Remember when Bucs kicking specialist Chase McLaughlin seemed to specialize in missing kicks when the season started?

It seems like a different season altogether when that was happening, because McLaughlin has been on a roll ever since his uncharacteristically shaky start. With three 50-yard-plus field goals made Sunday in the 23-3 win over New Orleans, he now leads the NFL with eight field goals made of 50 yards or longer, is tied for second in total field goals made (17) and is third in points by a kicker (67).

Now put those stellar stats on hold for just a moment while we switch topics to a linebacker whose name was rarely mentioned at all this season – until this past Sunday.

Anthony Nelson – for all you I Dream of Jeannie fans, the name of Captain/Major Anthony “Tony” Nelson played by the late Larry Hagman – turned in the kind of game he could have wished for on a genie’s bottle.

Starting against the Saints with outside linebacker Haasan Reddick hurt, Nelson started out by forcing a fumble on a sack of Spencer Rattler in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he batted a Rattler pass to himself and essentially walked in several yards for the game’s first touchdown. And he wound up with a pair of sacks, adding two quarterback hits for good measure. In the process, Nelson became the first NFL player since 2007 to have two sacks, a forced fumble and a pick six in a single game and one of just three players in the last 25 years to do so.

For their efforts, the NFL announced Wednesday that McLaughlin was NFC Special Teams Player of the Week and Nelson the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week No. 8. They are the first teammates in 2025 to win Player of the Week honors in the same seven-day span, and the first Tampa Bay teammates to be honored simultaneously since linebacker Derrick Brooks and kicker Matt Bryant in 2008.

And if you’re keeping track, Tampa Bay’s four Player of the Week honors this season are the most in the NFL – joining return man Kameron Johnson (special teams in Week 1) and cornerback Jamel Dean (defense in Week 6). In addition, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka earned September Rookie of the Month honors, while quarterback Baker Mayfield was honored in Week 5 as Fed Ex Air & Ground Player of the Week.

The Nelson/McLaughlin accolades highlight an otherwise quiet week for the 6-2 Bucs, who are on a bye this weekend, before resuming play Nov. 9 at home against the 6-2 New England Patriots.

And just a few more notes about them: McLaughlin now ranks second in NFL history in career field goal percentage on kicks of 50-plus yards (40 for 47 for 85.1 percent). He’s a perfect 8-for-8 on them this season. And since arriving in Tampa Bay, he ranks in the Top 5 in points scored (331), field goals made (76), total field goal percentage (90.5 percent), and field goal percentage from 50-plus yards (88.5 percent).

As for Nelson, who made his first start of the season, he was the only defender with a touchdown in Week 8. With his particular hat trick – a sack, a forced fumble and an interception for a TD – he became the first player since Khalil Mack of the Bears in 2018 to pull off that feat all in a single half.

The Bucs, while facing a torrent of injuries on offense and defense, remain comfortably in first place in the NFC South, two games ahead of the 4-4 Carolina Panthers. Winning six of their first eight games matches the best start in franchise history and the third best in the NFL this season.

Now … if they can only get healthy.