to U.S. farmers.
“We need help, but we need it quick," said Jeffrey Pridgen, a fifth-generation farmer who raises chickens in south Georgia’s Coffee County.
Pridgen operated a dozen poultry houses, each large enough to raise up to 20,000 chickens at a time. Helene destroyed four of them, along with thousands of chickens. Only one of Pridgen's houses remains in working condition, the others having been badly damaged.
Pridgen said new chicken houses will cost about $450,000 apiece. Because most of his were decades old, he expects insurance to cover just half the cost.
“I was looking at retirement, but I lost my retirement and my income in one day,” said Pridgen, 62. "It’ll be two years before we get fully operational again. I’m basically starting over.”
Georgia’s poultry industry took an estimated $683 million hit, with farmers having to rebuild about 300 chicken houses and repair hundreds more.
The poultry processing plant that relies on Pridgen and other storm-impacted farmers for chickens is now operating just four days per week, he said.
“Now for at least a year, perhaps a little bit longer, we’re in rebuilding mode," said Mike Giles, president of the Georgia Poultry Federation. "That affects production in an area for an extended period of time.”
Helene's devastation shouldn't have much impact on consumer prices because crops grown elsewhere can make up for most shortages, said Michael Adjemian, a University of Georgia professor of agricultural economics. Pecans are one possible exception. Georgia is responsible for roughly one-third of U.S. production.
“In most cases, even a terrible storm like this is going to have a relatively small impact,” Adjemian said. "And maybe it's not even noticeable, depending on the product.”
Helene cost Georgia cotton farmers roughly one-third of their crop, with direct and indirect losses valued at $560 million. Some were still recovering from Hurricane Michael in 2018.
Cotton growers also were facing low prices this harvest season of around 70 cents per pound (per 0.45 kilograms), said Taylor Sills, executive director of the Georgia Cotton Commission. That meant they needed a big yield to turn any profit.
“Times were awful, and then they got hit by a hurricane,” Sills said. "There are people who lost everything and there are people who didn’t. But everybody lost something."
Farmer Chris Hopkins observes cotton bolls before being harvested in a field he owns, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A cotton picker moves through Chris Hopkins' cotton field, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The cotton picker produced a large round bale of picked cotton, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A cotton picker moves through Chris Hopkins' cotton field, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Farmer Chris Hopkins stands in one of his cotton fields before being harvested, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A cotton picker works in a field of cotton, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A cotton picker moves through Chris Hopkins' cotton field, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A cotton picker works in a field of cotton, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A cotton picker moves through Chris Hopkins' cotton field as a round bale sits, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A cotton picker works in a field of cotton, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, near Lyons, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
