The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have started the last four seasons with consecutive wins, but they are still looking for their first 3-0 start since the 2005 season. This time it was the visiting Denver Broncos who denied that third straight victory, controlling the action on both sides of the ball in a 26-7 decision at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday. It was the first win for the Broncos and their rookie quarterback, Bo Nix, after an 0-2 start.

"They out-played us, they out-coached us, they out-hit us and they won the game," said Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles. "We didn't take them lightly. We didn't play well, we've got to coach it better and we've got to play it better. That starts with me."

Tampa Bay fell to 2-1 but maintained a share of first place in the NFC South after Philadelphia's comeback win in New Orleans on Sunday. The Buccaneers will be at home against next Sunday against those same Eagles.

"All the credit in the world to Denver for coming in here – I think we'll watch this tape and you can probably tell on the tape how much more they wanted it than us," said QB Baker Mayfield. "Our offense, we didn't start fast in the first quarter and we didn't start fast in the third quarter. That's the story of the game. … From the first quarter, it just felt flat. We'll learn our lesson and go from there."

Under nonstop pressure from Denver's pass rushers, Mayfield was held to 163 yards on 25-of-33 passing, with one touchdown and one interception, and he was sacked seven times. The Broncos secondary, led by Pro Bowl cornerback Pat Surtain II, provided tight coverage all day, forcing Mayfield to throw short underneath passes on most of his dropbacks. The Bucs' leading pass-catchers were TE Cade Otton and WR Chris Godwin, with seven and six catches, respectively, but neither topped 60 yards while WR Mike Evans was held to two catches for 17 yards.

"We've got to block it better," said Bowles. "We've got to block it better and then sometimes you've got to get rid of the ball. It's a combination of both. We've got to play better all the way around."

Mayfield took the responsibility for some of the problems with pressure on offense.

"There were a few pressures today that were actually on me," he said. "When we get into some of these tempo drives, trying to have two-minute-ish thoughts, there's a mindset of trying to fix the protections when they're bringing some of these pressures, and there's also the mindset of snap the ball and get it out of your hand. Not all of that's on the O-Line."

Nix, meanwhile, had his best game as a pro, completing 25 of 36 passes for 216 yards. After a couple deep gains on the game-opening touchdown drive, he too threw a majority of his passes within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, but he had more time to operate the offense, as he wasn't sacked and was hit just twice. On the occasions that Nix waspressured, he showed off his speed and elusiveness, escaping the pocket to record 47 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

"We got pressure; the ball was coming out quick," said Bowles. "And when we did get pressure we didn't tackle well. And he broke a couple tackles and got out of the pocket – that was the most disappointing thing, the tackling."

Rookie RB Bucky Irving gained 70 yards on nine carries, but the Bucs' early deficit made it a pass-heavy script in the second half and the team finished with just 16 carries for 91 yards. Meanwhile, Denver ran it 28 times for 136 yards, with practice-squad promotion Tyler Badie leading the way 70 yards on nine totes.

The Buccaneers also lost the turnover battle for the first time this season, with Denver S Brandon Jones intercepting a pass in the first quarter and recovering a fumble in the fourth. Lavonte David was responsible for the Bucs' one takeaway, causing a fumble by RB Javonte Williams in the first half that was recovered by DL Logan Hall. The Bucs' offense briefly got in a groove after that with a touchdown drive but they couldn't sustain it.

"You have to prepare like you're playing in a playoff game every week, or else this can happen," said Mayfield. "We got our asses kicked, physicality-wise, execution-wise, all over the board for us. It's a good lesson for our team, for the young guys who haven't seen it before, for what you need to be prepared for, how detailed we need to be. For it to happen this early on, I'm going to take the positives from it and takes this one on the chin. There's nothing else to do besides that, and go from there."

CB Jamel Dean led the Bucs' defense with 13 tackles and nearly made a diving interception of a deflected pass in the second half. CB Zyon McCollum added six tackles and had two of the team's five passes defensed after breaking up four passes in last Sunday's win in Detroit. However, the defense as a whole had too many missed tackles for Bowles' liking.

"I'll look at the film and see that, but I know we missed quite a few tackles," said Bowles.

The Broncos dominated on both sides of the ball in the early going and rushed out to a 14-0 lead, marking the first time since a Week Four game against Kansas City that the Tampa Bay defense allowed two touchdowns in the first quarter. Nix drove Denver 70 yards on the opening possession and ran the ball in himself for a three-yard score, and a Brandon Jones interception with a 37-yard return set up a nine-yard touchdown drive. The Broncos went for it on fourth-and-inches and scored on a pitch to RB Javonte Williams. Denver tacked on a pair of Wil Lutz field goals in the second quarter but between those two drives the Bucs did regain some on a Lavonte David forced fumble that Logan Hall recovered, leading to a 67-yard touchdown drive featuring two big plays by Irving. Chris Godwin held on to a very difficult catch on a six-yard fade to score for the third time in as many games this season.

The Bucs' offense couldn't maintain that momentum after halftime, stalling out at midfield and then letting the Broncos drain eight minutes off the clock with a 79-yard field goal. That drive, which took the game into the fourth quarter and gave Denver a 23-7 lead, included an incredible 22-yard scramble out of trouble by Nix. Things didn't get any better in the fourth quarter, as the Bucs' two extended drives ended in a failed fourth down and a lost fumble deep in Denver territory.

"It's a long season," said Bowles. "We took it on the chin today. They beat us, flat-out. They out-coached us and they out-played us. It's going to be a long season for us. We weren't extra high the Monday we came in after Detroit; we can't be extra-low tomorrow once we watch the film on this game. We've got to move on to the next one. There's a lot more tough games to be played and a lot of football to be played, and unfortunately we didn't win this one."

The Broncos started the game with the ball at their 30 after a Jake Camarda touchback. Nix's first pass of the game was a back-shoulder pass to WR Courtland Sutton for 22 yards. Nix threw on the second play of the drive, too, with a play-action rollout and short toss to FB Nick Adkins for six yards. On the next play, WR Josh Reynolds got behind the defense on a flag route and caught a 31-yard pass over his shoulder, down to the Bucs' 11. After a delay-of-game flag pushed the ball back to the 16, Sutton ran left on a keeper but was corralled by McCollum after a gain of just two. Two plays later, on third-and-two, Nix rolled right again and with the coverage dropping into the end zone was able to take it in himself for the three-yard score.

RB Sean Tucker ran the ensuing kickoff out to the Bucs' 25, and the first two plays got nothing on a White run and a Mayfield throw-away on the run. Mayfield had to settle for a check-down to Rachaad White on third-and-10 and it gained only three yards. Camarda blasted a 67-yard punt but Marvin Mims got 27 back on his return to the Broncos 33.

A Javonte Williams run and a swing pass to RB Jaleel McLaughlin were both bottled up quickly and Nix threw wildly against a big blitz on third down, leading to a punt that was fair caught by WR Trey Palmer at the Bucs' 13.

Mayfield faked a handoff on first down and threw quickly out to the right to Godwin for a gain of six, and White followed with a plunge over right tackle that just got across the line for a first down. Two plays later, on third-and-four, Mayfield tried to get the ball downfield to Evans but it was intercepted by Jones and returned 36 yards to the Bucs' nine.

Tampa Bay's defense appeared to get the ball back on a Nix fumble on the next play but the Bucs were flagged for being offside, moving the ball down to the four. Two runs took it down to the one and the Bucs' defense held up just short of the goal line on third down. The Broncos went started to go for it on fourth-and-goal and brought in a jumbo package, then threw the challenge flag on whether Williams got it in on the previous play. On fourth down, Nix pitched right to Williams, who made one defender miss and raced to the pylon for the Broncos' second touchdown.

After a touchback, the Bucs got three yards on an Irving run but Mayfield's second down scramble got nothing and CB Riley Moss broke up an out pass intended for Palmer. Camarda's punt bounced to a stop at the Denver 34.

Tampa Bay's defense put Denver into a third down to start the drive and a quick pass down the line to WR Lil'Jordan Humphrey was stopped inches short of the sticks. The Broncos left the offense on the field and, on the final play of the first quarter, Nix ran a keeper on fourth down and found a seam for a gain of three. After the teams switched sides, a screen to Williams worked for seven yards to the Bucs' 47. Despite blanket coverage by Dean, Sutton was able to haul in a 17-yard pass on the next play. Three plays later, on first-and-10 at the Bucs' 20, another screen to WR Troy Franklin got five more, but the Broncos drew a holding call on a Nix scramble on the following snap. On third-and-13, Nix had to settle for a dumpoff to Williams that was stopped and drew an illegal block flag. The Bucs accepted the penalty to push the ball back to the 30 and Nix threw another dumpoff to Franklin that got five back. Wil Lutz came on to kick a 43-yard field goal that increased Denver's lead to 17-0 with 9:25 left in the first half.

After a touchback, Mayfield moved the chains with consecutive short completions to Evans and Godwin, and two plays later a short pass to White made it third-and-two at Denver's 45. Mayfield's next pass was incomplete and the Bucs left the offense on the field on fourth-and-two. A quick slant to Godwin was too hot to handle and Denver took over on downs.

Nix threw incomplete on first down but was able to escape a Yaya Diaby pressure on throw on the run to McLaughlin for seven yards on second down. Nix then faked a handoff and kept it himself, dashing around right end for eight yards to the Bucs' 40. Tampa Bay's defense then got its first takeaway, as David poked the ball out of Williams' hands and Hall fell on it at the 33.

The Bucs ran a misdirection handoff to Irving and it worked, springing him into the open field for a gain of 32 all the way down to Denver's 35. White got nine more on the next play going around right end, and then an end-around pitch to Irving worked to the tune of 13 yards down to the one as the two-minute warning arrived. White's first down run was ruled just short of the end zone and the Bucs were then hit with the rare false start by a center penalty. From the six, Mayfield threw a fade to Godwin on the left side of the end zone and the receiver went full extension on a dazzling touchdown catch.

After a touchback, two short passes got it to the 45 and a swing pass found TE Adam Trautman wide open in the right flat, as he ran out of bounds at the Bucs' 42 with just over a minute left in the half. Two plays later, Nix scrambled out of bounds at the Bucs' 29 for a first down with 33 seconds to go. The Broncos faced a third-and-one at the 20 with 11 seconds to play and rookie OLB Chris Braswell nearly got a sack, with Nix throwing it away at the last second. Lutz came on to hit a 38-yarder to make it 20-7 at the half.

The Bucs had the ball to start the second half and Godwin got them moving with a 13-yard gain on a tunnel screen. Mayfield found Otton down the left seam for 13 more but then was dropped for a seven-yard sack by John Franklin-Myers. He was hit again on the next play, pushing his pass to Otton off the mark. After an incompletion on third down, the Bucs had to punt from close to midfield. It was fair caught at the Denver nine.

An incompletion and a run of three by Tyler Badie put the Broncos into a third-and-seven and rookie S Tykee Smith made a diving breakup of a pass intended for Franklin, nearly intercepting it. Palmer fair caught the ensuing punt at the Bucs' 41.

Irving niftily avoided a free tackler at the line and slipped for four yards on first down, then made an impressive shoestring catch for four more. Mayfield took a shotgun snap on third-and-two, then gave it to Irving up the middle for a gain of six. Two plays later, another sack of Mayfield made it third-and-18, however, and Mayfield couldn't hook up with Godwin down the middle. Another punt rolled to a stop at Denver's six with eight minutes left in the third quarter.

The Broncos tried two rollout passes but the first one gained just a yard and Nix had to dirt the second one with Zyon McCollum in his face. However, Humphrey spun through two defenders on a sideline catch and got enough for a first down at the 24. Two more short passes moved the chains again, and the Broncos then faced a third-and-one at their 45. Nix moved the chains with a dive up the gut for the necessary yard. On the next play, Nix seemed certain to be sacked but escaped and weaved his way all the way to the Bucs' 31. A quick pass out left to Sutton two plays later made it first down at the 20. The Bucs had a chance at a turnover when DL C.J. Brewer tipped a pass at the line but a diving Dean couldn't quite haul it in. Smith chased McLaughlin down on a sweep for a loss of four but an offside call on LB SirVocea Dennis gave five yards back. Diaby drew an offside call a moment later to make it third-and-four, and the third quarter came to an end. Nix took a crack at the end zone when play resumed but his fade to Sutton took the receiver out of bounds. The Broncos settled for a third Lutz field goal.

Otton caught consecutive passes in the left flat, fighting for extra yardage to get a first down at the Bucs' 42. A scrambling Mayfield then found Evans at the Denver 49 right on the sideline for nine and moved the sticks with another pass to Otton. Two plays later, Mayfield found Godwin between three defenders for a first down at the 32. After a seven-yard catch by TE Payne Durham, Mayfield was sacked at the 29 to make it third-and-seven, and a dump off under pressure to White made it fourth-and-three. With the clock ticking down to the 10-minute mark, the Bucs had to go for it. Mayfield tried to run for it and was bottled up at the line of scrimmage to end the drive.

It immediately got worse, as Badie broke through the line on the next play and sprinted all the way to the Bucs' 32 before he was dragged down by Christian Izien. The Bucs' defense held there, with Zyon McCollum breaking up a third-and-three pass, but Lutz came out to hit his fourth field goal of the game to make it a 19-point game with 7:30 left in regulation.

Mayfield got a quick first down with a pass over the middle to Godwin but took a sack on the next play. After a nine-yard Irving run, Mayfield had the pocket collapse on him again but was just able to flip it out to Irving, who got four yards and a first down at the Denver 45. Irving weaved through traffic after an outlet pass to gain seven more. Evans drew pass interference and facemask penalties on the same play to get the ball down to the Denver 10, but that was followed by another sack and then Tampa Bay's second turnover. On this one, Otton caught a short pass on the left side but lost the football while fighting for extra yards. Jones picked it up and ran 34 yards to the Denver 47. From there the Broncos picked up two first downs and were able to run off the rest of the clock.