TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hold up on that MVP talk. Slow down on giving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the No. 1 seed.
Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers crashed in Detroit against a depleted defense missing its entire starting secondary. The Bucs (5-2) were outplayed from start to finish in a 24-9 loss on Monday night.
Even worse, they lost star wide receiver Mike Evans for most of the rest of the season because of a broken collarbone.
“When you lose somebody like that, it’s always going to affect your offense and you’re going to have to change and do different things,” coach Todd Bowles said Tuesday.
Mayfield, who was the talk of the NFL after an impressive first six games, was erratic, missing high on several throws. The receivers struggled to get open against the Lions. Sensational rookie Emeka Egbuka looked like he was slowed by a hamstring injury. Evans, playing his first game in a month because of his own hamstring injury, was knocked out of the game with a concussion and the broken collarbone.
The offense, also missing running back Bucky Irving, simply couldn’t get going in a game that was expected to be a shootout.
“Every game is going to be different — just patience,” Bowles said about a takeaway for offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. “If your quarterback is not on and not going, you’ve got to help him out with either the run game or screen passes. When you have to protect, you have to do different things and chip. If the running game isn’t going from a power standpoint, we’ve got to try to get on the edge — just different tips. He’s going to learn each week — whether he scores 40 points or 10 points — he’s going to learn different things each week that he can put in his arsenal and get better at next week.”
Now, the Buccaneers have to regroup quickly and go back on the road to face a divisional rival. The New Orleans Saints (1-6) have plenty of their own problems so Tampa Bay has to make sure to take care of business and not look ahead to a bye in Week 9.
Third-down defense did its job for the most part, holding the Lions to just 3 for 13. But cornerbacks Jacob Parrish and Jamel Dean committed penalties on third downs that negated stops, extended Detroit’s drives and both times the Lions scored a touchdown.
Tackling. The Bucs missed too many tackles, allowing short gains to go longer and missing opportunities for stops.
“It was definitely an issue on the first drive — we missed two tackles that got them down the field," Bowles said. "We missed two more later on. Overall, we can be better at open-field tackling. It has to do with angles and fundamentals.”
TE Cade Otton had seven catches for 65 yards, getting nine targets. Otton stepped up last year when Evans was injured and he’ll be counted on again with several wide receivers hurting.
A run defense that was fifth in the NFL gave up a season-high 164 yards and allowed 5.1 yards per carry. Poor tackling contributed to that total. So did giving up a 78-yard TD run to Jahmyr Gibbs.
Evans will miss significant time because of his broken collarbone. Evans has had 1,000 yards receiving in each of his 11 seasons in the NFL, the most to start a career and tied with Jerry Rice for the most ever. ... Edge rusher Haason Reddick will have an MRI on his knee and ankle. ... WR Chris Godwin (fibula) and RG Luke Haggard (shoulder) didn’t play, along with Irving.
41 — The Bucs couldn’t do much on the ground, rushing for only 41 yards.
The Buccaneers visit the Saints on Sunday. They’ve won five of the last six games against New Orleans.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) is carted off the field after an injury during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Detroit. AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) walks off the field after making a fumble during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Detroit. AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine denied Moscow's claims that a Ukrainian drone struck the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, as Kyiv on Sunday launched fresh strikes overnight on Russian energy sites.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian drones struck the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia, causing a large-scale fire. It said the extent of the damage was being clarified, and claimed the refinery has been supplying Moscow’s war effort.
The refinery belongs to Russia’s state oil enterprise, Rosneft. Local Russian Gov. Roman Busargin, said Ukrainian drones had damaged civilian infrastructure, but did not immediately give details. Astra, an independent Russian news channel, said an oil refinery was on fire in the city of Saratov.
Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil and gas facilities in recent months, arguing the energy sector both funds and directly fuels Moscow’s more than 4-year-old invasion.
“Tonight, our soldiers applied Ukraine’s long-range sanctions against an oil refinery in Saratov, Russia — approximately 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the front line. A significant achievement,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media later on Sunday.
Drone debris also set fire to a fuel depot in Russia’s southwestern Rostov region, which borders Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, Gov. Yuriy Slyusar reported on Telegram on Sunday. He said residents of nearby homes were evacuated.
Ukraine's General Staff on Sunday confirmed its forces were behind the strike on the facility in the town of Matveev Kurgan. Local authorities said a drone strike on the depot had caused a large-scale fire across a wide area.
According to its General Staff, Ukraine also struck the Lazarevo pumping station in Russia's Kirov region northeast of Moscow, more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled land. The station helps ship Russian oil from Siberia to Belarus.
Regional Gov. Alexander Sokolov said drones had hit a facility in the Kirov region, without giving further details.
Kyiv denied a Russian claim that a Ukrainian drone struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest.
Russia’s state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, said on Saturday that the drone exploded after tearing a hole in the wall of a turbine hall. Rosatom’s CEO Alexei Likhachev accused Ukraine of a “deliberate” attack.
“This afternoon, a Ukrainian kamikaze combat drone struck the turbine hall building of Power Unit No. 6, resulting in a detonation,” Likhachev said. He added there was no damage to main equipment.
Ukraine’s military said it did not target or strike the plant, and described the Russian claim as “yet another propaganda ploy.” A military statement said that it adheres to international humanitarian law and is aware of the "consequences of any actions targeting nuclear facilities.”
“Along the relevant section of the front line, there was no active fighting at the time of the incident, and no weapons were used,” it added.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, voiced “serious concern” in a post on X following the incident.
The IAEA said in a statement Sunday that its inspectors “observed damage to the exterior of a turbine building” that was “consistent with the impact of the drone.” It gave no details of where the drone may have come from, but said radiation levels at the site remained normal.
“During a site walk down, the team saw damage to a metal access hatch located several levels up in the building, as well as a few pieces of debris and burned optical fiber remains on the ground," the agency said in a post on X. It added its inspectors had requested access to the inside of the turbine hall for further examination.
Russian forces captured the Zaporizhzhia plant in the early weeks of the war, and it remains close to the front lines in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, one of four Russia has formally annexed despite lacking full military control or international recognition for its actions.
The nuclear plant has repeatedly come under fire since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, sparking fears of a nuclear accident. Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for targeting the plant.
Elsewhere, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday that it had shot down 212 of 299 drones launched by Russia overnight. It said 14 drones had reached their targets, while drone debris fell in five locations.
A truck driver died early on Sunday as drones hit a parking lot in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region, according to local administration head Vyacheslav Chaus.
Russian drones struck the city of Dnipro and an oil refinery in Ukraine’s Rivne region, causing fires, authorities said. No one was injured in either location, Ukrainian officials later reported.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Servicemen of Ukraine's defense intelligence set up the Peklo (Hell) missile drone against Russian in an undisclosed location in Ukraine late Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Servicemen of Ukraine's defense intelligence set up drones against Russian in an undisclosed location in Ukraine late Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
