TAMPA — Baker Mayfield was left with a pair of receivers he couldn't tell apart even by the names on the back of their jerseys.
Rookie sensation Emeka Egbuka left the game with a hamstring injury, leaving the Bucs with almost no healthy targets left against the 49ers.
Until Sunday, sophomore wide receiver Cameron Johnson from tiny Division II Baron College had never hosted an NFL game.
Oregon's seventh-round pick Tez Johnson, who at 154 pounds is the league's lightest player, has never scored a touchdown.
But don't cry for the Buk's battered receiving corps. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and now Egbuka could all be out. But Johnson & Johnson didn't want to cry any more for Tampa Bay.
Cameron Johnson caught four passes for 64 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown, the first reception of his career. Not to be outdone, Tez Johnson's fingertips caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to put the Bucs within one. Victory over the 49ers 30-19..
Tez Johnson wasn't satisfied with the TD that gave the Bucs an eight-point lead in the third quarter. He also performed a backwards jumper in the end zone in celebration.
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The crowd at Raymond James Stadium began chanting “MVP!” MVP! MVP!
“I’ll tell you a funny story,” Tez Johnson said. “When I score and I hear MVP, I think about myself. I asked Shep (Sterling Shepard), 'Are they chanting for MVP?' He was like, 'Yeah.' I said, 'But I'm not doing anything this year.' He said, 'They're talking about Baker, Tez!' I thought, “Well, that explains it.” But he's the MVP. The one where he fell first and said he lost consciousness. But it's just Baker. The pump is deceiving everyone. Oh my God. He's a dog."
Mayfield passed for 256 yards and two touchdowns. But the reason for the chant is because of what happened two games before he gave up the game with a bomb to Tez Johnson.
Facing third-and-14 at the Tampa Bay 41-yard line, Mayfield dropped back to throw a pass and somehow evaded tackle attempts by linebackers Travis Gipson and Bryce Huff, then Pump faked his way forward before breaking a tackle from cornerbacks Upton Stout and Renardo Greene. rushed 15 yards for a first down.
“I didn't believe it, and neither did everyone else,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said of Mayfield. “It happens about once every two weeks when he makes this kind of play and you pray that he doesn't get hurt or something happens to him. But he has agility. He has a knack that you can't teach or coach, and it was an incredible game.”
The Bucs improved to 5–1 for only the third time in franchise history. Perhaps fortunately for them, the only other team that could be more injured is the 49ers, who lost All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner to a gruesome season-ending ankle injury on Sunday.
The fact that Mayfield and the Bucs didn't even blink is a tribute to the receiver's depth.
“I have real, genuine trust in the guys that are there,” Mayfield said. “They're ready. We've talked all week, and these guys are on the same page. It's true. I trust these guys, even though some of them may not have played the ball very well. … The defense played great. The special teams, too. It's complementary football.”
Bux received a lot of help from the defenseallowing quarterback Mac Jones to pass for 347 yards, but he was sacked six times and intercepted twice.
But Egbuka led the Bucs through the first five games as the NFL's offensive rookie of the month and made two catches for 24 yards before injuring his hamstring in the third quarter.
Most weeks, Cameron Johnson doesn't have a single presence on offense as the team's primary kick returner.
“Cam doesn't get a lot of reps,” Mayfield said, “but like I said, B-Mac (wide receivers coach Brian McClendon) gets these guys right and Cam is learning the scheme, knowing the exact depth, the steps on the route and things like that. The guys are on the same page. This is high-level football.”
Cameron Johnson couldn't believe he was so open with his second-quarter touchdown to give the Bucs a 20-13 lead.
“I was just in shock,” he said. “I saw the safety pressure Cade (Ottone) and I thought he was going to push off. But lo and behold, he never pushed off and I was just running and thought, 'Oh God, let me see if Baker makes eye contact,' and sure enough he did and I was wide open. It was a running landing.”
What does he think of Tez Johnson's TD and celebration?
“Crazy,” he said. “He tracked it perfectly. He did a perfect sellie. The flip was the same. He looked like an acrobat there. I wish I could do something like that. It was crazy.”
Mayfield was asked if he could replicate Tez Johnson's flip.
“No. I mean, if I weighed 142 pounds, I would try too,” he said. “But I haven’t weighed it since sixth grade.”
Concluding the interview, Tez Johnson said he didn't look at his phone but couldn't wait to call his mom, knowing she'd be in tears.
“(We’re) Johnson and Johnson brothers,” Tez Johnson said. “If you know what I mean?
“Our games are similar. Obviously he's a little bigger and a little more muscular than me. But that's my dude. I love him.”
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